peganum from Henfield, England · CC BY-SA 2.0
Cardoon
Plant·Cynara cardunculus
Full sun
Sun
Medium
Water
Well-drained soil
Drainage
Zones 7–10
Hardiness
Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is a plant. It grows best in full sun and has moderate water needs.
Through the year
DormantLeafing outReady to harvestFloweringDying back
Works well with
from wiki dataNo companions recorded.
WHAT IT NEEDS
Wants full sun
Needs moderate water
Needs well-drained soil
Prefers soil pH 5.5–7
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Prefers loam, sandy loam, clay loam soil
Struggles in compacted soil
Draws up potassium, calcium, magnesium from deep in the soil
Adds a moderate amount of organic matter to the soil
WHAT IT GIVES
Gives mulch biomass (high)
Provides potassium
Provides calcium
Provides magnesium
Attracts pollinators
HOW IT GROWS
SIZE & SPACING
Herbaceous
Height100–200 cm
Spacing90 cm (min 60 cm)
Root depthDeep
Width60–120 cm
Width figures are rough estimates, the most variable measurement in our data.
AI estimate · accuracy improves as growers contribute corrections.
HOW TO PROPAGATE
Propagate by seed, division
Difficulty
Establishes in about 1 yr
Self-seeds readily on its own
Where this comes from
Parsed11 Sept 2026
ConfidenceNot recorded
Photograph peganum from Henfield, England · CC BY-SA 2.0