Where to Buy Artichoke Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Seedling Timing and Methods
The artichoke, also known as the globe artichoke or cardoon, is a precious health vegetable with high nutritional value, enjoying the reputation of "king of vegetables." If you want to grow artichokes, where can you buy seeds? What are the seedling timing and methods for the seeds? Let's find out below.
Where to Buy Artichoke Seeds?
Artichoke seeds can be bought in many places, such as some local seed shops and agricultural supply stores, as well as online. When buying artichoke seeds, check whether the seed packaging bag has a traceable QR code, because the Ministry of Agriculture stipulates that seeds without a traceable QR code are not allowed to be marketed and sold, so be sure to pay attention to this point.
Seedling Timing for Artichoke Seeds
If you grow from seeds, then you have to consider the germination rate, and the germination rate is directly related to temperature. The southern region is warm, so sowing is generally carried out from late August to early September when temperatures gradually drop, while in the Yangtze River basin and areas to the north, seedling raising is carried out in protected conditions in mid-to-late March.
Seedling Methods for Artichoke Seeds
1. Sowing and Seedling Raising
Before sowing, you can first soak the seeds in warm water at about 50 degrees for half an hour, then soak them at room temperature for about 13-15 hours; after soaking, take them out, wrap them in a wet cloth, and place them at about 22 degrees for germination. Once the seeds gradually show white, sowing can begin, and when about 6 true leaves have grown, they can be planted out.
2. Land Preparation and Fertilization
Before sowing, first carry out land preparation and fertilization. Plow and sun-dry the soil for 20-30 days, apply 15 kg of quicklime per mu, 30 kg of compound fertilizer, and broadcast 2000 kg of decomposed high-quality farmyard manure per mu, 50 kg of superphosphate per mu, 10 kg of potassium sulfate per mu, 3 kg of borax per mu, and 6 kg of magnesium sulfate per mu as base fertilizer. Apply the base fertilizer into the furrow of the ridge, and promptly form ridges and raise furrows, cover with soil.
3. Ridging and Film Mulching
After land preparation and fertilization, immediately form ridges, mainly north-south oriented ridges. Choose black plastic film mulching for cultivation to preserve moisture; the plastic film should closely fit the planting ridge without leaving gaps, and the edges of the film should be compacted with soil; after covering, the ridge surface should be full.
4. Planting Technique
Open cross-shaped holes in the black plastic film according to the predetermined plant spacing. When planting, control the plant spacing and row spacing well to prevent overly dense planting; the planting depth should be about 22 cm, and after planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots. When planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots, and at the same time use non-polluting insecticides such as phoxim and trichlorfon to drench the roots to prevent damage from underground pests. After planting, the soil covering must not exceed 1 cm above the base of the root stem; water thoroughly to settle the roots and strictly prevent burying the heart, and use fine soil to tightly seal the planting hole (the air hole in the film).
5. Seedling Management
After the seedlings recover from transplanting, water promptly to meet the water needs of seedling growth. Then apply additional fertilizer reasonably; when topdressing, pay attention to the method, and do not apply it directly to the plant roots. Instead, open furrows around the plants to apply fertilizer, preventing fertilizer from burning the roots.
6. Overwintering Measures
For overwintering, artificial heating methods can be used. At the first frost, remove the leaves on the plants; when the temperature drops to about 4 degrees, cut off the middle and upper leaves, keeping only the base. Then promptly earth up the soil. After the seedlings are planted and survive, apply a "seedling-promoting fertilizer" once, mainly clear manure water; during the vegetative growth period, use as much quick-acting nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizer as possible, such as ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium phosphate, urea, ammonium sulfate, etc.
The artichoke is a vegetable with very high nutritional value. On the market, artichokes sell for more than meat; the price in supermarkets is generally 30 yuan/jin. The only edible part of an artichoke is the flower bud, which means that if you buy one jin of artichokes, less than half a jin is edible. Therefore, if you want to eat them, you can grow your own and avoid spending money to buy them.
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