Many people have never seen Asparagus growing but it is dead easy. If you've got heavy, clay soil, you'll need to mound the plants up or dig in plenty of organic matter so that it becomes nice and well drained. Let the asparagus grow without harvest and it will produce a ‘fern’, which may be pruned back to the ground in winter after it has yellowed. Asparagus is very hungry and needs plenty of organic matter such as cow manure, sheep manure, or old chook poo.
Asparagus has male and female plants – males grow bigger and produce better spears so female plants, which grow red berries, should be discarded. Plant about 40cm apart. The males have better quality spears and the females produce little red berries in autumn. There is nothing nicer than growing your own crop and taking it fresh to the table. They love soil with a pH of about 6.5 to 7. All rights reserved.
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. They love soil with a pH of about 6.5 to 7. Your first proper harvest will be the second growing season. Apply a generous cover of compost or well-rotted cow manure.
In the second year you may harvest no more than half of the spears, leaving any that are less than 1cm in diameter. You can grow them in a glass jar or a small tray & are great fun for kids. Another way to grow them is by using the Asparagus crown, with its long, fleshy roots. It's a 'tops and bottoms' tale when it comes to artichokes. Yates Thrive Vegie and Herb Concentrate is a complete liquid plant food that provides balanced nutrition. Create a trench about 30 cm wide by 20cm deep, making a mounded ridge in the bottom of the trench. During the growing season, asparagus prefers a temperature of 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and 60 to 70 degrees at night. Asparagus is quite easily grown and when established, will continue to produce for 15-20 years, so it is important to allocate it its own bed, where it will not be disturbed by the comings and goings of short lived annual crops. Asparagus does best in lighter soils that warm up quickly in spring and drain well; standing water will quickly rot the roots. If the roots are damaged cut them back because they are quite fleshy and will come again easily. At other times of the year you may plant asparagus seedlings, however, the advantage of crowns is that they are already two years old and will produce spears for harvest much earlier than a seedling. Create organic nutrient rich soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter for better root growth, stronger plants and more flowers and fruit.
As such their growing…, © 2020 Sustainable Gardening Australia. You need to work compost and manure into the soil so you are adding about one third compost and cow manure to two thirds soil. Once you have finished your harvest, allow the fern to mature until they turn quite yellow and remove them in winter. Ideally, the bed should be raised and of an area large enough to allow the asparagus crowns to be planted 40 cm apart. Winter is the time to plant asparagus crowns, which are simply the roots of a dormant asparagus plant. A favourite vegetable is Asparagus officinalis. There are male and female Asparagus plants. When Asparagus is about four years old the fronds will have produced good, thick, strong roots and a good plant. If you do grow them that way then after planting leave for about two or three years for a strong root system to develop.
When the trench is full, mulch with a thick layer of organic matter (e.g. Asparagus is high in potassium, great for fibre, low in salt, and a terrific, healthy vegetable to grow. As the plant matures you will be able to harvest about 80 per cent of spears over a 10 week period. To plant the crown, make a little mound, like an anthill, at the bottom of the trench.