Asparagus is one of the first plants that greets us in springtime! It’s a perennial so, once established, asparagus will return year after year! Here’s how to grow asparagus in your garden.
Note: Asparagus plants may take 2 to 3 years to truly get started and produce, so patience is needed! But then again, the plant can be productive up to 25 years, so we think it’s worth the wait.
Asparagus has male and female plants, with the female plants producing berries. Regions with cool winters are best for this cool-season crop which is planted in early spring.
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asparagus spears/ferns/foliage
My asparagus is in its third year this year, should I cut off last years spears/ferns? They are about 8 inches high and fallen over due to winter
cut the ferns?
If you cut down the plants’ ferns last fall, leave those that appear now. You should be seeing some spears any time now, too.
Thin Asparagus and weeds
My asparagus bed is four years old and I am having a problem with some of the spears being way too thin to harvest. Also, can't keep weeds from taking over bed. Heavy running rooted weeds,crabgrass? Any advice?
weeds in the bed
See the advice immediately below re fertilizer, pH, and compost to increase the size of the spears (for that matter, read the advice we give above, too).
As for the weeds, you need to pull out as many as you can and then mulch. Several inches is not too much. And “edge” the bed: Push a spade or edge into the edge of the bed to cut the weed roots there. (You’ll need to do this every year.)
Old asparagus bed
I have a big asparagus bed that is over 30 years old. It still produces lots of ferns, but most of the spears are pencil-thick, and some roots seem to have died off. Every year I spread on a thick layer of compost/ seaweed. All I've read says that asparagus beds last for many years (this site says 20 or more), but none suggest what to do with an old bed. Do I dig out the old roots and start again? Leave a few plants and till deeply all around them? Abandon the site? No article has told me.
old asparagus bed
Some people would love to get pencil-thin spears!
Have you checked the pH? Asparagus likes lime. Everything you’re doing sounds good…so it might be the pH (you can get an inexpensive kit at a nursery). Digging out the roots would be a lot more work than you might think; roots could be 4 to 6 feet or more!
Then there is this (a few questions below yours): you might want to fertilize: Scatter 2 pounds of 10-20-10 fertilizer (or its equivalent) per 20 feet of row before growth begins in the spring. After the last harvest, apply an additional 1 to 2 pounds of 21-0-0 (high in nitrogen) per 20 feet. Always water the fertilizer into the soil.
With this, your plot should come back to life.
old asparagus bed
Bought a ranch once with a huge asparagus bed. Previous owner forgot to tell me. No defined rows, very old. It was late October and the whole area looked like dead weeds. So I started to pull them. They didn't budge. Got heavy gloves. No luck. Finally got a shovel and dug roots all day. It was impossible to get it all. Finally gave up. After the snow melted and I had long since forgotten those weeds, I was stunned by the prolific production of fat asparagus. I don't think thinning an old bed and loosening the soil could possibly hurt. Lived there a decade, it always produced plentifully.
My only complaint about growing asparagus is that I couldn't manage to get much in the house. I ate it all raw as I picked it. Had the same problem with the peas and of course the strawberries.
Beginner at growing asparagus
We just bought a home which has a raised bed of asparagus. Right now there are dried stalks about 3-4 inches sticking out of the ground and the bed is covered with dried leaves. What am I supposed to do with this? I’m not sure if I should remove the leaves or just let it be. Thank you
Asparagus beginner
I have had asparagus beds for decades and always pull out the 3" dried stems once the ground thaws. They *could* stay, but get in the way when harvesting new spears. Asparagus hates competition, so a thick mulch of leaves is good, but loosen up any areas where the leaves are thickly packed and might bend over the new shoots. I put piles of sandy seaweed on top each fall and find the top layer can get hard and crusty by spring, interfering with the new growth. But it's easy to pull the crusty layer aside and the rest of the seaweed is well-rotted and mushy so the asparagus can get through.
Weeding Asparagus
I have my asparagus planted in a raised bed. This last year I had a hard time battling grass/weeds from growing all over in there. It doesn't seem to matter how much I try to manually weed! Is there a tip to discourage weed growth in my bed? Is it possible to possibly spray in the off season? Thanks!
weeds in asparagus
The best way to keep out weeds is to mulch. Several inches is not too much. Without it, you’ll be battling weeds forever.
As for spraying, what’s the point of growing food if you’re going to put chemicals into the soil (in the food)? If you can get head of the weeds somewhat and mulch immediately, you’ll do yourself and the plants a big favor.
And edge the plot. Put a hard line on the edge of it so that grass and weed roots can not reach in. (You’ll need to do this every year.)
asparagus
While I commend anyone who follows the instructions for planting and harvesting asparagus or any plant, I have to wonder why is it that we have gone completely against nature in gardening. Asparagus does not require babying. Plant it where you want it to grow and it either will or won't thrive. I have tossed roots on the compost pile, put them under tomato plants, in raised beds and pots, or just on the ground and covered up and guess what, they grew and multiplied. I cut off the stems the very first year on new roots and they don't have a problem. Before you say well, it is your climate, I will say no, Oklahoma is no better or worse than any other place for weather conditions. I have found that if you have adequate water and sun, everything else will come together. Leave the ferns all winter, just like in the wild, and lo and behold, you will be harvesting great tasting sticks before you know it.
Asparagus fertilizer
Once the asparagus is a 3-4 years old, when do you fertilize, what numbers (10-20-10 ?), and how much?
fertilizing asparagus
Scatter 2 pounds of 10-20-10 fertilizer (or its equivalent) per 20 feet of row before growth begins in the spring. After the last harvest, apply an additional 1 to 2 pounds of 21-0-0 (high in nitrogen) per 20 feet. Always water the fertilizer into the soil.
Asparagus, old and new
My brother has some Asparagus plants which are probably 80 years old and still producing. And he has planted some new ones, as I have also. Nothing produces like those original ones! Wondering if they are the same species? We live on Cape Cod which is about 60 miles south of Boston, MA, USA.
80-year-old asparagus
We can’t help you here; there are some 300 asparagus species.
how
I am gowing asparagus and i am unsure how to harvest seeds from it. Thank You.
gras' seeds
Asparagus seeds are inside the red berries that form on the ferns. They are tiny: the seeds number about 19,200 per pound. You can start them in flats or peat up; it takes at least a year to grow a good crown.
Climate in India
Hi, I have four 8 month old asparagus plants in pots that I grew from seeds. I've been keeping them in partial shade and these last six months are the relatively cooler months here in South India. I think its time to transplant them as the pots are small, but I'm not sure where to put them. Temperatures in the next 7 months will hit 85 F to 95 F. Will the pants survive that kind of heat if I plant them in direct sunlight. Or should I pick a shady spot under a tree? Please let me know what you think. Thanks!
mowing asparagus
I live in North Central Minnesota. I just mowed down all our ferned asparagus plants before winter. Will that kill the asparagus or will it be okay next spring? Thank You.
asparagus ferns
What color were the ferns? If they were light brown, fully dead, then it indicates that the plant is dormant, and it is fine to mow the ferns now. If they were still in the process of dying back, such as a bright yellow, then it might have been better, but not critical, to wait just a bit more, until the ferns wither and turn light brown. As I understand it, the yellow ferns, although no longer making food, still contain nutrient energy to transport to the crowns before the ferns totally die back. It’s best not to cut down green ferns, as they are still making food for the plant; if yours were still green, then hopefully the plant, at this late date, has enough food to get by for the winter and start up again in spring; there might be a chance, though, that the spears next year might be weaker, until the plant can recover; if this is the case in spring, you might avoid harvesting that year, so that the plant can catch up on food-making. Hope this helps!
Asparagus 1st year cutting
Have 10 plants in a raised bed, they are about 4-5 feet tall (stalks seem a little thin to me, size of a pencil give or take) Anyway, when I cut these back how far down do I cut? I've heard 2 inches below the soil and 2 inches above. And what is the best fertilizer and type of mulch to overwinter 1st year? I am in Western NY. Thanks
how to put asparagus to bed
After the first front turns the ferns brown, cut down to about 6 inches above the soil. Weed the bed, and spread a couple to a few inches of compost or dry leaves or the like. In spring, check the soil pH, and amend as needed. Apply a well-balanced (5-10-10 or 8-24-24) fertilizer in the spring. Stalks will be thin for a couple to three years.
Small Pots of Asparagus
I started Asparagus in small pots ( yogurt cups) Now Fall is almost here and it's not planted. Yeeks. Can I plant it outside now? We live in Springfield, West Virginia. What to do so the plants I've babied winter over? I have a cave (very low light) could they be stored there for winter? Put them all in a larger container? Thanks, Lisa
transplating asparagus from seed
We salute you! This is an accomplishment. For advice on this we turned to Burpee, which advises “the asparagus seeds should be sown indoors 12 to 14 weeks before the target seedling set-out date, which should be after the danger of frost has passed. Sow seeds ¼-inch deep using a sterile seeding mix in individual 2-inch cells. Acclimate in a cold frame for one week prior to setting out in the garden.” And we recognize that does not fully answer your question. The best planting time is spring. But that is a long way off—but then, so it the deep of winter. In the weeks and months remaining, harden it off (in a cold frame or for a few hours/day) and plant it, then mulch it well. And maybe remulch it if the winter becomes severe. In spring, after the heavy weather, pull off the mulch and … see if it survived. This is something of an experiment; all gardening is. If the seedlings do fail, do not consider it a failure. You brought them to life! Then go and get some crowns. Remember, even newly planted crowns need to have about two years before you can harvest. We can only speculate on how many years you might wait for your seedlings to provide harvestable spears. Good luck!
Asparagus Plants reply...
Thanks for the information! I'll give that a try. The plants are in pots ( most are in yogurt cups) They have been outside all Spring and Summer. So Harding off is done :) I'll plant as you directed and see how they do over winter. Cover with mulch (and maybe Landscape cloth that allows air and water to go through) I'll let you know in the spring how they fair thru winter. I have asparagus planted that we enjoy every spring. Just wanted to try it from seeds. Thanks again. Have a great winter!
Asparagus is still producing in august
Early spring (April) I looked up what to do this year with my three year old asparagus. It gave me the opposite advice of your website...it said to keep cutting everything that comes up as a spear, even if not going to use it. Then when it starts coming up as a fern to let it grow, which I have done. But they are still mostly spears with a few ferns here and there. I have a real mix of pencil thin, or less, and medium to really fat spears. I am confused because the other site was supposed to be experts on asparagus also! Have I badly hurt the production for next year? Have you ever heard of this approach? We got enough every other day for two people. Frankly we have gotten tired of picking AND eating or freezing. Guess I should have inquired about this earlier!
too much asparagus
Some people would say this is a good problem to have, Beth! (Have you been giving it away? selling it??) The spears should grow into ferns. If you’re cutting the spears, they are not reaching that stage. Let it alone until fall and then cut it down and side dress (see above). It is really, really hard to kill or otherwise lose asparagus. The ferns help the plant to make food for itself, allowing it to overwinter and produce healthy new spears the following year. Next year when it comes up, harvest the spears when they are about 6 inches tall and then let the remaining asparagus grow to the fern stage.
2nd Year Asparugus - Not Harvesting Until 3rd Year
I have a few beds of asparagus that I planted last year. The 'crop' growth was excellent. Quite a few stalks and groups came up and grew to ~4-5ft tall. I cut them back in the fall after they started dying off.
My problem is this year. Right as we expected the crop from last sprouted up along with 40% more stalks than last year. New stalks are still coming up but I also have plants that have gone to fern that are approaching 5ft and hogging all the sunlight from my peppers and lettuce.
The stalks are thick, some almost 3 pencils in circumference. I know its only August; can I cut any of the fern off yet. (I have male and female plants)
asparagus in abundance
Lucky you—in so many ways. The general rule of thumb is to cut dwn the ferns in the fall. The question is (not do you feel lucky; well, not really): what is more important to you: the asparagus or the peppers and lettuce. Understandably, the question puts you betw a rock and a hard place. You want the asparagus; you want the lettuce and peppers. We would advise in this case that you leave the ‘grass alone and take of the lettuce and peppers what you can. The asparagus should be planted in a bed by itself for exactly this reason. The other vegetables, the annuals, rotate out and get picked out. But the asparagus is a perennial heavy feeder. It needs all the nutrients it can get; no competition. Next year, plant the annuals elsewhere. That’s what we would do…
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