Asparagus "Cito"

[Meschuee]

Hello.

I live in Wiltshire and plan to grow asparagus for the first time. I've three plants in pots waiting to be planted, two of them have spears appearing. I've dug a trench and put composted manure and blood fish & bone fertilizer in it and am waiting for a delivery, tomorrow, of grit and sand to incorporate in the clay soil of the garden. A friend had a bad experience growing asparagus, her plants rotting. I hope I'm doing all I can to help the plants. Do you have any advice? Should I put them in the trench and fill it completely, or cover the roots with a couple of inches of soil and gradually, over two weeks, fill in the trench as the asparagus grows?

Thank you.

Penny

[zazen999]

Hi

I've moved your thread out of Growing Techniques into an appropriate board.

Many Thanks

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...here_4846.html

[Meschuee]

Thank you.

Penny Wave, Wave, Andrea

[Paulottie]

Good evening Penny,

Welcome to the vine.

On a heavy soil you should not grow them in a trench but rather built up a mound...bit like earthing up spuds.

Never mind work not wasted...it is good to have deeply dug the soil and the grit will help drainage and muck to improve the soil. They'll be there 20 years +.....Fill in your trench and form a 2" high ridge at original soil level then lay out your crowns like a spider on the soil....don't plant rootball as is from pot....and don't let them dry out.

Next cover with two inches of soil...(pack a bit of compost round crown to protect shoots)....When ferns are going add another two inches of mulch and again 2 when you cut down ferns in November and so on....you'll need to keep an eye on rain eroding the ridge.... in a few years you'll end up with crowns about 8" down.

Get a few more crowns. 3's a bit mean! a dozen would yield a more useable amount....(or sow seed to increase bed next year)

Good luck.

[Meschuee]

Thank you, Paul, for the advice. I'll have fun mixing the excavated soil with the grit and sand and refilling the trench. I could only afford three plants (at nearly £7 a time, they took up my spare cash). I'll certainly have a go at sowing seed. Will look it up on the internet.

Penny

[Paulottie]

£ 7 !!! ouch! I have seed if you PM me.... You should be able to buy bare rooted crowns for about a quid each at this time of year though.

[Demeter]

I also have seed (Connover's Colossal) - sowed a bunch last year and now have 1yo asparagus coming out of my ears!
PM me if anyone wants it.

[bazzaboy]

There's something not quite right here (not least the price) - I keep starting a response and then crossing it out.... 'Cito' is an early variety so M, were these supplied to you as bare rooted crowns which you've temporarily potted or as grown modules in compost blocks? And you're intending to plant in a raised bed? b.

[Meschuee]

Re. the "Asparagus Adventure".

I have the asparagus in a raised bed. I did as suggested above and filled the trench, mixing sand and grit, made a ridge on the top and put in the crowns and will build up the ridge as they grow. The crowns were in individual pots and at least a year old. That was the price for each plant.

I'd like seed very much, thank you, both.

I'll send my address in a p.m.





Penny

[JimmerG]

Penny,

Having looked at your photo's - I reckon each of your pots may hold more than one crown. I have only limited experience with these plants - so someone else might help me out here, but there just looks like far too many roots and shoots crowded into one place - for one crown.

Could this be why they were so expensive?

Anyone else?

[PoshCloche]

Hello,
Can I also ask an asparagus question. When am I likely to see the first spears appear from one year old crowns planted last autumn? I expected to see some by now but have a horrible feeling my chickens may have eaten them all.

[Meschuee]

Ah, that might be the case, Jimmerg - if so I will have to dig them up again and divide them. I'll wait and see what is said.

The ones I bought, PoshCloche, have spears appearing, one was two inches in height, so it could be that your chickens have had a nice meal.

Penny

[Demeter]

Hello,
Can I also ask an asparagus question. When am I likely to see the first spears appear from one year old crowns planted last autumn? I expected to see some by now but have a horrible feeling my chickens may have eaten them all.

Depends on the weather, the variety etc. It also depends how deeply they were planted. (Mine that I grew from seed sprouted during the warm spell we had a two or three weeks ago, but the crown of the plant was only 1 or 2 cm below the top of the compost. If you planted yours deeper than that then they will take a bit longer to come up.)

It's also worth bearing in mind that the first ferns can be very spindly, the thickest that I have seen on mine were maybe 2mm in diameter. I would not have noticed them if I hadn't actually inspected the pots, if they had been in the ground no chance. Indeed, the only way I can tell where I've planted them is by getting down on my hands and knees and squinting at the general area where I think I planted them lol.

So don't shoot the chooks yet

[PoshCloche]

So don't shoot the chooks yet

Laugh. Ok the Chickens live another day and I will check ...this time with glasses on to see if anything has grown.

[bazzaboy]

Good pix, Penny, also on your Webshots. But I still feel a bit confused.... I can't quite read all the label, are they from Highfield Nurseries? Are those instructions for planting on the pot and if not could you ring your supplier to check on various aspects (before disturbing the roots/crowns again) such as are these multiple crowns they recommend separating etc? Your attention to their growing conditions is spot on and deserves to succeed - the whole raised bed (on another pic) would make an excellent asparagus bed (usually separated from other crops to minimise root disturbance and stray weeds). Hope that's helpful, I imagine you'd like to get these roots/crowns settled in and be able to move on to something else! b.