Producing a uniform, vigorous artichoke stand and then maintaining it in this condition can eliminate many weed control problems. Top growth in a mature stand, when uniform and vigorous, is a very good competitor with most annual weeds. Weed problems are most common in the seedling stage and during the regrowth period each year when the beds are open and exposed to light and the artichoke seedlings or crown sprouts are not competitive with rapidly growing weed seedlings. Keep an inventory of weeds encountered and their relative abundance in the field. Such a record can be helpful in planning which cultural techniques will be most helpful and which herbicides are most likely to be successful.
Perennial weeds can be particularly troublesome in artichoke plantings.
Select alternative fields to plant to artichoke if buttercup oxalis, yellow or purple nutsedge, bermudagrass, or field bindweed are present. Artichokes have been traditionally planted on a grid system that allows for cultivation in two directions. This gives good mechanical weed control, leaving weeds only in the area around the individual artichoke plant to be hand weeded. Newer plantings of artichoke have gone to a higher density planting, reducing the space between plants in the rows. The higher density limits cultivation to one direction only.