Hi All,

I have a question about asparagus harvesting.
Say you have some mature asparagus plants (5 years in the ground)
I've been reading that you should just cut the spears as they come up
and then in late Summer stop cutting to let the plant recover.

Well how about if you let the plant send up one spear and let it leaf
or fern out and let it collect solar energy, generate sugars and feed
the rest of the plant?

Wouldn't you get better tasting spears?

Would you get fewer spears because the plant isn't as "desperate" to
get a fern out?

Jay

A five year old bed can be harvested for about 5 weeks, then any other
asparagus should be allowed to "grow up". Meaning allow it to fully develop
into fern. What this does is allows it to work on it's root system of younger
plants, and allows for seeds to fall and grow into new stalks. Also, any stalk
less than or equal to the diameter of a standard pencil should be allowed to
grow into fern stage, as it is more than likely a younger plant not as
established as most of the others. Cut the shoots between 6 and 8 inches in
length, at or below soil level, and allow plenty of water for your patch. Good
luck--Scott
Hi All,

I have a question about asparagus harvesting.
Say you have some mature asparagus plants (5 years in the ground)
I've been reading that you should just cut the spears as they come up
and then in late Summer stop cutting to let the plant recover.

Well how about if you let the plant send up one spear and let it leaf
or fern out and let it collect solar energy, generate sugars and feed
the rest of the plant?

Wouldn't you get better tasting spears?

Would you get fewer spears because the plant isn't as "desperate" to
get a fern out?

You can harvest an established asparagus bed for 6 to 8 weeks, or even longer. I
harvest mine for about 10 weeks, and it is about 25 years old. Another rule of
thumb is harvest until the spears are consistently about the size of a pencil.
Then let them all grow and get the energy to the roots, and don't cut the fronds
until late winter, until all the fronds are brown.

susan

JJ wrote:

Hi All,

I have a question about asparagus harvesting.
Say you have some mature asparagus plants (5 years in the ground)
I've been reading that you should just cut the spears as they come up
and then in late Summer stop cutting to let the plant recover.

Well how about if you let the plant send up one spear and let it leaf
or fern out and let it collect solar energy, generate sugars and feed
the rest of the plant?

Wouldn't you get better tasting spears?

Would you get fewer spears because the plant isn't as "desperate" to
get a fern out?

Jay

Suppose you let one or two sprouts get away from you and start to fern out, would
this cause any change in the forthcoming sprouts, as far as texture, taste, number
of shoots? I'm new to asparagus and didn't know whether to leave these shoots or
cut them all down during harvest time.
Thanks,
Eileen

Scott wrote:

A five year old bed can be harvested for about 5 weeks, then any other
asparagus should be allowed to "grow up". Meaning allow it to fully develop
into fern. What this does is allows it to work on it's root system of younger
plants, and allows for seeds to fall and grow into new stalks. Also, any stalk
less than or equal to the diameter of a standard pencil should be allowed to
grow into fern stage, as it is more than likely a younger plant not as
established as most of the others. Cut the shoots between 6 and 8 inches in
length, at or below soil level, and allow plenty of water for your patch. Good
luck--Scott
Hi All,

I have a question about asparagus harvesting.
Say you have some mature asparagus plants (5 years in the ground)
I've been reading that you should just cut the spears as they come up
and then in late Summer stop cutting to let the plant recover.

Well how about if you let the plant send up one spear and let it leaf
or fern out and let it collect solar energy, generate sugars and feed
the rest of the plant?

Wouldn't you get better tasting spears?

Would you get fewer spears because the plant isn't as "desperate" to
get a fern out?