This morning I re-potted my artichoke seedlings I started on January 4th. I tried direct sowing some artichoke seeds late last summer, and they were off to a good start until the chickens gobbled them up. Bad chickens.
I have high hopes for this batch though, and if all goes as planned, I’ll have an entire 8×4 raised garden bed full of gorgeous artichoke plants by the end of the summer.
If you have never transplanted seedlings from a flat to individual pots before, here is how I do it.
For starters, I try and re-pot the seedlings once they have a couple true leaves {which is actually their second set of leaves, not the first set that emerge from the soil}.
When re-potting your seedlings try and avoid touching the roots as much as possible to avoid stressing them out too much.
Place a bit {about an inch or two} of potting soil in the bottom of the new container, place the seedling in and and enough potting soil to cover the roots. Press the soil gently around the plant to hold it in place.
Give the plant a drink.
Even though these artichoke plants were ready to move to a larger container, they are not ready to be transplanted outside until after the last spring frost date {around April 15th in Western Washington}. Since I am going to be running out of space soon in the office, I plan on purchasing a small heater for the greenhouse this week so I can slowly start to move my seedlings out to the greenhouse one at a time.
When I’m ready to move my starts out to the greenhouse, I’ll start with leaving them out in the heated greenhouse for an hour the first day, then two hours the next day, and then a few more then a few hours, until they are ready to reside in the greenhouse until mid-april when I’ll be able to plant them in the raised garden beds. It’s a process for sure, but a fun one at that.
Has the garden bug hit you yet? Got any dirt under those fingernails?
~Mavis
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Georgia says
Mavis, the last-frost date I found for Tacoma was early May. Can you tell me where you found the April 15 date? I need to start some seeds a bit sooner than I thought if I have two less weeks than I was planning.
Lisa says
Georgia, the April 15 date is a general guideline in the PNW. Often times there will be an early May frost or the night time temperatures just aren’t quite warm enough for a few things.
Peggy says
That’s a lot of plants for an 8 x 4. Do you realize how large they get? My guess is that if you plant them along the edges of the bed so they hang over the edge of the bed and you stagger them, you may be able to grow 8 in there. Just my guess, hope that helps!
Cee says
I’m so far behind, I’ve just been so busy with work and been sick for 2 weekends in a row. I live in central NC and I should have started stuff in early Jan. If i don’t get started soon, I’m going to have to buy seedlings 🙁
Melanie says
Here’s an article on how to build raised beds.
http://www.simplebites.net/how-to-build-raised-garden-beds/
Amber @ Tales of Domestica says
I can’t wait to see your artichoke bed. They are such beautiful plants when they bloosom! Looking forward to your updates!
Lisa says
I started my gardening season on Sunday. I planted the first set of tomato seeds, cleaned up a few beds, ran water and electricity out to the greenhouse and mowed the grass.
Love the artichokes. I may have to put in a few extras this year. I put mine in from 4″ starts last year. They survived the Winter (my previous ones have not). So I’m hoping I’ll get a few blooms on it this year.
Trish says
I just transplanted mine last Sunday morning, though I don’t have as many as you due to space. I did read they require 18″ between plants, rows 3 to 4 feet apart. Chickens ate yours last year, I caught bad, bad kitteh eating the leaves off one of mine just yesterday.
Mavis says
The cat too? Oh dear.
Trish says
She did it again this morning!! She apparently does not get just how thin is the ice upon which she stands!
Kimberly R says
I started 4 artichokes (knowing they probably would not do well yet) Jan 4th and just a few days ago they started to shrink?!… anyways typically for my region (border of 8 and 9- coastal ga) they should be planted in the fall for winter and spring bloom.
I’m thinking of getting a package of Imperial Star as well and see which grow better this fall.
Mary says
If you grow too many plants you could have a plant sale in your front yard
Alvada Owen says
Great tips!Have a question-I have tried several times to start seedling from seed,they sprout great but then as they start to grow the stalks are so thin they can’t support the plant and they either fall over or break.What am I doing wrong?Any suggestions would be so appreciated.Also I tried to start a bartering club here with little success in spite of the newspaper writing a great article.Any advice.Thanks!!!I love you page,look foreward to seeing new post.Keep up the great work
Mavis says
It sounds like your seedlings became leggy because they had to reach for a light source. You may want to try grow lights or move your seedlings to a sunny window and rotate the plants daily. I hope that helps. 🙂