Last year I planted some asparagus plants which needed a year to become
established well enough to be harvested. This year, all but one appear to be
dead, even though they did pretty well last year.

Planting new by seeds takes three years before first harvest.
So my question is, can store-bought asparagus be sprouted (in water, for
example) and planted, and if so, how soon would it be harvestable?

If not, is mature stock available anywhere?

Thanks in advance...

In article 3e618ec7_2@newsfeed, "Chris" wrote:

Last year I planted some asparagus plants which needed a year to become
established well enough to be harvested. This year, all but one appear to be
dead, even though they did pretty well last year.

Planting new by seeds takes three years before first harvest.
So my question is, can store-bought asparagus be sprouted (in water, for
example) and planted, and if so, how soon would it be harvestable?

If not, is mature stock available anywhere?

Thanks in advance...




You can buy bare root plants from Cook's Garden (cooksgarden.com). I've
also seen them at my local Orchard Supply Hardware on occassion. I
would think that would be faster than seed.

marcella

Where are you?

I have planted two asparagus beds. When I lived in Arkansas (zone 7), it
came up one year the end of February, another year it didnt come up until
the second week in March.

Now I live in Kansas (zone 5). I doubt if I will see anything come up until
sometime in April. I hope not because it will be damaged by frost.

Depending on where you are, yours may still be coming up. I wouldnt give up
on them yet. How long has the one been up?

Store bought asparagus sprouts cannot be sprouted. I would order 2 or 3
year old roots from a mail order place that has them. You wont get any to
eat until the following year. I read where I was supposed to leavet hem
alone unless they are as big as a pencil or bigger.

Good luck. Dwayne







"Chris" wrote in message news:3e618ec7_2@newsfeed...
Last year I planted some asparagus plants which needed a year to become
established well enough to be harvested. This year, all but one appear to
be
dead, even though they did pretty well last year.

Planting new by seeds takes three years before first harvest.
So my question is, can store-bought asparagus be sprouted (in water, for
example) and planted, and if so, how soon would it be harvestable?

If not, is mature stock available anywhere?

Thanks in advance...

In California, about an hour north of Sacramento, where spring is springing.



Frankhartx wrote in message
...
Where are you?

"Chris" wrote in message news:3e62adc7_1@newsfeed...
In California, about an hour north of Sacramento, where spring is
springing.

Hey, it is springing down here in Riverside, California, as well! :-)

Virtually all seed and nursery catlogs sell asparagus crowns by mail. I think
they do best by sewing your own seed, but it does add a year. The first issue
though is to determine why yours died. Did they make good fw\ern-like tops the
year you planted them. If they did they should not be dead. If they are you
need to determine the reason. If they were buried last year as octopus like
crowns and they did not sprout strong tops, then the chances are the crowns
were dead when you got them. Beware that crowns you buy from a home center or
such are not likely to be in good condtion. If they are very limp and shriveled
they are no good. Buy seeds of Jersey Knight all male. and start your own for
the most healthy and productive bed. The bed should be prepared with a lot of
organic matter down deep and the crowns should be planted at the bottom of a
six inch deep trench that you fill in once the tops are a foot high. Really
healthy asparagus tops should be seven to eight feet high and purchased crowns
should go at least four feet the first season. First year seedlings should
go to about thirty inches. Don't waste your time on some old obselete variety
like Washington which is what is likely sold at home centers.
..


In article 3e618ec7_2@newsfeed, says...

Last year I planted some asparagus plants which needed a year to become
established well enough to be harvested. This year, all but one appear to be
dead, even though they did pretty well last year.

Planting new by seeds takes three years before first harvest.
So my question is, can store-bought asparagus be sprouted (in water, for
example) and planted, and if so, how soon would it be harvestable?

If not, is mature stock available anywhere?

Thanks in advance...

My area has had a good bit of trouble keeping asparagus alive from one yr to
another for a variety of reasons .... winters not cold enough ... winter
spurts suddenly too cold so that roots froze, then thawed and rotted ... not
keeping grass out of beds, beds get overgrown and asparagus roots
overwhelmed ... moles, voles, etc. eating roots from underground tunnels ...
too much rain and standing water for too long of a time.

Genevieve in Mississippi

A Good solution to your problem, Genevieve, would be to build a nice
permanent raised bed for your asperagus. I did that in Arkansas with
landscape timbers, and had asparagus to give away. Watering was easy also,
because I designed my raised bed to be as long as my 75 ft soaker hose.
Once a week, unless it was very hot and dry, I would turn the water on for
a couple of hours, until I could stick my finger down into the dirt all the
way and still reach mud.

Dwayne



wrote in message ...
My area has had a good bit of trouble keeping asparagus alive from one yr
to
another for a variety of reasons .... winters not cold enough ... winter
spurts suddenly too cold so that roots froze, then thawed and rotted ...
not
keeping grass out of beds, beds get overgrown and asparagus roots
overwhelmed ... moles, voles, etc. eating roots from underground tunnels
....
too much rain and standing water for too long of a time.

Genevieve in Mississippi

Out here in Riverside, CA, I had a *terrible* time finding asparagus. For
some reason, every garden catalogue I looked at didn't ship asparagus to
California, and none of the local nurseries carried it!! (Strange, because
I believe U.C. Riverside was responsible for "creating" one strain of
asparagus, and it (the campus) is only about 1/2 hour away!!)

I finally bought some at a nursery up north and "smuggled" it back. (No
agricultural checkpoints between northern and sourthern Cal! g) It did
really well its first year, then the dogs ate it all.

On Mon, 3 Mar 2003 07:27:05 -0700, "Dwayne"
wrote:

A Good solution to your problem, Genevieve, would be to build a nice
permanent raised bed for your asperagus. I did that in Arkansas with
landscape timbers, and had asparagus to give away. Watering was easy also,
because I designed my raised bed to be as long as my 75 ft soaker hose.
Once a week, unless it was very hot and dry, I would turn the water on for
a couple of hours, until I could stick my finger down into the dirt all the
way and still reach mud.


I'm trying hard to be able to build raised beds this year
and I'm thinking about landscape timbers.

We can buy them locally - they're unfinished (no creosote or
other nasties). This is good.

Do you know how long they should last before rotting away?
They'll be in contact with the ground of course.

Pat
--
CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/

"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
A Good solution to your problem, Genevieve, would be to build a nice
permanent raised bed for your asperagus. I did that in Arkansas with
landscape timbers, and had asparagus to give away.

Uhhhmmmm, that all had been with raised beds!!

Genevieve in Mississippi

In article , "Genevieve Tharp" writes:
| My area has had a good bit of trouble keeping asparagus alive from one yr to
| another for a variety of reasons .... winters not cold enough ... winter
| spurts suddenly too cold so that roots froze, then thawed and rotted ... not
| keeping grass out of beds, beds get overgrown and asparagus roots
| overwhelmed ... moles, voles, etc. eating roots from underground tunnels ...
| too much rain and standing water for too long of a time.

Of those, the only critical one would be waterlogging. Asparagus
can't stand that. It is a seaside plant and likes a deep, fertile,
but very well-drained soil.

If it was worried by erratic winters, or rain, it would never thrive
in the UK - and it is native to the UK and naturalised in my garden.
Moles don't eat plants, I have never seen voles eat asparagus and
it is not harmed much by grass (being very deep rooted).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computing Service,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QH, England.
Email:
Tel.: +44 1223 334761 Fax: +44 1223 334679

Pat, your landscape timbers wont last over 4 years in the south if they are
untreated. Termites will be in them 10 days after it is warm enough for
them to get out. More North, they could last much longer. If you really
love asparagus, you might consider building a concrete wall around the area
you want your bed to live in. I have a friend here who does that for his
flowers. He has his own cement mixer and apparently all the time and money
he needs. You can even make your cement retaining walls colored by adding
coloring to the wet cement while it is still mixing.

If you decide to go with landscape timbers, I would drill at least 3 holes
in the ones that will be stacked on the top of others. Then get some screws
that are long enough to go completely though the top one and at least an
inch into the one it will be setting on. Make it at least 4 or more timbers
tall. You might line the inside of the timbers with something before adding
your dirt, to help keep the crab grass out. Thanks Genevieve, for reminding
me about that.

In the South, that crab grass takes over everything. I had to cover my
asparagus sprouts with paper cups when they were small and spray the entire
bed to kill the grass. Either that or weed the entire 75 ft bed every few
days.

Here in Kansas, my bed is taller and wider, it has solid sides and the
bottom half is packed with pure cow manure, and the rest is soil and compost
in about a 50/50 mixture.. I have to weed the top part about 5 times a
year.

This year will by it's second year, and I bought 2 year old roots. That
means this year we will be eating good. I planted it last spring and already
I have had the asparagus ferns on stems that were over an inch wide. I
ordered a Jersey hybrid that was all males (Ha Ha). Out of 20 plants at
least two produced seeds.

Have fun. Dwayne






"Pat Meadows" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 3 Mar 2003 07:27:05 -0700, "Dwayne"
wrote:

A Good solution to your problem, Genevieve, would be to build a nice
permanent raised bed for your asperagus. I did that in Arkansas with
landscape timbers, and had asparagus to give away. Watering was easy
also,
because I designed my raised bed to be as long as my 75 ft soaker hose.
Once a week, unless it was very hot and dry, I would turn the water on
for
a couple of hours, until I could stick my finger down into the dirt all
the
way and still reach mud.


I'm trying hard to be able to build raised beds this year
and I'm thinking about landscape timbers.

We can buy them locally - they're unfinished (no creosote or
other nasties). This is good.

Do you know how long they should last before rotting away?
They'll be in contact with the ground of course.

Pat
--
CLICK DAILY TO FEED THE HUNGRY
United States: http://www.stopthehunger.com/
International: http://www.thehungersite.com/