Asparagus

Asparagus

Many In The Quad Cities Love Their Fresh Asparagus

It takes a few years to get an asparagus bed firmly established. Once a healthy patch is started it may live for a very long time. Plan on harvesting about 3 to 4 lbs. per 10 ft. row of asparagus.

Planting

Do not locate a new Asparagus bed in the same soil you used to have an old asparagus bed or corn. Find a new location. The old bed very likely has a lot of Fusarium fungi in it. This would also be a bed place to put tomatoes.
Soil must be well drained and in full sun. If you do not have the sandy soil asparagus loves, plant in hills so that water drains rapidly from the roots.
Asparagus loves a high pH of about 7.0. It will grow in a lower pH, but you will have a greater risk of Fusarium Root Rot, the biggest enemy to asparagus.
Plant crowns from mid-April to late May, when soil is 50 degrees. Planting in cold and wet soil increases the risk of Fusarium.
It is not advisable to try to grow asparagus from seed. Your best chance of success is with year old crowns.
In sandy soil plant crown in a trench 8-10" deep. In clay soil make the trench 6" deep. Rows should be 4 to 5 feet apart. Crowns should be 8" to 12" apart.
Put 2 lbs. superphosphate (0-20-2) fertilizer per 50 ft. row in the trench before planting. Do not use a lot of balanced fertilizer in the trench as nitrogen and potassium may burn the roots. The phosphate is believed to reduce transplant shock and assist root development.
Cover the crown with about 3" soil. In 6 weeks add annother 3" soil. The last 3" should be applied after dormancy in the fall.
Treat plants with Fertilome Root Stimulator throughout the season. Root Stimulator reduces the risk of transplant shock.

Harvest

With proper care, your asparagus bed can last 15 years or more.
If you get a late season frost damage, throw away the damaged spears.
Do not harvest your asparagus the first year or two years after planting.
The third year you can begin to harvest for about two weeks. Second year of harvesting pick for about four weeks. Third year of harvesting (five years after planting) you should be able to safely pick for the full season of six weeks.
When harvesting, pick all spears, regardless of size. The thinner spears, whips, are tougher than the fat spears, but pick anyway. Allowing spears to go to fern while harvesting makes a home for beetles.
It is best to harvest in the morning when it is cool so your asparagus will keep longer.
When you have finished harvest, cut all spears off at ground level. Fertilize. Spray Kilz-All on the patch, making sure no green growth of asparagus is showing. The Kilz-All will kill all weeds.

Growing

When you have stopped harvesting, let the spears sprout and grow into fern like plants. They will provide food for the crown of the plant.
Never prune or cut back the ferns.
Do not encourage late season growth. Stop fertilizing and watering in August.
Using salt to control weeds is not practical and has long term soil hazzards.
Tilling is not desirable as weed control. However, if you must, do your tilling as early as possible and as shallow as you can.
Apply 3 to 5 inches of straw as organic mulch once the ferns have started growing to reduce weed growth.
Cutworm problems may be treated with Carbaryl. You must wait 24 after application before harvest.
Purple spot and rust are diseases of the leaves. Clear leaves from your garden at the beginning of the growing season to prevent carry over. Prune plants around the patch so that wind is able to dry the asparagus ferns. Apply fungicide during the summer to diseased plants.
Main soil enemy to asparagus is Fusarium root rot. Best defense is keeping your plant crowns healthy so they can fight off attack and locating in a well drained area to start with.

For more information:

http://www.asparagus.org/maab/homeGarden.html?id=771

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1603.html

http://www.public.iastate.edu/-taber/Extension/Asparagus/asparagus.htm