How to Grow Asparagus

Abigal Gordon's Home Grown Asparagus

Asparagus is an easily grown long lived perennial, given proper care - asparagus plants can be productive for over a decade.  But ..  It takes at least two years and sometimes up to three years to establish an asparagus patch.

 

Planting and Transplanting

Spacing Asparagus plants

Fertilizing

Watering

 

Weeding

Varieties of Asparagus

Common Pests and Diseases

Harvesting Asparagus

 

 

Planting Asparagus

          

 

Plant asparagus in early spring, after the soil has warmed up to about 50 degrees F. There is no advantage to planting the crowns earlier in cold, wet soils. They will not grow until the soil warms and there is danger of the plants being more susceptible to disease if crowns are exposed to cold, wet soils over a prolonged period.

 

Plant the asparagus where it will not shade the other vegetables and will not be injured when the rest of the garden is tilled.

 

You can start asparagus from seed, but germination is slow (four weeks or more), and weeds are difficult to control in young seedlings. Plants grown from seed indoors can be transplanted -the following spring -to a permanent location .

 

It is more advisable to start from "crowns" .  Choose large, one-year-old crowns if possible. They transplant easier, produce plants as vigorous as two-year-old crowns and are less expensive.

 

 

Site Selection is critical for asparagus .  Select an area that is free of perennial weeds . Asparagus prefers a loamy soil that is well drained. If possible start to prepare a site 1 year in advance of planting by turning the soil and adding compost. Check your soil pH , and be sure there is plenty of well rotted organic matter present.


Space asparagus crowns 12 inches to 18 inches apart in the row. When you want more than one row, space rows 4 feet to 6 feet apart.
 

Traditionally, crowns are planted in a deep trench or furrow. Recent research shows no benefit from planting crowns deeper than 4 inches to 6 inches in the trench. Spread out the fleshy roots at the bottom of the furrow. Lightly cover the crown with soil. Gradually fill in the furrow as shoots emerge. Never completely bury the developing asparagus fern.

Do not compact the soil over the newly filled furrow or the emergence of the asparagus will be severely reduced. Spears should emerge within one week in moist soils.

 

By mid-season of the planting year, a ridge forms that is 4 inches to 6 inches high and 2 feet wide over the asparagus crowns. Maintain this ridge for the duration of the planting.

To plant asparagus, dig a trench 6-8  inches deep , wide enough to spread out the roots of the crown in the trench bottom.

 

Place the crown in the bottom of the trench - buds  upward.  Cover the crowns with 2 inches of soil. As the plants grown, additional soil should be added to the trench until it is completely filled at the end of the first season. Deep planting will allow for easier cultivation without injury to the plants.   

 

 
Watering

Moisture during the summer is critical to keep the plants healthy because next year's crop is directly related to health of the fern growth after the spears have been harvested in the present year. Asparagus is very drought tolerant and will generally survive without supplemental watering. It seeks moisture deep in the soil. However, if rainfall is insufficient when planting or afterwards, it is beneficial to irrigate the crowns. Otherwise the plants will become stressed and growth will be impeded.

The incidence of disease can be reduced by proper spacing and by watering early in the day so leaves dry quickly or by using soaker hoses. Inexpensive Water timer systems are available .

 

Self Coiling Hoses

 

 

 

Weed control      

Control weeds by hand-pulling or shallow cultivation to avoid injury to the plant roots.

In a small planting, it's more practical to control weeds through shallow cultivation by hoeing. Using an organic mulch such as grass clippings that have not been treated with a herbicide also helps control weeds. . If perennial grasses and broadleaf weeds have gotten out of control, use glyphosate (Roundup) before spears emerge in the spring.  During harvest keep cultivation shallow to prevent damaging the spears that have emerged. Organic mulches may be used to inhibit weeds

Common table salt once was used to control weeds in asparagus. But is no longer recommended.  Although asparagus is more tolerant of high salt levels in the soil than most plants, the sodium in table salt can permanently destroy the soil structure.

 

 

Fertilizer     

Fertilize annually . Immediately after harvest apply about 2 pounds of a 5-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet , or spread well rotted manure, or  Liquid Fish Concentrate  over the bed.  You may add additional well-rotted manure or compost in late fall.

 

Lime and fertilizer applications are best based on a soil test. In general, two pounds each of actual nitrogen, phosphorus (P2O5), and potash (K2O) per 1,000 square feet of garden space is adequate

 

See Gurney's Asparagus Food Fertilizer which is formulated specifically for Asparagus.

 

 



Recommended Varieties of Asparagus for Home Growers

 Asparagus plants are either male or female. The female plants bear seeds, and sprout new seedlings which takes considerable energy from the plant and causes overcrowding in the bed. Male plants obviously do not, produce thicker, they put no energy into seeds and produce larger spears because of this.

The following are my personal favorites, you of course may prefer to scan any of the many online nurseries and seed catalogs.

All Male Varieties   Mixed Varieties

Jersey King - All male--yields twice what male/female asparagus types do. Bears bigger, more tender spears, too. No "volunteers" to draw insects. Resists fusarium wilt, root rot and rust.

 

 
  Mary Washington - Tightly budded stalks hold at peak quality and flavor over an extra-long cutting period. Rich emerald-green spears are extremely uniform in size, with delicate taste steamed or blanched.
 

Jersey Knight - Prolific all-male strain should please even the most ardent asparagus fan! Spear tips stay tight past the harvest- green, sweet and tender. Rust resistant.

   

Purple Passion Larger, sweeter and tastier spears than the more common green types. Produces for years. Stalks turn green when cooked.

Seed & Nursery Catalogs

 

DirectGardening.com

Gardener's Supply at SHOP.COM

Burpees

Hirts

Ferry Morse

Mastergardening.com

Indoor gardens

Fruit & Vegetable Sale

 

Pests and Diseases Common to Asparagus Plants
 

Asparagus Beetles 

Asparagus beetle adults are a blue/black beetle with a red underside and yellow spots. The larvae are a soft, green /Yellow grub. Both feed on asparagus spears by chewing the tips and spear surfaces which leads to scarring and staining of the spears.

Eggs are laid on developing spears with the eggs being small, elongated and black - sticking out lengthwise from the side of asparagus spears.

 

 

Early control of beetles is important to reduce feeding damage later. The first defense once there presence has been detected is  Liquid Rotenone/Pyrethrin 8 oz

Malathion Spray, will provide an effective chemical control in the event of severe chronic infestation .

Effective Predator insects are Lady Bugs and Lace wings

 

 

Fusarium Root and Crown Rot  [Image]

The major disease problem of asparagus is caused by two species of fungi  which causes decay of storage roots, stems and crowns. This fungus is present in all agricultural soils and infects corn, grasses, and related plants as well as asparagus.

The fungus colonizes old roots and crowns, invading directly through root tips or through wounds  Asparagus plants which are under stress are more susceptible to this infection than those which are growing vigorously.

Affected spears may shrivel and rot in spring before or after emergence  Infected crowns have hollow, rotted feeder and storage roots . When crown and stem tissue is sliced open, a reddish-brown discoloration is visible. Symptoms on fern includes stunting, yellow to brown discoloration of one or more stalks per crown, and fewer stalks per crown . Affected crowns decline in vigor and die.
 

Cercospora leaf spot is caused by a fungus , it affects all foliar parts of the plant but not the roots. Infection usually first occurs on young leaves in the margins. Lesions are small and round with a tan to back center and an indefinite yellow halo. Many spots on one leaf can cause withering and death. Infection of the leaf stalks results in pale centered, elliptical tan lesions. Disease development is favored under warm and humid weather.  [ Bonide Remedy Fungicide ]

Cercospora Asparagi / Needle blight  may  become a problem when asparagus foliage remains wet for long periods. Plant with wide spacings and in a location with good air circulation to help prevent needle blight development.  [ Bonide Remedy Fungicide ]

 

Asparagus Rust  [Image]

"Asparagus spears are usually harvested before extensive rust symptoms appear. Symptoms are first noticeable on the growing shoots in early summer as light green, oval lesions, followed by tan blister spots and black, protruding blisters later in the season.

There are three distinct stages of rust disease. In the first stage, occurring from April to July, lesions develop. These oval lesions are raised, light green in color, and 10-20 mm in length . The lesions are sometimes inconspicuous and decrease in number from the base of the shoots upward. The lesions turn cream-orange in color and become sunken in the center as they mature. During summer months, the second stage of rust disease begins as reddish-brown, blister-like pustules develop on the asparagus shoots . When the pustules mature, they release large numbers of rust-colored spores that cause new infections throughout the summer. Reddish, rust-colored, powdery spores are seen when rubbed against light-colored clothing. Later in the season the third stage replaces rust-colored spores with black, over-wintering spores. In some lesions, both reddish-brown and black spores appear together. Plants affected by rust are more susceptible to Fusarium crown and root rot.

Spores overwinter on host plant residue, germinate in early spring, and produce new infections on growing asparagus spears. The light green, oval lesions are surrounded by a concentric ring pattern. In young plantings, before stalks are harvested, lesions develop yellow spore-bearing structures in concentric rings. "    Plant Pathology University of Minnesota

See Also : Diseases of Asparagus : Ontario Ministry of Agriculture

 

Botrytis blight or gray mold is " a fungus disease which infects a wide array of herbaceous annual and perennial plants. There are several species of the fungus Botrytis which can cause blights; the most common is Botrytis cinerea. Botrytis infections are favored by cool, rainy spring and summer weather usually around 15C (60F). Gray mold can be particularly damaging when rainy, drizzly weather continues over several days."  .... Cornell University Botrytis blight Fact Sheet

Powdery Mildew   "appears as a dusty white to gray coating over leaf surfaces or other plant parts . In most cases this fungal growth can be partially removed by rubbing the leaves. It might be identified incorrectly as dust that has accumulated on the leaves. Powdery mildew, however, will begin as discrete, usually circular, powdery white spots. As these spots expand they will coalesce, producing a continuous matt of mildew (similar to dirt or dust). A plant pathologist using a microscope can determine whether a fungus is present anytime the whitish patches are present." [Cornell University Powdery Mildew]  There are a number of products which can be utilized to control and eradicate Powdery Mildew [View Products] .

 

 

 Cultural Practices to minimize Disease and Insect problems in Asparagus

1. ] Purchase vigorous, healthy crowns from a reputable supplier. Asparagus, being susceptible to diseases,

viruses and insects, some varieties have been bred or hybridized to be resistant to certain pests.

Resistance to these pests is usually listed on the plant label using the following abbreviations:

V = Verticillium Wilt
F = Fusarium Wilt
FF = Fusarium Wilt race 1 and 2
N = Nematode
T = Tobacco Mosaic Virus
A = Alternaria (Early Blight)
TSW = Tomato Spotted Wilt

Remember that resistance to these problems does not mean they are 100 % immune,

good cultural practices are still important.

 

2.] Crop Rotation in your garden planting area

3.] Remove and destroy all plant refuse in the fall and use deep cultivation to bury any remaining refuse.

4.] Do not place diseased plants in the compost heap, as this will only serve to carry bacterial or

fungal infestation into the next growing season.

5.] Avoid over watering . Use surface watering methods. Do not handle plants when the vines are wet.

6.] Weeds compete with vegetables for soil moisture and nutrients and also serve as hosts for insects

and disease carrying bacteria and fungus. Control weeds in and around  the garden .

7.]  Control insect pests such as aphids, which are known to transmit diseases  from plant to plant.

8.]  Use plastic or organic mulches to reduce disease and blossom-end rot problems.

9.]  Choose a sunny location for your tomatoes. Leaf disease problems are much less likely  to occur in a

sunny location than in a shady one.

10.] Apply  recommended fungicides according to label directions at the first sign of leaf spot diseases

 

11.] Remove abnormal or unhealthy appearing plants as soon as they are observed.  To reduce the

spread of suspected diseases wash hands and tools with a mild detergent after handling suspect plants.


Harvesting  

Do not harvest asparagus the first season after planting crowns,  It takes at least two years and sometimes up to three years to establish an asparagus patch.  It can be harvested for a short time (not to exceed two weeks) the second year. Puny plants and small spears result from excessive harvesting , and early harvesting. The second year after planting the crowns, harvest asparagus from 6 to 8 weeks annually. Weak plants should either not be harvested or harvested for less time.

Exercise care in cutting the spears to prevent damage to those spears that have not yet emerged. Cut or snap the spears at ground level. This practice eliminates the possibility of damaging other spears.
 


 

 

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