Need Asparagus Help

[Beth]

So I decided last year to try to plant a garden and I thought I would be cute and plant asparagus. Well, I planted the little plants and left them alone like the package said. Well this year I forgot about them and went to the garden (which we did nothing with this year) and there were tall stalks where the four plants were. I snapped them off and later on they ferned out. What do I do now? Do I leave them alone for next year? I only had 1 stalk come up from each little plant. Will I get more next year?

I am a little puzzled as I am no gardener of any sort and my husband is threatening to till them up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. :o

[farmerdill]

Typically, Asparagus takes about three years to reach full production in a well prepared bed. It will not tolerate competition, so the beds must be kept weed and grass free. If you started these from seed, you should let the ferms grow from this point to build up the root system for next year.

[David Hare-Scott]

Asparagus is a heavy feeder. Don't just ignore them, you will need to weed them, fertilise them with rotted manure or compost and water them for good growth. The age to start cutting depends on the age of your crowns and how well they have grown since planting.

With only one shoot per plant you cannot cut them as there needs to be shoots that mature to allow the plant to grow for next year. I am assuming that you are in the Northern hemisphere and so it is Spring, I would not cut them now but be nice to them this year and cut them lightly next Spring.

David

[Dwayne]

Beth, do you really like asparagus? If you do, I would build an asparagus bed in a portion of your yard that receives full sun and wont be bothered by mowing or plowing. Regular watering is necessary, so you must keep that in mind when selecting the location.

I would do it in a way that you can put 4 to 8 inches of aged livestock manure in first, covered with an inch or two of dirt, before putting in the asparagus roots. Then you should cover the roots with 4 to 6 inches of dirt, depending on how cold it gets where you live. Each year before they start coming up, I apply 10-10-10 fertilizer to the bed and water it in.

I ordered twenty, 2 year hybrid male roots for mine. The first year let them grow into ferns and leave them alone until winter. The following year you can harvest what ever comes up that is the size of a pencil or larger. If watered well and the weather co-operates, you should be able to harvest 1 to 3 spears per root, every 2 to 4 days.

Enjoy, Dwayne