With these tips, even the inexperienced gardener can plant, grow and harvest with confidence.
How to Grow Asparagus
Asparagus isn't picky; it just likes to be taken care of. Here are the best ways to grow a bounty of this healthy vegetable:
Unfortunately, asparagus won't grow at all in some places, like Florida, where the weather is too warm and wet to provide the dormancy period this plant requires. On the other hand, it is drought-tolerant and grows almost while you're watching it. Your first spears will emerge about a week after you plant the crowns.
How to Harvest Asparagus
Patience is key--good things really do come to those who wait.
Quick Tips
How to Grow Asparagus
Asparagus isn't picky; it just likes to be taken care of. Here are the best ways to grow a bounty of this healthy vegetable:
- Instead of using seeds (which can take a lot of work), buy year-old crowns from a reputable grower.
Asparagus plants come in male and female varieties. The traditional female types--Mary and Martha Washington--have given way to new male hybrids, such as Jersey Giant, Jersey Prince, Jersey Knight, Syn 53, Syn 4-362, UC 157 and Viking KBC. These male plants out-yield old female varieties by as much as 3-to-1. In addition, male sprigs stay green until the first frost, allowing more time for photosynthesis--which means more food for next year's crop. - Crowns should be planted every foot or so in rows 4 to 5 feet apart. This will delay the onset of fungus disease prone to late summer or early fall.
- Fungal infection can be a problem, but there is a solution. Regular applications of a fungicide labeled for use on asparagus can help in areas with ongoing disease problems.
- When it comes to soil, asparagus tends to be somewhat choosy. It likes a sweet (alkaline), well-drained soil in full sun. Make sure you wait to plant until the soil temperature has warmed up to 50 degrees unless the crowns are dormant.
Unfortunately, asparagus won't grow at all in some places, like Florida, where the weather is too warm and wet to provide the dormancy period this plant requires. On the other hand, it is drought-tolerant and grows almost while you're watching it. Your first spears will emerge about a week after you plant the crowns.
How to Harvest Asparagus
Patience is key--good things really do come to those who wait.
- Though they look luscious, don't harvest any asparagus spears the first year you plant, or you'll exhaust the food supply in the crowns. Wait till year two, then harvest your crop judiciously.
- Pick spears for only two weeks in the first spring after the year the asparagus is planted. Your patience and willpower will help your crowns produce even more spears in subsequent years. As the weather warms up, you may be picking spears twice a day.
- Gardeners are commonly advised to cut back asparagus in fall to reduce fungal risk. But, in fact, allowing the ferns to remain in the beds lowers the soil temperature, reducing the risk of frost damage in spring, and helps catch snow for additional moisture.
Quick Tips
- A spear is ready to harvest when it's about the diameter of a pencil or larger, and roughly 8 inches tall.
- Don't remove or cut back the ferns of asparagus plants. These provide energy for the plant's roots and crowns for the next year's crop.
- Store asparagus the way you treat cut flowers--upright in a container filled with at least an inch of water.