asparagus

General tips / questions on seeding & planting

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Urban Fox
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I realise this may be a bit of a - "how long is a piece of string question" - but here goes....

I want to grow asparagus - but how many crowns will I need? Most sellers offer 10 or 12 crowns. But what sort of yield should I expect from that many plants -
once they have had time to mature (ie 2/3 years).

We only need enough to feed two people - maybe a couple of times per week.

I'd be interested to hear what sort of yield other forum members are getting.

many thanks
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Tony Hague
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If they are a good variety, and strong crowns in a good soil, I would imagine 10-12 plants will be enough for you to become thoroughly bored with asparagus by the end of the picking season.

I put in three left over crowns from an experimental bed we planted at work. This is a commercial variety, but I can't remember the name :oops: . It produces nice, thick spears, and with two of us eating it, I don't feel the need for any more.

Mind you, I have planted it next to the compost heap, and it has roots up in it, and presumably enjoys the leachate ... it grows to easily 6' high, probably more.
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Urban Fox
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Thanks for that Tony. Looks like 10 crowns will definitely be enough for myself - the other half and probably the neighbours too. ;-)
Beryl
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I agree with Tony, you can have too much of a good thing. But it is a short season so why not enjoy it. I started with 15 crowns I think I have maybe lost a couple but it is far more than enough for 2 people but I do find it a very acceptable gift to friends and neighbours.

Beryl.
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Remember to mulch well with compost or well rotted manure in autumn and you will be rewarded by nice spears the following year, I find parsley makes a good companion between the rows. :)
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Johnboy
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Hi NB,
Whereas I appreciate your method of growing I would suggest that a bed designated to Asparagus alone to be best practice.
Certainly Asparagus needs a very good autumn feed which is again best practice.
I would suggest that growing other plants among the Asparagus as not good practice.
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Beryl
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I have to agree with JB on this one NB. Asparagus makes such a lot of dense root, I think by planting in between you would be disturbing the root system. A separted bed is best and other than mulching and hand weeding,your plants will give you 20 years or more of a delicious veg.

Beryl.
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John Walker
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Each situation is different. On a field scale, growing asparagus as a monoculture and keeping weeds down with a weedkiller might work best, but in a garden setting things are more flexible. In a small garden especially, 'undercropping' asparagus might be the best way to make best use of limited space (undercropping is combining taller and shorter plants).

Indeed, vegetable gardening expert Joy Larkcom, in her must-read The Organic Salad Garden (page 98), where she discusses undercropping, suggests parsley as one of the plants to grow among asparagus:
"Asparagus is another plant with airy foliage that casts little shade, so you can use the ground beneath for small plants like corn salad and seedling crops. I have found that parsley does well in an asparagus bed: a few plants left to seed more or less perpetuate themselves."
And of course there is the added extra with parsley: if you let it flower it will attract beneficial, pest-eating insects, such as hoverflies, which benefit the wider garden ecosystem.
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Tony Hague
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Either Joy Larkcom's asparagus lacks the vigour mine has, or she puts the rows a long way apart. The foliage on mine is well higher than the 5' fence behind it, and is pretty dense. I can't see anything doing well under it. I'm sure that I've read that asparagus roots secrete something growth supressing too.
Colin Miles
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See Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

I make no comment! Tony, there does seem to be quite a lot about asparagus both as an inhibitor to plants and tumours, and being inhibited, so what the reality is in any of this is anyones guess. Companion planting can be a bit iffy, scientifically speaking.
Beryl
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I agree with Tony and Colin. But acknowledge Joy Larkins experience. The fern on my asparagus is so dense even the weeds don't grow beneath it.

Beryl.
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Tigger
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We've got two established beds of about 8 by 8 crowns in each, plus another new bed the same size. Whilst we are only 2 folk and agree that we can easily tire of the new crop, it's a great product to give away.

We don't undercrop but we do break the fern stems over at the height of summer to create a canopy which restricts further growth but promotes new seedlings. Then we cut everything down in November and weed each plot.
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