planting asparagus help

[mrs baggins]

not sure if its the right time to plant but they came last week. have kept them moist and took afternoon off yesterday as it was so nice! Looked up on net first before I did it but still not sure if I am right. I dug a long trench about 8 inches deep mabe. Put the asparagus crown in , tried to spread the roots out but they were having none of it. Then covered the whole thing including the one spear that was there with a couple inches of soil. Didnt seem right someow covering the spear and not sure whether i should have covered it so in[ut on this would be great! planted them about 18 inches apart or maybe a bit less as the row went on! dunno what this is in metric! If i read write I should wait for the spears to grow then keep covering until they are level again but not sure if this bit is right either! Just doesnt seem right to be covering the spears up!

[T-lady]

Sounds exactly like what I did last year and this year I'm seeing the first spears just poking up (wish I could cut and eat them. Asparagus, a tease of a plant!)

Don't worry about covering the spears up. If you think that, when you've finished earthing them up / filling the trench, the new spears will be coming up from about 8" below the soil, they are obviously happy to push their way through muck.

Have heart and be brave! Keep covering those spears (it took me until about July to fill my trenches)

[Paulottie]

Your doing fine, crowns should be covered with 3" of soil to start and then another 3" when they are going strong in summer then a 3" mulch when you cut down the ferns in late Autumn.

Traditional spacings: 18"(that's 450mm!) between rows 12"(300mm) between plants, in beds of two or three rows. Your spacings sound great plenty of space..they will be big plants one day.

[brooklynodog]

Whats the latest you can plant crowns (especially the gjinbin or whatever its called)?

[Paulottie]

Gijnlim...is a dutch f1 hybrid variety...recommended -I have 18 of them...quite an early season variety.

April Ideal. May possible, Depends if you can get them now. You will tend to find they will shoot soon unless they have been stored cool. I would also add that they should never be allowed to dry out. keep them covered until the moment of planting even dunk them in a bucket of water for a few hours. Take care that they look fresh if you by these things at the garden centre.

[rustylady]

Don't worry about burying shoots, they're a bit like chitted potatoes they will find their way to the surface no problem and will be the better in the end for being planted fairly deep.

[suzie spud]

Oh dear, reading previous posts I may have messed up my asparagas plans before I even got going. I was given a pack of 5 crowns which looked pretty black and dried up to me but I popped them in a bucket of water for a couple of hours before planting. I put them about 12 inches apart in one section of a 4x4 bed with a wooden border. (The rest of the bed has carrots andonions in it). They are about 3 inches under soil but no way I could get them to spread out and straddle the little mound in the trench. That was about 3 weeks ago and no sign of anything on the surface yet. Are they likely to be a dead loss? Should I just dig them up and put something else in their place and start again next year? or is it possible they might survive and I just need to hang in there?

[Demeter]

Doesn't sound too hopeful Suzie... but do you need the space for something else? If not why not give them a chance to surprise you?