In my experience the cold treatment of the seedlings or even young plants never tricked them into fruiting (blooming) the first year. I've always had to wait til the second or third year to get 'chokes'.

It works best to sow the seeds late in the summer after all the really hot weather has passed and pray for a cool fall. You have to baby the young plants through winter - either hoop them with frost cloth or use wall-o-water devices and then pray for a mild winter. They seem to handle temps down to the high twenties just fine but really cold nights can do them in.

They do fine grown in pots (large ones) and being transplanted. In fact, they handle all sorts of torture and rebound just fine but the main roots of the plant have to be in place for many months in order for it to send up bloom spikes.

In my garden I have never gotten large 'chokes', only about the size of a lemon - which is fine by me, I snip them, drop them into the microwave, blast them for 4 minutes on high, whip up some fresh garlic and mayo and then pig out.

I quit sowing my own seeds when I discovered that Campbell Road Nursery in south Raleigh pretty much always has them available in the late summer. Usually Green Globe and Imperial Star in gallons for around $4 or $5.

Thanks! That is very helpful. I guess I will just experiment with these seedlings and then re-sow some seeds late summer for the next year. I'll let you know what happens!

To get the biggest crop (size and quantity) you need the root mass to get as big as possible. That is much easier to do if you leave the plants in one place, but you can grow them in pots and just keep moving them up into larger and larger pots as you go. Last year mine bloomed while still small and all I got was tiny chokes.

In the overall scheme of things they take up a lot of space in the garden and don't give you a lot of food in return - but they are pretty plants and the flavor is superior when home grown (eat them immediately after picking or else they will taste just like store bought).

Do you think a half-barrel planter would be big enough for the roots of one plant? Otherwise, I'll find a spot in the ground... Thanks again!

I am trying Imperial star for the first time in Indiana. I started the seeds indoors in January. The plants had a hard time getting started, I lost about half. I put them outside in a cold frame so they could get their 10 days of 40 degrees. They seem to really like that. It is June now and they have be planted for two months and sure enough, here comes the chokes!! Now if I can wait until they are mature before I pick them.