Asparagus from seed

[Moggle]

Considering growing Connovers Colossal, or Jersey Knight out of the Kings catalogue.

So, sow in modules in early spring, then pot up in to something bigger, then... what?

How soon should I be putting them in to the ground? Nice manured/composted site?

The catalogue says the Jersey Knight can give a small harvest in the second year. Anyone grown this one before?

[Moggle]

[Kerry]

hi,
i grew 'martha washington' from seed. was recommended by the packet (T+M) to plant out when the plants were one year old, in late spring. planted them out april this year, and how they've grown!
very pleased, as i thought asparagus might be complicated from seed....
i kept them in pots overwinter, the worst of the winter weather saw them sheltering in a greenhouse, but soon put them on top of the coldframe to become used to the big wide world!
as for harvesting in 2nd year...don't know, i thought the usual recommendation was nothing for 2 years, then a small harvest, then....
maybe i chose the wrong variety!!!!!

[tim]

Don't know about varieties, but I reckon that you really should be patient. The longer you wait the better, ie cut in the 3rd year. If you must have it sooner, then buy 1yr-old plants? = Tim  

[dannylewis]

Hi moggle in the 'Gardeners News' paper it had an artical in about sowing asparagus and it said you should sow it in march and keep re-potting it for 1 year or something like that just to get it established.

dannylewis

[Yuet_Lee]

I've mine sowed last May. Been tranfer to a bigger pot after 3 months. Now they've grow nicely. Shall I cut off all the ferns or leave it on overwinter?Because some of them were turning to yellow. They were in an unheated greenhouse will that okay overwinter anybody know? Shall I leave them in coldframe?

Yuet

[Moggle]

Okay, in pots for a year, but what size pot should I be aiming for?

And I will try to wait till the 3rd year.

[rdak]

Moggle,
I have used pots approx 7-8 inches in diameter. This may be excessive, but I had the pots lying around anyway. But I would rather have the pots too big than too small. I filled the pots with a mixture of sterilised horse manure, multipurpose compost and vermiculite, then transplanted them in, having initially raised the seeds in small cells filled with seed compost. Make sure you have good nitrogen for the plants, as they need to build up in the 1st year apparently.
Ross

[jamie]

Nice to hear people are having a go at growing asparagus. After having successfully planted two lots of 10 one year old asparagus crowns in the past I saw and bought a packet of asparagus seeds (not sure of the flavour, lost the packet) at one of the larger gardening centres last April. I think I wanted a challenge, thinking as the books suggest that one year old crowns were easiest to grow. I soaked the seeds for 24 hours as the packet suggested and planted them in a variety of containers ranging from seed trays to plant pots. All seeds (50) germinated! I planted out about one half on either side of my second lot of asparagus crowns, some have since died. After giving some of the rest away I'm left with about 10 plants in an elongated container, which I'll probably use as fillers. My experience of the two methods suggests that growing one year old crowns is the most successful although more expensive and less fun. I've also got some couch grass infestation which I'm trying to control by painting the grass leaves with roundup. Apart from the Snake Spotted Millipede problem (see Pests - Is this wireworm thread) and the asparagus beetle the only problem is wind rock, you need to support the tall ferns from the elements.

Jamie