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Asparagus planting

• Message 1. 

  Posted by quarryroad (U15140305) on Saturday, 11th February 2012

  I have bought some asparagus and want to know when is the best time to plant and what conditions does it need. . This is the first time I will be attempting to grow this crop on my allottment, which has clay soil. I am also after some asparagus peas...

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• Message 2

  , in reply to message 1.

  Posted by Italophile (U12516505) on Sunday, 12th February 2012

  Spring is the time to plant but you need to do a lot of prep first. Asparagus beds, all being well, can last for 20 or more years, it's hard to improve them later with the crop in situ, so the better you build them now, the more productive they should be over a long period.
  
  For starters, calculate on planting the crowns about 18" to 2 feet apart. Dig in as much compost, aged manure, and other organic material as you can. You're investing in the plants' future. Dig it down at least a foot.
  
  Then dig a trench a foot or more wide and about 9" deep. Create small mounds of soil in the bottom of the trench where you want to plant the crowns, sit the crowns on top of the mounds and spread the roots out evenly around the mound. The growing tip of the crown should be above the roots.
  
  Cover the tops of the crowns with a couple of inches of the rich soil you've excavated for the trench. As they grow, pushing up through the soil, keep covering them until the soil is back up to ground level. Some people fill in the trench in one hit. It works, too. The only trap to avoid is having the crowns buried too deeply.
  
  Keep the bed well watered through the summer if it's dry. And do your best to keep the bed weed-free. Weeds - and some pests - are the enemy. In late autumn or early winter, the ferns will turn brown - as if dying off - from the cold. When they're brown - and not before - cut everything down to about an inch above the ground and cover with soil for protection during the winter. I mix in some pelleted chook poo with the covering soil too.
  
  Beyond that, it's a matter of patience. Most varieties shouldn't be harvested till the second growing season.

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• Message 3

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  Posted by pjgolf (U2469936) on Monday, 13th February 2012

  Great reply by Italophile !
  
  I would only add that if you can resist it, only harvest a few spears the second year and then cut as many as you want in the 3rd year.
  I did this with mine and the bed is cropping really well and now into it`s 5th year.
  
  PJ

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• Message 4

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  Posted by orto (U15100860) on Monday, 13th February 2012

  I have bought some asparagus and want to know when is the best time to plant and what conditions does it need. . This is the first time I will be attempting to grow this crop on my allottment, which has clay soil. I am also after some asparagus peas...   don't do what I did last year, never planted aapargus before - so did my best - then wondered why they look like wigs sticking out of the ground. Back in the house - checked the 'how to be an allotment expert' book and I had planted them upside down !!
  
  Luckily they survived the experience

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• Message 5

  , in reply to message 4.

  Posted by sparklepinksunflower (U10977805) on Tuesday, 28th February 2012

  I have bought some asparagus and want to know when is the best time to plant and what conditions does it need. . This is the first time I will be attempting to grow this crop on my allottment, which has clay soil. I am also after some asparagus peas...   don't do what I did last year, never planted aapargus before - so did my best - then wondered why they look like wigs sticking out of the ground. Back in the house - checked the 'how to be an allotment expert' book and I had planted them upside down !!
  
  Luckily they survived the experience  LMAO- Orto - we have all done things like that
  
  Will be preparing my asparagus bed in the next couple of weeks and can't wait
  sps xx

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• Message 6

  , in reply to message 5.

  Posted by germinator (U13411914) on Wednesday, 25th April 2012

  My asparagus is starting to sprout, but there seems to be only one of the ~12 crowns which I have planted over the years, which now remains; I have never noticed any soil pests, apart from the occasional slug and vine weevil grub.

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