Asparagus seeds

Sill from selected female plants - they just sell the boys.... I don't know if there is a smarty pants way that breeders can tell in the first year whether a plant is male or female. I have to wait for flowering to tell the difference. (even that takes experiance.) Sometimes they do flower in year one; but more normally they flower in the second year. You can then just divide and set out the 2 yo crowns

I'm not sure you they really can guarantee the sex of 1 year olds so don't believe everything you are told by suppliers..... Out of the fifty crowns I brought 7 years ago from a 'reputable' supplier as all Dutch f1 hybrid males 7 or 8 were female)

I don't find that much difference in the quality or yield anyway.....(And, as a bonus, I have bred quite a few dozen plants from their seed).....I guess the ongoing trouble is if you let them set seed all over your bed..... As with a weedy bed it gets overcrowded and worked out reducing the quality. At the end of cutting season I look around for any self sets with my normal weed, feed and beetle crushing routine. It also helps to cut out any ferns with berries a bit earlier than November to stop the seed ripening an dropping everywhere.