While most know that asparagus is delicious, many overlook it when it comes to vegetable gardening. While they do grow well in soil, they also do better in containers. They’re easy to grow in either a raised bed or an established asparagus garden in your yard. When growing vegetables with asparagus, there are a few steps you should follow to ensure you get good results and make sure you’re planting asparagus rather than another vegetable. As always, don’t forget your veggies gardening hat!
If you live in an area that doesn’t get a lot of sunlight, then you may want to consider another variety of asparagus. There are about twenty varieties of asparagus, including three cold tolerant varieties. Try planting them in pots instead of in the ground because they will grow much faster. Cold tolerant plants will do well regardless of the climate in your area.
In the first two years of planting asparagus plants, don’t expect to see much if any of the plants become weeds. They will go into a self-cleaning mode to prevent weeds from growing next to them. To keep the soil around your asparagus plant healthy, you should mulch it every year. Make sure to use a compost-type mulch that will break down quickly.
It’s important not to over-fertilize your garden with fertilizer. The soil should be firm enough for seeds to germinate and have sufficient moisture for the plant to develop. Over-fertilizing can result in the plant being too tall and weak. Also, the leaves can become too long, which will affect their appearance. When you are planting seeds, you want them to be large enough to get plenty of sunlight but not so large that the soil is compacted and hard.
If you’re planting asparagus seeds indoors, you will need to fertilize them once each month during the first two years. You should use a light application of fertilizer, about one third of the soil’s dry weight. Water the fertilizer off immediately after you water the plant.
During the second year, you can feed the plant with half of the fertilizer per year and you can keep applying fertilizer every two months until the seeds are about 2 inches deep. Then, just cover the seeds and keep them in the same place without applying any additional fertilizer. However, you should check the plant for weather conditions before you do this.
The final step in planting Asparagus, you need to dig a trench about six inches deep and then plant your Asparagus. Cover the trench with dirt so it does not get wet. You may also choose to add gravel to make the Asparagus more attractive. Be sure to plant your Asparagus on top of hardy rocks. If possible, try to plant Asparagus on a slope.
It is very important to prune your Asparagus so it grows up and out rather than all the way up to the crown. You should cut away all the sideways growing buds, except for one or two. Then, remove any weeds from around the base of the plant. If you don’t, the Asparagus will actually attract more weeds, making it harder to control its growing conditions.
When the Asparagus has established itself in the desired location, you can cover it with a blanket of soil. But, it is better to let the Asparagus roots have room to grow up and out. Covering the root system will help the plant survive. If you cover the roots, you don’t have to water it as often because the roots won’t be getting direct sun, which is a good thing when you are using the Asparagus for cooking.
One last tip is if you are growing Asparagus in your garden and you want it to grow up to five feet tall, then you need to alternate the asparagus plantings. You should plant them about two feet apart so that they will grow up to 5 feet tall. This will ensure that the asparagus will be able to spread its roots effectively.
In conclusion, planting Asparagus in spring is a great way to have your own fresh Asparagus in your garden. You can harvest two years’ worth of seeds at a time if you follow these steps. Also, if you don’t have a natural compost in your area, don’t despair. Commercial compost is easily made at home.