I've just bought some bare root asparagus, I have a bed here at home ready prepared to grow it in. I really want it down in the alottment but my plot is new to me, has never been cultivated and is therefore not ready, not even dug over yet (progress can be seen on my blog for those mildly interested).
Anyway, do you think it would be okay to plant the asparagus at home for a year and then sometime later move it down to the alottment plot when I have a decent bed ready for it? Or should I make preparing a spot for the asparagus at the plot my next most important job?
Many thanks!
Steve...:)
Crikey. It needs to establish an extensive root system, so transplanting will be perilous. I don't suppose that you'd kill it, but it could well mean a wasted year.
What I would do is to plant it in large pots, or perhaps several crowns in a long planter. That way it could be transplanted with minimum disturbance next year. meanwhile spend time of thoroughly digging, weeding, and manuring the bed on the allotment where it is to have its permanent home.
Alternatively work like crazy over the next two or three weeks to prepare the allotment bed, and put them straight in. But the problem will be making sure that the bed is absolutely weed-free.
I've seen commercial beds being prepared for immediate planting in France. You could try the following:
Mark out the bed and give it a thoroughly good dose of glyphosate. Wait 10 days for the weeds to die, then dig and remove the roots as thoroughly as you can. Dig in plenty of well-rotted manure. Make the trenches, raking topsoil into the bottom of them. Plant the asparagus, cover with topsoil. Put a decent layer of sharp sand over the whole bed to prevent weed growth. The sand will be expensive, but will allow good drainage as well as smothering potential weed seedlings.
I managed to transplant some asparagus that I'd grown from seed and which got infested with couch while I was ill... it took well and ahs been productive for the last couple of years. :)
I moved 2 crowns after a year and they came back fine, you will need to mark the crown with a cane so you can find it early next spring to move it
plant in 9 - 10 inch pots, this will be fine for a year, then you can replant with little or no root disturbance next year.
for the asparagus bed, make sure there are NO PERENNIAL WEEDS, and mulch with cardboard and manure this year, plant them out next April.
rgds, Tony
Plant the asparagus at home and take time to make sure the eventual bed really is weed free. You might lose a year, but you won't kill it. If there are still weeds in that bed, you're only going to have to dig it up again to get rid of them.
I think I will lightly "heel" them in to some compost atop a bed at home for now, and dig the bed at the plot. I did glyphosate the whole plot backend of last year (you can see all grass/weeds are dead in the photos on my blog).
I'll raise the bed slightly too for drainage. I wonder if normal sharp sand supplied by builders merchants would be okay to use for the top dressing?
Steve...:)
As well as making sure there aren't any perennial weeds, it's best not to grow fruit like raspberries too close, because they send out runners and can be quite disruptive in an asparagus bed.
Quote from: Steve. on February 26, 2011, 01:17:20
I think I will lightly "heel" them in to some compost atop a bed at home for now, and dig the bed at the plot. I did glyphosate the whole plot backend of last year (you can see all grass/weeds are dead in the photos on my blog).
I'll raise the bed slightly too for drainage. I wonder if normal sharp sand supplied by builders merchants would be okay to use for the top dressing?
Steve...:)
Sharp sand from a builders merchants is fine for the purpose. Some people worry that although it's washed, it hasn't been washed enough for horticultural use, and so spend much more at a garden centre. But if there is a residual salt content, it won't harm asparagus, which is somewhat salt tolerant.
If it helps as a recommendation, we use sharp sand bought from our local Wickes.