Asperagus

General Gardening
#41

Sorry to bump this old thread, but I think it was the most comprehensive thread on general asparagus info. I had a few more general questions, so thought I’d post it here.

So, I want to try growing a little commercial asparagus to add to offerings at my orchard. I recognize it harvests before any other fruit we grow, but thinking it would be nice to offer my customers another fresh product.

I’ve grown asparagus at the house for personal reasons, but never on a commercial scale.

Just got through building more terraces, so I thought I’d put the asparagus on a raised planting. The more I use raised plantings, the more I like them for just about everything. Thinking of planting asparagus on one 450’ long terrace. The terrace is about 11’ wide. Have quite a few questions:

How many plants should I plant on that terrace? How should I stagger the plants?

I want to plant Jersey Giant, but the nursery I had planned on using (Nourse) doesn’t carry it. They offer Millennium. Anyone know if that is a good substitute? Or a reputable nursery which carries Jersey Giant?

I understand asparagus needs to be planted 6-8" down in a trench. That’s a lot of hand digging. I really don’t have access to a machine to trench on the tops of terraces. What about a backhoe with a narrow bucket? Thoughts?

Weed Control:

This is a biggie for us. We don’t want one more thing to hand weed. We already have to do way too much hand weeding with tomatoes. They are so intolerant of herbicides. It takes way too much time.

I’ve read about various herbicides for use on asparagus. Most of them are used pre-emerge, or possibly immediately after the last harvest. My question is what do you use after the fronds appear. The fronds appear in early summer. I can’t imagine not doing any weed control all summer long. I’m not worried about grass too much, since there are good grass killers out there. I’m more worried about broadleaf weeds. What do you do for something like bindweed? 2,4-D is labeled for asparagus, at least in the Midwest Veggie Growers Guide. Supposedly it can be used once fronds appear, but recommended to keep it off the fronds. Anyone use it once fronds appear?

@Chikn @blueberrythrill I know you guys have grown asparagus commercially, can you give me some guidance?

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#42

Chickn has a lot more experience than I do, but I will share some thoughts based on our experience with a couple of acres many years ago

Picking is very time consuming and difficult since you have to bend down and pick. The season lasts a long time and its normal to pick almost everyday We used to pick in gallon buckets and drive the truck through the field and pick up the buckets. We stored the asparagus in the buckets with water in the bottom of the bucket placed in the walk in cooler until we bunched it for sale.

We never hit the magic yield of a ton/acre so even at $5 or $10/pound you grow a lot less revenue per acre than peaches, tomatoes or blackberries

We used a single row turning plow to make the planting trenches the first time we planted and used a middle buster plow the second time. The turning plow provided a deeper furrow to plant it. We planted in single rows with the plants 9-12 inches apart. The small bucket on the backhoe is an interesting idea for digging trenches. I believe asparagus planted deeper tends to produce larger spears which may improve yield. Customers who had spent some time in Europe really loved the large diameter spears
Nor sure about the proper spacing for your situation. Our rows were a little less than 4 feet apart so we would have roughly 3 rows on a terrace 11 foot wide. If you have no plans to cultivate with a tractor you could probably put the rows much closer

We grew older varieties so I don’t know about the best varieties. Weed control was always a problem and we used sinbar, simizine, surflan and probably a few others. We also cultivated with a tractor which was easy since it was no big deal if you knocked a few spears off

In my opinion the most important factors may be the lower revenue potential per acre compared to other fruits/vegetables and the high labor requirement to get it picked. We grew it so we could make the 22 week requirement to keep our spot at the Farmer’s market since it got ripe a long time before our berries

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#43

What if it was white asparagus? Very sweet.

#44

I got my nephew Jersey Giant through Walther Gardens, I met them through Harris seeds. A 450’ row will meet their minimums. You’ll want to plant 5-6" deep and 8-12" in the row, 5-6’ apart, to get a mower in between the rows. If you have 11’ terraces you could get 2 rows. Can you sell that much asp.? A row that long will produce 20-40lbs. a day in it’s prime. When we planted, we used a potato plow or center buster behind a 24hp tractor. Tractor or farm stores carry these things and you can buy them w/cat 1 3pt. hitch for $80-$100. Starting with a clean seedbed, especially perennials, pull the plow as deep as you can both ways until you open a foot deep trench. Add triple super phosphate and either 0-0-60 or 0-0-50 in the bottom of the trench. Make that mix about a 1/4" deep. This will be your P&K source for the life of the bed. Cover with soil till the trench is 5-6" deep and plant the crowns with the sprout UP. That’s Important! After that cover the trench. We used 4x4’s bolted together at the back end and held apart 2-3’ at the front end pulled by ropes from the lift arms of the tractor. Covered the trench and smoothed the ground too.
Don’t use pre-emerge the first year. Control grass with poast and broadleaves with roundup and a wiper wand. Don’t harvest first year and control insects. Remove any female plants, they’ll have berries. Volunteer asp is your worst weed. You can use the wiper anytime after spear emergence.
2nd year use Prowl H2O and Karmex pre. Karmex is soil mobile and will wash causing damage where you don’t want but controls very difficult weeds. Harvest for 2 weeks 2nd year, it will boast yields in resultant years. U of Ill. research.
After harvest, spray Prowl directed but not on spears.
After 2nd year harvest 6-8 wks. or until your back gives out!
We always hand snapped the spears giving the customer a fully tender product.
Jersey Giant is rust and fusarium resistant. When yields fall off 10 years plus in, its usually fusarium. Start a new bed away from the first as fusarium is very soil persistent.
PM me if you wish.

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#45

@olpea I’m not sure where you have all checked for buying, but I got most all of my Jersey Giant from simmonsplantfarm $55 for 100 crowns. These were very nice crowns compared to some I got from other places. I have about 140 feet of these. Mine are not single row with mowing space in between though, I put mine 1 foot apart within row and have another row 1 foot from them. I have no problem reaching the center row from either side of my 3 foot wide row. Now maybe I would have problems on a commercial scale though. I once visited a guy with a huge strawberry patch. He said harvesting was the hardest part, just hard on the body and back. He was in the process of making a padded electric platform with wheels outside his rows that he would lay down flat so he could pick strawberries laying down while using his feet for controls. I don’t know if he ever got it completed but interesting concept, not sure why it couldn’t be used for asparagus.

#46

Thank you very much all for the advice.
@Chikn
Phil,

Did you blend your P and K fertilizer’s equally? Then put a quarter inch layer in the hole?

Lastly, I don’t have good access to triple phosphate, do you think DAP is a decent substitute?

#47

DAP is more water soluble, I believe, and may cause a salt issue. If you get your normal rains the ammonium will leach away. P and K were mixed equally. If your trench for the roots is a full 12" you should be ok if you run 4" of soil over the P and K.
The shallower you plant the asp crowns the earlier in the spring they will emerge possibly exposing the spears to frost damage. I always took that risk to be first at market and command higher price although I got frosted 2 out of 3 years. Frost just nips off exposed spears and doesn’t damage the crown.

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#48

Clint,

Did you get very many female crowns mixed in with the male crowns from Simmons?

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#49

I definitely had some, because I remember pulling them, but there wasn’t a bunch. Bindweed has been the only thing that gives me fits in my patch.

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#50

I have had entire beds of asparagus destroyed by gophers. I also suspect ground hogs ruined some. At a former home, I suddenly lost a healthy bed I had nursed from seed in its third year due to rust before ever getting a taste. I have given up on asparagus.

#51

I have never used DAP so I had to look it up.

Info from the manufacturer suggest it gives off ammonia when it dissolves which may be harmful to plants or roots

“As dissolving DAP granules release ammonium, the seedlings and plant roots nearest the volatile ammonia can be harmed. This potential damage more commonly occurs when the soil pH is greater than 7, a condition that often exists around the dissolving DAP granule. To prevent such damage, users should avoid placing high concentrations of DAP near germinating seeds.”

I also read that it has a tendency to reduce the soil PH which may a problem for the asparagus

I forgot to mention that it was common practice to apply lime to the bottom of the furrow along with the superphosphate before planting the crowns in my area by the folks that grew asparagus for the processor

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