David's Garden Seeds Artichoke Imperial Star 6767 (Green) 25 Non-GMO, Open Pollinated Seeds

I ordered these earlier and meant to grow them earlier, but just got started in Mid-March (zone 5). There is still enough time to grow them out, chill them, plant them outdoors and harvest chokes.I took some commercial potting soil meant for starting seeds, put into a little microwave meal tray, dampened with warm water and stirred it up and let it sit until I knew the soil was moist through and through, but not too wet. Nothing runny or sitting in puddles. I mixed the soil and water with my hands and let it sit a while so all the organic matter had a chance to absorb water, and I could see if it needed more. If it gets sloppy wet, mix in more soil until it is neither sloppy nor dry. I put 25 seeds into the soil as directed (1/4 inch deep, at least an inch apart) and covered the whole thing with plastic wrap from the kitchen. and put it on top of the refrigerator. Three days later I have 22 seedlings and I haven't given up on the last few seeds - these are very healthy sprouts.BTW, the top of the refrigerator is nice and warm in most kitchens and is a good place to start seeds. I keep checking seeds left there, and sprinkle a little warm water on the soil if it seems to be drying out. In a little while I will put these seedlings in soft-drink bottles or water bottles (from 1 liter to 4 liter size) with more soil, as in "winter sowing" and grow them in these mini-greenhouses on a table by my living room window. In another couple weeks I hope to put them outside in their greenhouses while the weather is still cool, and let them get chilled (but not frosted or frozen!) to make them think they experienced some sort of winter weather. That helps the plants grow, and the blossoms or "chokes" to come in on the first year. Plan to set them out in the garden with plenty of space (4X4 ft each? Maybe more -- I have a lot of gardening space to fill) and a good dark plastic mulch on the ground to keep down weeds. I think these might actually work here!One reason people usually lose seedlings is that there are fungi, bacteria, mildew and things in the air. Even with sterile soil (such as a commercial bag of soil) there may be something that kills them off. If you cover them with plastic wrap as I do in the beginning, you keep them moist and hold in warm air, which helps them sprout -- they will die if they dry out. On the other hand, they will get a bacterial or fungal problem and die if they are kept too wet. Takes a little practice to get growing from seed right, but with luck you should be able to get something from these seeds. Feel the top of the soil every other day -- the texture will change as it dries out, and if it is actually dry, the seeds are TOO dry.Roots need moist soil to grow and take in nutrients. Too wet and they drown, too dry, and they dry out. You might get lucky and learn how to keep them just right, from the beginning, but don't get discouraged if it takes a little time to learn how to use them.I am very pleased with the quality of the seeds -- they all looked well-developed and plump, and they have nearly all sprouted (I wouldn't be surprised if a couple more come up a little later -- it happens). Not cheap, but, good deal.

I couldn’t get mine to germinate. I tried potting soil, coconut pellet pots , mini greenhouses but didn’t get them to grow

These are great.

I was very surprised when all of my seeds were successful in my seed starting cells. Every single one sprouted. I have transplanted them into my garden and not all of them have taken (which is to be expected). I will provide updates as they grow. Currently all the ones that have survived the transplant have 5-8 leaves on them.Update -- I have one plant if the seeds that survived and is still going strong so many years later. It actually split into 3 plants and I get about 40 artichokes every year!

Living in New England growing artichokes is treated like growing an annual. Imperial Star has the highest success rate for our area. The seeds must be started very early and the grower must understand vernalization and stratification. Which when combined fools the plant into thinking it has already gone through one Winter. Therefore it is OK to form chokes.The seeds have been in the freezer now for several weeks. Now is the time in our area (zone 7) to germinate the seeds. This is done in the refrigerator. Seeds are put on moist sphagnum moss in and open zip lock bag. Once germinated, they can be transplanted into pots and continue to grow for a while until they have four sets of true leaves. Transplanting at that time into a larger pot. Then they will go outside where it is very cool for a period of time.

good viable seed

only 19 out of 25 seeds germinated.

Everything looks good. Nice packaging and grow instructions!