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Hello all. This year we have finally got our asparagus bed going. I had saved last year's Gardeners World in which Monty showed how to prepare the bed, and followed his instructions to the letter - pretty backbreaking! I dug a trench around 1m wide by 5m long. Added 3 barrows of gravel, 3 barrows of sand and 3 bags of manure, mixed it all up and then made 2 ridges. We planted 10 each of 2 varieties that we got here in France from a very reputable organic online supplier, both 2-yr-old crowns. One is called Lima, supposed to early and vigorous, the crowns were huge and looked very robust. The other is a purple variety called Jacq ma Pourpre, crowns smaller and more fragile looking, but both types had little nubbly heads as they should, so all looked good.
We soaked all for a good hour before planting, then sat them on the ridge and covered with about 5" of soil. This was a good month ago now. To date, there has been no sign of them. Yesterday, getting anxious, I gently dug down to look at a couple - the Lima look exactly the same as the day we planted, no sign of life at all. The JmP was showing the start of a shoot, so that looks to be on the move.
I have no idea how long it should take for asparagus to get going, so should I be worried about the Lima? We are in Brittany, so the weather here has been pretty similar to the UK recently. When we planted it was pretty warm, but soon after we had that very cold spell, so could it just be delayed due to the cold? The last week it has been getting warmer again, so hoping I might see some signs soon. Hoping someone can reassure me, or give me an indication of how long it usually takes for crowns to start growing.
Incidentally, 50 potatoes (Desiree and King Ed's) planted a week later were all up within days and now belting along....
We soaked all for a good hour before planting, then sat them on the ridge and covered with about 5" of soil. This was a good month ago now. To date, there has been no sign of them. Yesterday, getting anxious, I gently dug down to look at a couple - the Lima look exactly the same as the day we planted, no sign of life at all. The JmP was showing the start of a shoot, so that looks to be on the move.
I have no idea how long it should take for asparagus to get going, so should I be worried about the Lima? We are in Brittany, so the weather here has been pretty similar to the UK recently. When we planted it was pretty warm, but soon after we had that very cold spell, so could it just be delayed due to the cold? The last week it has been getting warmer again, so hoping I might see some signs soon. Hoping someone can reassure me, or give me an indication of how long it usually takes for crowns to start growing.
Incidentally, 50 potatoes (Desiree and King Ed's) planted a week later were all up within days and now belting along....
. I did soak them before planting, and they seemed well hydrated. I did water the bed a couple of times, but the soil seemed fairly moist so didn't want to overdo it (I read somewhere not to water too much). Over the last week we've had a fair amount of rain. So I just don't know!
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