Asparagus Tips advice please

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Oh! and burn the ferns once "Hacked Back" don't compost it, as the adult Asparagus beetle lays it,s eggs in the hollow fern stems, just to safeguard yourself for next season!

[geepee]

Thanks for the advice guys,ferns have just started signs of yellowing now after these lat few frosts.
They wont fall over as I have them supported on canes etc.
Is it time to cut back yet or am I being impatient...???

[BUFFS]

Thanks for the advice guys,ferns have just started signs of yellowing now after these lat few frosts.
They wont fall over as I have them supported on canes etc.
Is it time to cut back yet or am I being impatient...???

get them cut and onto the compost heap to get some benefit from them, and get a compost mulch on the ground to prepare them for next years crop..

[bario1]

Mine are 50/50 green and yellow now so I'm going to cut and mulch the next chance I get.

[geepee]

Cheers for that Buffs and Bario......I'll definitely heed that advice.....just a couple more points...
1. Ive got some super rotted FYM, would you think that would be a good Mulch or should I tone it down a bit my mixing some spent compost with it ..??
2. Is there any danger from Asparagus beetle by composting the Ferns ..??

[BUFFS]

Cheers for that Buffs and Bario......I'll definitely heed that advice.....just a couple more points...
1. Ive got some super rotted FYM, would you think that would be a good Mulch or should I tone it down a bit my mixing some spent compost with it ..??
2. Is there any danger from Asparagus beetle by composting the Ferns ..??

I would put the FYM on @ 2-3ins thick now and by spring the worms will have taken it all down into the soil, they are gross feeders, think of the fuel needed to grow at the rate they do. as regards the beetle , when you put the cut stems onto the heap, just give it a good stir and the scent of it will be reduced/smothered by whatever else is on there, I don't think they will be too active in the present temperatures, its -2deg here at the moment, if you think you may have any on the foliage I would fill a big bin ,dustbin with water, put all the greenery in and put a lid on it, you may need to use a brick to submerge the foliage for about a week, that should kill off any bugs, so the colder the better for this job..

[bario1]

I took a look at mine earlier, to decide whether to cut down the ferns yet or not... and noticed new spears emerging! Is that normal??

[Hereford fruit grower]

Yes, there has been a lot of late growth this year. I had globe artichoke for dinner yesterday. They put up a lot of fresh growth in late summer, when they normally start to die down.

My approach to asparagus is not to take so many shoots that it harms the plant but to take them when they're most valuable, i.e. probably a) very early on and b) very late, when it's out of season. I'd be inclined to pick a few shoots after checking that they're not super-tough. I had some shoots appear in August/September and they were very fibrous, so I left them to grow and they eventually died back like the earlier growth.

[BUFFS]

I took a look at mine earlier, to decide whether to cut down the ferns yet or not... and noticed new spears emerging! Is that normal??

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Wwith the temps so cold I think that will soon stop, but roots do a lot of growing in the winter so get them fed, a mulch may create a bit of heat and cause a bit of growth but just ignore it, it won't come to anything..