In order to save some cash I decided to enlarge my asparagus bed by growing from seed rather than buying crowns. The plants have done well over Summer and I've potted on twice to get the roots as strong as poss. I plan to plant in the Spring but can't find any advice on how to keep them happy until then. Can anyone help?
If you remove any of the plants that have formed berries you'll end up with male plants . These are about 14 % better spear producers as the plants don't use energy to produce berries .
Leave the male plants to form the ferns as this is what builds the plants for the next year.
In autumn when the feathers start to drop off & the stems turn yellowish cut the ferns back to 3 to 5 cm above th ground this will allow the tubers to fill naturally with " stores "to see them over winter .
Come the beginning of March use a fork to carefully dig them up . Put them in a box of damp peat some where cool and then get to work on remaking your asparagus bed
Putting some well seasoned pig & chicken muck plus their straw bedding and a lot of sharp sand to give good nourishment and good drainage. Dig the area a good 15 inches or deeper to really get the drainage good as asparagus rots quickly if it has continualy wet feet .
At the outset before you lift any crown , check with a simple soil test kit that the soil is not acidic , if is acidic use garden lime whe you forst start preparing the bed to drop it to almost pH neutral
When it's mid April dig a foot wide trench so you can accommodate you plants at a metre apart in all directions the trench ought to be 8 inches deep with a 3 inch ridge along the center line .
Remove the crowns from the peat , immerse the crowns in a bucket of rainwater for 24 hours to ensure the are fully re -hydrated & ready for planting .
Spread the crowns out over this ridge so most of the long tuberous roots go over both sides of the ridge .... take care I've seen people plant their crowns upside down & their .. the crowns died
So look carefully for new emerging shoot buds ..the tips of the buds face skywards when you pant the crown out .
Now when you're happy you've have laid them out , carefully cover with sieved soil taking care not to disturb the position of the crowns , finally putting a ridge on the row along the centre line .
The next year you may not get a bumper crop , so only take one of two spears as taking too many will stunt the plants big time .
Come every autumn mulch with a good thick blanket of home made compost some 70 mm deep o. using well made home made compost that has a bit of pig , chicken , goat or rabbit poop plus beddings in it as this is non acidic and full of goodness for the asparagus.
Several components of these differing dung based products are fantastic for making you compost heap along with all the non poisonous greenery out your garden & mulched non poisonous hedge cutting from most hedges .
I've harped on about , " Good homemade composts" . I thoroughly recommend you look up " The Berkley 18 day hot composting method " and use it right away to start getting a stock of real quality compost ready for when you need it .
Over the years I've used all manner of commercial stuff ...of latre a lot of it has had way to much un composted wood products &, long tern active hormonal weed killers such as grazon 90 etc. I wish I had a tenner for each crop I've wrecked using this commercial big store rubbish .
If you want to be ultra sure you compost is fit for purpose .. sow a few radish & 24 hour water soaked peas seeds in a few inches of you home made compost that is in a small tray in a polythene bag.. put it in the airing cupboard ..... if it's good they will germinate in a 4 to 8 days or so and start to grow ... if it's rubbish they won't .
At the start of March a fortnight before you sprinkle the salt on , give the beds a light dressing of all purpose general fertilizer granules to be absolutely sure your asparagus receive enough N , P, K nutrients for a large crop , your home made compost gives lots of fibre in various states of usefull decay to the beds for air & water take up & to supply the vital trace elements that are missing from the artificial fertilizer granules .
In spring in mid March before the asparagus emerges , a very light sprinkle of common cooking salt over the asparagus beds helps keep weeds at bay and does not appear to upset the asparagus production ( it will kill most of your other seed beds & crops though )
Due to my beds being 900 mm high at the walled sides they suffer the effects of strong winds , so I've used 120 mm long lengths of white plastic 20 mm electrical conduit tube as stakes to support the asparagus ferns till I cut them back. Using some of the new 10 mm wide velcro plant strapping stuff to gently hold each crowns growth to the stakes .
A final note .
Potting up into new pots each year for a couple of years will actually hold the plants back ...... surprisingly .
Three year old crowns taken from the place they've been growing for 3 year when sown from seed or as guaranteed male " Mirestem " cuttings s is how it is usually done .
Then when you transplant the 3 yr old crowns you have to wait till mid April to mid June the next year before you can start to take off a few spears .
By the time the plants are six years old they should be in full reduction and if you tend the beds well they can remain in full production for over 20 years , each plant giving up about 20 to 28 spears .
There is also a late planting put slot/ period being mentioned by commercial growers but at the minute I can't for the life of me remember when it is
Topic: Growing asparagus from seed - any advice (Read 4682 times)
