Asparagus Plants
Asparagus Plants Are Easy To Grow
There are both edible and ornamental varieties of asparagus plants. This discussion is limited to the former. Asparagus is a very popular vegetable, and is an interesting plant to grow. It is a perennial, and once established, can be harvested for quite a few years.
Asparagus plants take a little patience as far as getting started is concerned. The edible stalks get their nourishment from the root system, and to get a decent harvest, the root system has to be allowed to grow large enough to provide sufficient nutrition to the stalks. If planted as roots, you'll have to wait until the following year before you can begin to harvest the stalks. If you plant from seed, a two or three year wait is required.
Even so, the first harvest is not apt last for long, perhaps for no more than about 4 weeks, and the number of stalks which can be harvested at any one time may not be great. The stalks need to be harvested while the tips are still tight, before they begin to branch out. Once the stalks start to become thin, harvesting should stop. At this point, the supply of nutrients from the root system is becoming exhausted. The stalks need to be allowed to grow and fan out, for the remainder of the growing season. The mature stalks will then feed nutrients into the root system for next year's harvest.
The second year's harvest will last longer, as the asparagus plants now have a larger root system. You may now be able to harvest the stalks for 8 to 10 weeks, and your yield, on a daily basis, should be larger than that of year before. From this point on, you should be able to look forward to a good crop year after year.
Three of the more popular varieties of asparagus plants are Jersey Knight, Purple Passion, and Mary Washington. The shoot tips of the Jersey Knight variety tend to stay tight longer, allowing you to harvest longer stalks. Purple Passion is desirable due to the fact that it is sweeter in taste than its green counterparts. The most popular variety in the United States is Mary Washington, which does particularly well in colder climates.
Regardless of which variety you choose, the method of planting is the same. Most gardeners like to start their asparagus plants from roots. A one-foot wide trench is dug to a depth of about 10 inches. Roots are placed in the trench at 18 inch intervals. The roots are then covered with about 2 inches of dirt. As stalks emerge, more dirt is added, but the tips of the stalks should not be covered. Eventually the trench will be filled, and your job now is to make certain you keep the plants watered through the growing season, so you can begin harvesting the following spring.
Since mature asparagus plants can grow to 3 or 4 feet in height, and are quite attractive as ornamentals at that stage, you might want to take this fact into account when selecting your planting location.