Asparagus Says It's Spring

I think maybe so, but I like 'em all. I think the Purple Passion are reliably tender each and every time whereas I can’t say that about the J Knight.

Finally got a nice handful of asparagus this morning

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Beautiful!

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just planted 2 rows of asparagus yesterday, these were grown from seed, started mid summer. variety is uc-72 seed from Ebay.

planted in 50 cell flats, 2x2x5 inches deep. roots grew into the ground but broke off easy enough when pulling the flats up.

planted about 18 inches apart, should have been closer i guess as it sounds like i should remove females, i hadnt planned on doing that…

i put a 10g fertilizer pellet with each plant.

https://www.amleo.com/agriform-20-10-5-fertilizer-tablets-2-year-formula-box/p/VP-AFT/

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It’s time to get your aspargus ready!! Get your beds mowed close, your pre emerge on, and your fert. applied. Don’t wait, don’t hesitate, it will get started without you!
Remember, weeds and asparagus don’t play well together with asparagus losing every time.
Enjoy your asparagus!!

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hadnt thought of using a pre emerg on my asparagus, might be a good idea for plants I just planted last fall…

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Don’t use Prowl on less than 1 yo asparagus. Use Treflan or corn gluten meal for a pre. There are a bunch of post products.

thanks, I’m considering putting down fabric also

We have been eating asparagus for the last week!!!

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Same here - we just have a little patch, but it gives us enough to harvest about 15 spears a day.

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@letsski - how many plants you have that provide you about 15 spears a day? I am planting asparagus this year and would like to know what to expect.

Thanks!

I think I have about 20, but they’ve been in about 8-9 years and I’ve added and expanded the space over the years. There are about 4 different varieties. They are expanding out of the initial bed and migrating into my citrus patch. Hasn’t been a problem yet.

Thanks. I just wanted to see how many spears a matured plant produces.

Spear count on mature asparagus depends on quite a few things, hybrid or OP, fertility, weed pressure, weather conditions etc. When we were growing 16 acres of it, a single crown of Jersey Giant in good soil, adequate moisture, no weeds, proper fertility would easily produce 15-20 spears a day for 6-8 wks. Mind you, not a weed in sight, 80-100# N/Acre, P&K high to excessive, and rain twice a week with little to no wind. Throw asparagus rust or Fusarium in the mix and the crown was barren. @Letsski keeps weed pressure to a minimum and enough fertility, even the old OP’s will be highly productive. As far as I know, in northern regions, the Giant still is the highest yielder.

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That is a lot more spear per crown than I read as I was deciding on the size of the asparagus I need. But of course depends on growing conditions. I am looking forward to start my patch this year. Thank you for the helpful information.

Jersey Giant will produce a crown 4’ in diameter when well grown and mature. I can’t too strongly recommend this cultivar even if you delay planting for a year to get this cultivar. Beside annual and perennial grasses, volunteer asparagus from female plants will be your biggest weed problem and getting an all male asparagus like JG, will eliminate this problem. Jersey Knight and others are only 75% male and the seedling asparagus weed problem won’t leave you.

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That is incredible. I don’t even remember the kind I am growing, but I know it isn’t anywhere near that productive. Unfortunately, I have mostly let my asparagus patch fend for itself. Every year I add compost and weed it until the weeds start to win, then give I up. I should do something different - starting with a weed-free bed and Jersey Giant would be a good place to start.

Move your new bed away from the current location to get away from Fusarium and rust. Start this year to control weeds, esp. perennial grass, shhh…Round up. Order early, best I’ve seen for quality is Nourse.

Thank you for the tips. I appreciate it! I decided when I make the new bed, in a new spot, Round Up is essential. If I don’t do this, I may as well forget the whole thing and live with what I already have. Which is an overgrown weed patch with some asparagus sprinkled in. :slight_smile:

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White asparagus season in France! The white with lavender

tips are the best.

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