Any one fancy a bet?

[Barry]

Ignoring the old addage that you should never move established asparagus crowns -although an American website claimed you should actually divide crowns after a few years to promote growth- I have moved 90% of my plants to an entirely new allotment site. Who wants to bet they survive and thrive and who would put serious money on them dying? We'll know the result in April...

[oldherbaceous]

Good morning Barry, as i always try to look on the bright side of life, i'm going to say they are going to thrive, and you can look foward to some excellent asparagus in years to come.

[Jenny Green]

What were they like when you dug them up, Barry? I've heard that the roots can reach for several feet in established plants. Did you have to damage the roots very much to move them?

[Johnboy]

Hi Barry,
You can transplant them as much as you like and they will live and they will produce some spears but transplanted Asparagus does not have the vibrancy of one or two year old plants. If you think it worth a trial by all means do so but why wait a couple of years to find out that you are going to get mediocre crops when by planting some new plants and waiting the same amount of time you could almost be assured of years of splendid crops.
To me, for not too much expense for new plants, it is just not worth trying.
JB.

[Barry]

I had to damange the outer roots to dig the plants out, which was a real pity, but I didn't want to leave anything behind when I moved, since people I don't particularly like would have benefited from my hard labour over the past few years!
Johnboy, I am going to create a second bed of asparagus on my new plot, into which I will put lots of one-year old plants (can you commercially buy anything more than a one-year old plant?). So, I shall have back-up of sorts.
Why is it that transplanted older plants don't flourish?

[Wellie]

Stress and Stress.
No question of a doubt.....
Very good luck with it all though

[Johnboy]

Hi Barry,
Like you I have been on the night shift. Watching the Lunar Eclipse which sadly was almost through and got hidden in thick cloud.
Asparagus from the commercial houses used to be two year old plants, especially the all male varieties, but Moles only offer one year old plants now.
Their minimum quantity is 25 plants but compared to Home Catalogues these prices are quite reasonanble.
F1 all male varieties Gijnlim, Theilim and Millenium and non F1 Crimson Pacific.
£17.95.(25) £30.75.(50) £56.50.(100)
Connover's Colossal ££13.50.(25) £23.10.(50)
£42.50 (100).
I know many people who have tried transplanting and none have been successful. As previously stated I do not think the plant has the vigour to start all over again. I really do not know the reason why. Refer to their maker. (and yours)
Regards,
JB.

[cevenol jardin]

Not realising Asparagus was not supposed to fair well being transplanted i did it a couple of years ago. I found what i thought was wild asparagus growing on one of our terraces below the fruit trees. It was skinny and poor and i thought i would lift all i could find and start a proper asparagus bed. That was april 2004 the plant took well and last year produced very thick tasty spears. It turned out these were cultivated asparagus planted some 15 years ago by the previous owners and left to fend for themselves.
I guess this was a no risk strategy as the plants were not doing well where they were and i didn't know what they were. I just wanted to tell you about them Barry as a word of encouragement as they have all recovered now and i am expecting the first proper crop this spring after the huge ferns they produced last year.

[Barry]

CJ, thanks for the encouragement. On a neighbouring allotment, I have seen similar lanky ferns protruding from the soil and am going to keep an eye on them in the spring. I am also going to take Johnboy's advice and start another bed. I suspect success in transplanting relies on your getting as much of the original plant out as possible; the more disruption, the worse the crowns fairs. Well done on keeping your's alive!

[Johnboy]

Hi Barry,
Oh how I wish you prove me to be wrong on this.
Lets keep our fingers crossed.
Regards,
JB.

[oldherbaceous]

Barry please treat the Asparagus with all the tender care it deserves, not that i'm a bad loser or anything.

[cevenol jardin]

Forgot to mention that last year i set about increasing the asparagus beds by growing my own crowns from seed last winter. The plants germinated well but were pretty small by the end of the season, with ferns only about 30cm high. Does anyone know if that is to be expected. I have had them in a seed bed all this time maybe i should have transferred them to a proper richly prepared asparagus bed - what do you think?

[Barry]

OK, purged the neighbourhood of virgins, all now sacrificied in order to keep the asparagus going...

[June]

I'm now watching this thread with interest as I posted an earlier question about moving my asparagus from home to the allotment. I decided against it on balance and am about to have my first go at asparagus from seed. I did intend keeping them in pots this year rather than a seed bed-hope this works!
June

[cevenol jardin]

I was thinking about the issue of moving asparagus today and was struck with the thought that when you buy crowns i can only asume they have been dug up - ?

I saw a pile of crowns at our local agricultural store and it did seem a little harsh - dry roots tied up no moisture - surely crowns suffer from with that kind of treatment. When i lifted mine and moved them it was about 3 hours all in before they were safely tucked up in a bed.

PS Today I noticed my asparagus from seed have started to sprout - think i will set them out in the asparagus bed.

Anybody got any ideas?