The United Nation of Asparagus Lovers

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How to grow Asparagus Roots.

I have been growing asparagus for over 30 years in multiple locations and regions. Every location I have lived in where I had a garden, I left behind an asparagus patch, some of them are still there today.

Asparagus roots are most often grown from seed. There are open pollinated strains like Mary Washington and one that I grow Viking a selection of Mary Washington.
Open pollinated types have been succeeded by all male hybrids such as Jersey Night and my favorite Guelph Millennium.
All male hybrids are grown from expensive hybridized seed and no female plants producing flowers and berries with seed are produced from hybrid roots. Because no energy is expended by female plants producing seed they are said to be more productive. This and general hybrid vigor do result in larger spears and more abundant harvests. This is not to say that older non hybrids should not be grown in the home garden.

Asparagus takes on average 4 years to grow from seed to first harvest season. You can taste a few spears by year 3 but a full 6 to 8 week harvest season is year 4. Asparagus roots take 3 years to establish a planting. Many people agonize over how long it takes to establish asparagus and prefer roots to seeds. Depending on your location starting a small patch from roots may be quick and cost effective. I found roots to be expensive for the number I wanted and generally in poor condition after transport and storage. A large number of top quality vigorous roots can be obtained at low cost by planting seed in a nursery bed and waiting an extra year.

It takes time to establish asparagus but it then provides an annual harvest for a lifetime, first thing in the spring when very little else is yet ready to eat. This is where asparagus shines. After a long winter nothing is more appreciated than asparagus. If you own your property, and garden every year anyway, then just plant asparagus! The best time to plant it was 5 years ago, but the second best time Is TODAY!

Asparagus seed is not a fast germinator either. Long after all your other seeds have come up asparagus seed may seem to be dead and show no signs of life. The best thing to do is just keep the soil moist and wait. I find in the spring it takes 3 to 6 weeks for small, wispy slow growing ferns to begin to grow. I grow it in flats indoors or in a bed or row outside. My favorite time to plant it is in the fall from my own asparagus berries. When the seeds inside the berries are black then just scatter the berries and cover with mulch in a nursery bed.
Seeds should spend the first season in a nursery bed before being transplanted when DORMANT, in early spring to the final row or bed for production. There are two reasons for this. One the plants are small and slow growing. They can easily be overgrown by weeds or destroyed because they cannot be seen. Two, seeds are planted near the surface and the roots are planted shallow. Asparagus roots should be planted more deeply for production. They produce better than shallow rooted plants. Most importantly because asparagus lives for decades it can be easily overtaken by grass and weeds. Asparagus that is planted deeply can be cultivated to remove weeds and grass without damaging the deeply buried asparagus roots. I plant asparagus about 6 inches deep in a furrow about 12 to 18 inches apart similar to how I plant potatoes, gradually covering the roots with soil as they grow.
I have one more thing to note about growing asparagus roots. The first is that in year one, each seed grows one root. Now if you leave the roots to grow in the nursery bed to grow for a second year, each root then divides or multiplies into two or more roots in year 2. This is particularly useful if you are growing expensive hybrid seed. Hybrids have two or more parents. Since you do not have the parents, you cannot create hybrid seed. But when the roots from hybrid seeds multiply they do so through asexual, vegetative Propagation and are genetic clones of the hybrid seed.
Finally asparagus is very drought tolerant and requires well drained soil. Poorly drained soils are one of the most common reasons for poor growth of asparagus. It prefers sand over clay but in either case a humus layer and mulch should be established over plantings and keeping weeds and grass under control will ensure success over the long term. Utilizing the chickens manure and grazing and cultivating abilities will surely make your efforts easier and more productive.
 
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