Planting asparagus from crowns
Planting an asparagus bed may well be the smartest thing you do this year, right up there regular teeth flossing and wearing sunscreen. Think about it: how many things can you plant in your vegetable garden that will allow for harvests over 20 years or more? To be smart, however, you must be smart in how you start your bed. This photo tutorial will help you reap bountiful harvests for many years to come.
Site selection and preparation:
Choose a site with good drainage and full sun. The tall ferns of asparagus may shade other plants, so plan accordingly. Prepare the bed as early as possible and enrich it with additions of manure, compost, bone or blood meal, leaf mold, wood ashes, or a combination of several of these. In heavy soils, double digging is recommended. To double-dig, remove the top foot of soil from the planting area. Then, with a spading fork or spade, break up the subsoil by pushing the tool into the next 10 to 12 inches of soil and rocking it back and forth. Do this every 6 inches or so. Double digging is ideal for the trench method of planting asparagus since a 12-inch-deep trench is usually dug anyway. The extra work of breaking up the subsoil will be well worth the effort, especially in heavy soil. The trench is dug 12 to 18 inches wide, with 2 to 3 feet between trenches. The same method may be used in wide-bed plantings, with plants staggered in three rows. Mix the topsoil that has been removed with organic matter, and spread about 2 inches of the mixture in the bottom of the trench or bed.
Which crowns to plant and buy:
Choose rust resistant varieties like "Mary Washington" and the "Jersey" varieties, Crowns should be of a grayish-brown color, plump and healthy-looking. Remove any rotted roots before planting.
Planting:
Set the plants 15 to 18 inches apart, mounding the soil slightly under each plant so that the crown is slightly above the roots. Spread the roots out over the mound of soil and cover the crown with 2 to 3 inches of soil. Firm well. As the plants grow, continue to pull soil over the crowns (about 2 inches every two weeks) until the trench is filled. Water if rainfall is inadequate.
Patience is a virtue:
Within weeks, you will see your first asparagus shoots breaking through the soil. They will tempt you with their freshness and greenness, whsipering "go ahead...you ordered the crowns, you dug the trench, you hauled the compost, you deserve to eat me right now". Resist the temptation completely in year one and as much as your will power allows in year two. Asparagus is a fern that needs to grow out and capture all the sun it possibly can its first two years to store up energy and build its root system for future production. The more time you give your plants to establish themselves in the first 2-3 years, the longer and heavier they will bear.
Comments
Very timely asparagus planting instructions and well presented -it makes sense of the word only instructions which came with the crowns. Thank you.
Posted by: Mary | April 22, 2006 6:49 AM
Question - I planted my crowns a month or more ago, covering with 3 inches of soil, but still nothing popping up yet. What should I do? Great information here!!
Posted by: Corinne Logan | May 3, 2006 7:32 PM
Hi Corinne,
I had the same thing with mine last year. Give them some time, keep them watered (but not excessively) and they'll be sprouting before you know it.
Roger
Posted by: Roger (of KGI) | May 4, 2006 9:30 AM
Hi I,m a new asparagus grower, and a new computer user,,I don,t know what url means? But I just planted the roots 2 weeks ago, do I cut them off when they reach 10 or son inches,? we dug the trench, and put a mulch ontop, wwhen can we start eating them, next yr,,? thanks Judi Grantham
Posted by: Judith Grantham | May 8, 2006 1:31 PM
You're right on target. Cut it (or snap it off) when it still looks like asparagus (i.e. before it looks like a fern). If you just planted them, you'll need to wait until next year before taking any. Even then, you should only harvest a few.
Posted by: Roger (of KGI) | May 8, 2006 3:22 PM
After three years we are enjoying lots of asparagus and am wondering when to stop taking it? Do i leave the spindly ones to leaf out? Can i take too much ?
Posted by: walter krapff | May 21, 2006 1:45 PM
Clearest planting instructions yet. Marvelous. Got a query though:
"wide-bed plantings, with plants staggered in three rows"
How wide is a wide bed for 3 rows? I'm trying to calcualte how much room will eb taken up in the perrenial veg bed and want to get the ground ready before the winter sets in.
Thanks
Anna
Posted by: Anna | September 25, 2006 10:51 AM
Hi Anna,
My sources tell me that you could plant a row every 2.5 feet but you might be able to squeeze all three into 6 feet of width. Do keep in mind that asparagus are tall plants and will shade out things planted around them. You will also want to consider putting up 4 corner posts (3-4 feet high) around the bed connected by a string to keep them upright. They have a tendency to droop into the surrounding beds, especially when heavy with moisture.
Good luck,
Roger
KGI
Posted by: Roger (of KGI) | September 26, 2006 11:15 AM
Very timely post! I'm less than patiently awaiting a shipment of Jersey Supreme crowns from Territorial, and can't wait to get them into the ground. I've sheet composted the spot where they'll stay, so things should be all ready. Can't wait to see the green shoots and then ferns.
Posted by: Kathy | April 11, 2007 7:52 PM
I just wanted to post to say thank you so very much for posting this. Personally I've made a boo boo in planting up 25 crowns today!!!!
Prepared the strip, dug it over 4 times in the last month, sieved the top today and relayed membrane that has been keeping the ground warm - then used the DIBBER to place the crowns in a zig zag 30cm distance apart through a 30ft strip of my allotment. How I wish I had seen your photos, Q&A and explanations before!!!
I do have a query ~ if they survive I will cover with mesh but what with the birds/mice and foxes jumping on them and my bodge job planting!!! ooo not usually a pesermist just thinking what else could go wrong :-) anyhoo...
~ I have to snap them off before they turn to fern (then compost what I have taken away?) and leave the smaller ones in? I'll be back to post in three years time to let you know the outcome :)
Posted by: Bobbygrrl | February 16, 2008 2:30 PM