2nd yr asparagus question

[Mrs greenjeans]

Hello!
planted 10 crowns of giljim or whatever it's called last year. seems 7-8 have survived. yesterday they were about 2ft+ tall with wispy thin branches & look about to flower.

I haven't touched them before now because I thought you were supposed to leave them for 2 years and harvest in yr3, but these are being blown down. There also is mainly 1 stem per crown, not the little forests of  yummylooking spears I see in people's photos...

any advice? xa

[Mrs greenjeans]

[tuinman]

suport them because they need the energy from the ferns and harvest in the third year

[David R]

just let them get on with it this year, mulch in winter. Does'nt matter if they keel over but it might mean they are planted too shallow. Should be at least 5" down, mine are planted a foot down and they are fine  :D.
They will flower, thats normal. Flick off any red beetles or creepy crawlies you spot on them.

[tuinman]

Good answer david but the "does'nt matter" and "flick off" are a little amature, is it half acre or half arsed

[asbean]

And don't let any keen flower arrangers get their hands on them.  They need that growth to put the energy back into the plant for following years.  The first year you'll get a few stems per plant, some not very many at all.  These will increase each year, and will become an almost impenetrable forest of stems. They'll hold each other up, apart from the ones on the outside, whcih will need staking and tying in.  We use canes and an old clothes line.  When the beautiful ferns turn yellow, cut them off about 10cm above ground and compost them.  Make sure there are no remaining weeds, give a good mulch and wait till next year.

[grotbag]

and if you get any berriea i would pick them of to.