A friend of mine has been growing asparagus for a while. some crowns are big and fat and others are weak and spindly. They all have the same soil, water, sunlight. What's wrong? The spindly ones are scattered through the fat ones - there isnt a patch of weak ones. Any ideas?? thanks 'Lani
Re: Trouble with Asparagus I am not sure, but there is a difference between the male and female plants. Some produce better spears depending on the season. I am not sure which produce the better spears but I just harvest whatever is big enough. Dont harvest asparagus untill at least the 3rd year in the ground. If your soil / water is not salty, try adding a little bit of salt. Good Luck.
Re: Trouble with Asparagus Tell your friend to let them be until small fruits form. Any plant with fruits (little red balls, 1/4"/5cm diameter) is female. He should note if the female plants are the weedy-looking ones. If they are, they can be dug out and replaced with males, which are more productive. Otherwise, he should probably top them in fall with 6"/15cm or so of good manure. Sue
Re: Trouble with Asparagus Thanks everyone I will pass the information on to him. I've learnt new things about asparagus in the process 'Lani
Re: Trouble with Asparagus Young seedling asparagus are very thin an wispy. it takes about 3 years for them to get to a 'store bought' size. However all sizes are tasty especially the small ones. Even when they turn into "ferns' the tips can be nibbled off. Very little of my asparagus ever arrived in the kitchen. Your older asparagus could be seeding and what you see is the new young new plants amongst their parents. A very easy, pretty plant to grow asparagus.