Yikes!!! Asparagus enemies?!

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desert_witch Lucerne Valley, CA(Zone 8a) Feb 17, 2006

I just last week prepared my 1 year old asparagus bed (2nd year roots). I loosened soil by hand, pulled weeds and added 3" of sifted, composted horse manure.
I also, after fairly reasonable (I thought) research, planted onion sets around the border of the bed. I would guess the onions are no closer than 8" to any of the asparagus roots. Now, I find that according to Tanya Denckla, in "Gardening at a Glance" that onions are supposed to be "enemies" of asparagus.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Do I need to pull and move my onion sets?

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Emaewest Timberlea, NS(Zone 6a) Feb 17, 2006

Hi desert_witch! I did a little research (Louise Riotte's "Carrots Love Tomatoes", and a couple of websites: http://www.canadiancountrywoman.com/garden/companionplants.php
http://myveggiegarden.com/companion_planting.htm ) and they don't mention anything about onions and asparagus being enemies.

Asparagus doesn't like competition, however, so maybe they would end up fighting for resources--perhaps that may be the problem. Or maybe the asparagus wouldn't appreciate the soil disturbance when the onions are harvested.

I don't think the presence of onions will make the asparagus go suicidal or anything, or vice versa. ☺

Rhonda

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Breezymeadow Culpeper, VA(Zone 7a) Feb 17, 2006

Desert - I don't think you'll have any problem.

While some folks swear by suitable "companion planting", others pooh-pooh it.

Like Rhonda said, this current crop of onions probably won't make a whit of difference to your asparagus, but you probably don't want to plant anything around them in the future, just in order to give them optimum room to grow & produce for you.

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Zeppy Shenandoah Valley, VA(Zone 6b) Feb 17, 2006

I've always heard that the onion family should be kept away from asparagus, but don't know why. I guess I just assumed they're both such heavy feeders that the onions take more from asparagus than other crops would. Can't imagine it makes a big deal in one year, especially since the onions are just a border. I like the idea of companion planting and I do it because it's awfully pretty. But the recommendation of not putting heavy feeders together isn't companion planting: it's just good old-fashioned advice.

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desert_witch Lucerne Valley, CA(Zone 8a) Feb 18, 2006

Thank you for the welcome input, everyone! I did some additional research, and the book I mentioned above is the only source I found that reccomends against it. If it's just a matter of them being heavy feeders, I'll just compost again mid-season. And Zeppy...I love to companion plant too...mostly because I love the look of the beds, and it's a great utilization of space!

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