Asparagus planting question....s....

I am shortly going to receive a bunch of asparagus roots and have prepared the trenches to plant them in. We get A LOT of rain here on the E. side of Hawaii...sometimes (2 weeks ago) 3feet in one week, sometimes .20" every night...and it generally is humid. Most everything is planted in a mix of broken up lava rock, like very coarse sand with varying degrees of compost/dirt.

The trenches I have dug are in a good mix of Chicken manure (aged), compost and cinders....with dolomite. I plan to sprinkle more chicken manure in the bottom of the trench, put cinders/compost on top of that and then the asparagus....and then cover them with a very well draining mix....the roots will be down about 4-5 inches. We don't need them deeper because it doesn't freeze, ever,....

Does this sound right? Should I plant them deeper and why? Should I make the bed MOSTly cinders with less compost? Right now it is about half/half.

I plan on covering the whole area with weed mat, and cut out a slit over the trenches for the plants to grow thru. I know alot of about 'gardening' but not a lot about growing asparagus!!!

Thanks in advance....
Carol

I planted asparaagus 4 years ago. One of my neighbors gave me about 20-30 crowns. I dug a trench and carefully started putting in the nicer looking crowns. By the time I got to the other end of the trench, I was just throwing them in, and they were the worst looking ones of the bunch. Gues which end of the bed looks the best now. I've had to go back and fill in parts of the carefully planted bed, the tossed in portion grew like gang busters. I just till the top each year now in the spring before they come up. I throw on some horse manure too, and till it in. I don't have anything covering them. Once established, they should do just fine, in fact based on some old wild beds I use to pick from in Colorado, they are hard to kill once established, it is just getting them established.

Thanks for that!!! A woman has planted them about 30 miles away....less rain. She totally igored 'convention' and planted them like they were a daylilly!!!!! They have become healthy and rampant!!!! Better than paying $5 a lb. eh????

Oh, yes, anything is better than $5/lb. Egad, maybe I should stop complaining about $3/lb. LOL. Considering it does grow like a weed and takes little care once established, and that an established bed will produce for 20-30 years, I've never understood just why it is so expensive.

I started a bed last year, so this year I can pick some. I'm sure looking forward to that. Since you can only pick for about six weeks, there are instructions on the internet about how to pick only a portion for six weeks, then pick another portion for six weeks, and if the bed is big enough you can extend it to a third portion for another six weeks -- making possibly an 18-week picking time. I have to get more started for that, but I can split it up for 12 weeks this year.

Karen

As a yng boy my father decided to start a large plot. we did all the digging trench amending the soil manure all that . W whent to my gradfathers patch that was 25 yrs old and dug the roots and after 5 hrs digging planted them as everyone said in all the reserch dad did. We planted about 500 crowns and these where BIG about the size of your fist. we used a big dump truck 3/4 full. Guess what less the 12 grew!!!!! yes less then 12. Dad will not let anything beat him he had the nerve to order 200 2 yr old roots from the catalog.we fallowed the same steps. about 20% grew. so back to the drawing board. We found out that you cant plant to deep they will die due to no air. a old timer told us dig hole/trench 5-6 in deep with well drained soil. dont let roots touch fresh manure it will burn them. only cover the roots with 3 in soil as they grow kick soil around to them over the summer till the ground is level. So dad decided to try again and we got 1000 one yr roots and 500 two yr roots we planted tilol 2 am by flashlight the day they arrived. fallowed the oldtimers directions and 99% grew!!!! Do not cut the first year and if you realy whant good heathy log lasting plants only cut one spear per root the second yr. the 3rd year cut only 3 weeks and the 4th year get ready you will have the best spears you have ever had. in our patch in the spring when its warm and get the good rain the harvest was twice a day and get 200 lbs a day!!! we sold a ton. do not cut underground you can damage the crowns we cut 1/2 in above ground and let the plants fern out after 6 weeks and the rest of the year the roots grow and become stronger for next year. we lived in illinois so we had winter to let them go dormit now im in florida the due go semi dormit in winter
hope this helps
youhave any more questions feel free to ask
bye the way in 4 yrs the plants that we got at 1 yr roots where just as good or better then the 2 yr where if roots are to old the go in to shock and takes 1-2 yrs to adjust
mike

Chef,

You are absolutely dead on about how to plant them.

The instructions that came with my asparagus roots did say to put them in the trench and only cover the roots about and inch or two, then cover them gradually as the spear grew out. Out of 50 I don't think I lost but one.

Carol,

If you have enough plants, you can probably cut them year around by only cutting a portion of the patch, then leaving that portion to regrow, and going on to the next part of your patch, etc.

Karen

Wow...great advice, instructions and encouragement!!!

Anybody know the reason for planting them so deep? Is it the chill factor?... Think I will plant mine shallow as they can dry out faster!!!

Thanks, everyone!!!

Carol

The Wild Oats place in Lexington KY was selling "organic" Asparagus for $8/lb the last time I stop by there. The were also selling Roma tomatoes for $6/lb. So yes I like getting the asparagus for "free".

The manure that I use on my plants has all been sitting in a pile for about a year. New deliveries go into a new pile to set for a year. Sure makes a big difference in the clay soil that I have. Am still trying to find a local source for green sand and rock phosphate.

I think it is the chill factor, to prevent the crowns from freezing. We don't have the ground freeze here either, so since I was planting them into a raised-bed 8" high, mine are only down about 3-4".

I finally found an article by the University of Hawaii on growing asparagus in Hawaii. Check this out:

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/HGV-9.pdf

Let us know how it goes,


Karen

We planted a patch about 10x10' or so in 2006 and it's doing very well despite neglect and weeds.

Chef - yep, I think the "oldtimer" got it right.

My understanding is that the crowns are planted in a trench and covered by several inches of soil, but not all the way level with the ground. That is, they grow in a depression. This is because, as they mature, they naturally begin to grow nearer and nearer to the top of the soil. So, as you mulch over the bed as years go by, you will gradually have an asparagus mound instead of a depression. It's just the way the plant grows.

WOW that artical has to be one of the best ones i have read in a long time
very interesting on how to rotate cutting for 2 harvest per year. I just caution make sure you let the the roots streghten not to harvest them to death . Good luck and keep us informed on your progress
mike