Bob

Hi Deb, I grilled Gabe pretty good about this when I first joined up asking questions regarding fertilization, photo period, and temperature fluctuations ( tricks northern growers use to get artichokes to act as an anual) and of course got the same answers you did. The one thing I really believe that we have to consider that others in warmer climates don't is the effects of transplant shock and how far this actually sets your plants back. Dormant periods, such as using the "bigdog" method must set them back considerably. I suspect that using the largest pots and highest temps you can provide over winter is part of the key along with proper , (not necesarily over) fertilization is the best strategy. I'm also going to try micorhizal fungai when planting out in spring to get the roots off to the best start. A few other tricks such as warming the soil with plastic mulch etc couldn't hurt either.

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