Growing Cardoon: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Cardoon is a close relative of the globe artichoke already covered on this site, but instead of harvesting a flower bud, it’s grown for its thick, blanched leaf stalks, a classic Mediterranean vegetable most American gardeners have never grown.
Give it real space
Transplant, sowing 2 to 3 seeds a quarter inch deep per cell, 6 to 8 weeks before your transplant date. Germinate at 70-80°F, then grow on at 60-70°F during the day and 50-60°F at night. Thin to one plant per cell once true leaves appear, then transplant 2 to 3 feet apart in rows 3 to 6 feet apart, protecting from frost. This is a large plant, closer to a perennial vegetable in scale than a compact annual, and needs a spot sized accordingly.
Blanching is the whole point
After about 3 months of growth, gather the stalks and tie them upright with twine, then wrap with black plastic or newspaper to exclude sunlight. Blanch for 3 to 4 weeks during cool weather. Without this step, the naturally bitter stalks aren’t worth eating; blanching is what turns cardoon from a tough, bitter plant into a genuine vegetable.
Harvest
Cut the stalks at the base after blanching to keep them intact for cooking.
Cardoon has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for cardoon for how it’s tracked. At a quarter plant per square foot, it needs a dedicated large footprint in the Garden Designer, similar to artichoke.
Source: Cardoon: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Cardoon · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 7-10. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Start indoors: Start indoors from seed, then transplant outside. Cardoon needs a head start most zones can't give it by direct-sowing alone.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Cardoon plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: about 4 square feet per plant (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 3-4 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- 'Porto Spineless': Johnny's Selected Seeds' cardoon offering, described as having artichoke-flavored leaf stalks and large purple flowers; there's little named-cultivar diversity beyond it in the seed trade this plant is sold through. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy cardoon seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing cardoon" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Cardoon: A close relative of the globe artichoke grown for its blanched leaf stalks rather than a flower bud, needing real space and a deliberate blanching step.
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