I just figured out why asparagus should be transplanted when it is one year old. that I didn't figure it out sooner.
The seeds I planted last year did well. This spring, on one of the oh-so-transient warm days, we saw the very tops of the first spears just barely peeking through. Every one-year-old plant had at least one or two. Some had three. Not a single spear for any of the asparagus plants I transplanted two years ago.
So, when it froze and snowed again, it froze that spear. If I had transplanted it properly (deeper than the seedlings grow), it would still be safely underground.
Now I have to decide whether to try transplanting them while they are not dormant or to try transplanting them as older, bigger plants. I don't like these choices.
The seeds I planted last year did well. This spring, on one of the oh-so-transient warm days, we saw the very tops of the first spears just barely peeking through. Every one-year-old plant had at least one or two. Some had three. Not a single spear for any of the asparagus plants I transplanted two years ago.
So, when it froze and snowed again, it froze that spear. If I had transplanted it properly (deeper than the seedlings grow), it would still be safely underground.
Now I have to decide whether to try transplanting them while they are not dormant or to try transplanting them as older, bigger plants. I don't like these choices.