Asparagus officinalis
Asparagus
Common names: Vegetable asparagus, White asparagus, Green asparagus
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 40 cm, rows 120 cm
- Lifespan
- Perennial
- Harvest
- Apr–Jun
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −20 °C
- Water need
- Medium
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Evelyn Simak · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Asparagus officinalis is a long‑lived perennial that can be harvested after patiently growing for fifteen years or more. In spring, slender shoots emerge from the rootstock; these are harvested as white asparagus when still underground or allowed to grow above ground as green asparagus. Planting it is an investment that pays off over a decade.
Care instructions
Plant young seedlings in spring in a deep, sandy‑humus trench and gradually cover them with soil. For the first two years, do not harvest any shoots to allow the plant to strengthen. From the third year onward, harvest from mid‑April to no later than 24 June (week 26), then allow the foliage to grow for the next season.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestApr–Jun
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
sandy, loamy, humus-rich, well-drained, nutrient-rich
Asparagus roots down to a metre deep, so it needs a deeply loosened, well-drained sandy or loamy sand soil without waterlogging. If the groundwater lies higher than about one metre below the surface, the site is unsuitable. The ideal pH depends on the soil type (on pure sand rather acidic at around 5.5 to 6.2, on sandy loam up to neutral at around 7.0); lime only after a soil test.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar, Jun, Jul
Before planting, work mature compost or well-rotted farmyard manure deep into the planting trench. From the second year in place, spread compost shallowly around the rows in spring (March, at the start of growth) and rake it in lightly; the second and more important feed follows straight after the end of harvest (end of June/July) with compost and horn shavings, because now the plant builds up its root reserves for the next year. From late autumn on, give no nitrogen-heavy feed and take a break from feeding from November to the end of January.
Overwintering
Cut the asparagus fern back only when it has turned completely brown and died off in autumn, so that all the nutrients still move into the root stock; do not compost the cuttings but dispose of them, so that no asparagus flies overwinter. Cover young plantings and beds in harsh locations loosely with leaves, compost or brushwood afterwards, and clear the cover away again in spring before the shoots emerge.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Division
Asparagus can be propagated in two ways: by sowing or by dividing established root stocks (crowns).
Sowing: Start sowing indoors from mid-March. Soak the seeds in lukewarm water for one to two days, which shortens germination. Then sow them about 1.5 to 2 cm deep in pots and keep the soil evenly moist and warm. A constant temperature of 20 to 25 °C is crucial. Be patient: even under good conditions, germination takes three to six weeks, sometimes longer. In the following year, after the last frost, so from mid-May, set the strong young plants in the bed about 40 cm apart. This means at least three years until the first harvest. Important to know: asparagus is dioecious, and almost all modern cultivars are F1 hybrids. The cultivar does NOT come true from their seed. The offspring vary in their characteristics. You only keep the cultivar true through division or through bought seed or ready-made crowns of a named cultivar. The appeal of sowing therefore lies less in true-to-type plants than in the inexpensive start from many plants.
Division (rhizome division): This method saves a whole growing year and reliably passes on the cultivar's characteristics. In spring (March to April, as soon as the soil is frost-free), carefully dig up strong asparagus plants at least three to four years old; alternatively in late autumn, once the foliage has died back. Divide the root stock into several sections with a sharp, clean spade or knife; each piece needs a well-developed root system and at least one strong shoot base (bud). Replant the pieces straight away, again about 40 cm apart and with the shoot buds just below the surface. The first tender spears are possible as early as the second year in place.
Companion planting
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
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