GROWING GLOBE ARTICHOKES AS AN ANNUAL IN VIRGINIA

Abstract

The globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is a herbaceous, perennial dicot grown for its immature flower bud. Globe artichokes are usually propagated vegetatively from root divisions or offshoots, because plants grown from seed lack uniformity. Furthermore, only a small percentage of plants grown from seed flower during the first season without vernalization. The globe artichoke is not winter hardy and cannot be grown in areas where temperatures are <-10°C without protection. The cultivar Imperial Star was developed in California to produce uniform plants from seed and a high percentage of buds the first year. In this study, Imperial Star (IS) and Green Globe (GG) were evaluated for their ability to produce a crop during the first season from seed without vernalization in Virginia. Eight-week-old transplants were set in the field on 14 May 1991. The harvest period began on 12 August for both cultivars and ended on 28 September and 8 November for GG and IS, respectively. Eighty-one percent of the IS produced buds compared to 25% for GG. The average bud yield per plant was 12 for IS and 9 for GG. Ten and 9% of the buds were rated as off-type for IS and GG, respectively. The average bud weight was 77 and 80 grams for IS and GG, respectively. Only 54 and 49% of the IS and GG buds, respectively, exceeded the marketable weight of 75 grams. The percent marketable yield for IS was 46% and 42% for GG. The estimated marketable yield per hectare was 54,600 and 4,800 buds for IS and GG, respectively. Imperial Star is a significant improvement over GG plants grown from seed in short season areas.