Asparagus from seed

[Alison]

Anybody tried this? The only people I know that grow it have done it from crowns but they are quite expensive (I know they last years but am trying to save money), especially compared with the seeds. Also, if anybody has grown then do they have any recomendation on variety?

[sarraceniac]

I bought a load of seed on eBay last year. Cracking germination rate but I now have to see how many get through the winter. And after I planted I found that I only have five years to wait to start cropping, and maybe seven years to get a full crop. No wonder people (of my age) buy crowns. Lol.

[BrideXIII]

well i guess all you really need is some patience, growing from seed you can't even start cropping until year 3 at the earliest, but, if you have the space, and the time, why not, in fact if you have the space sow loads and sell on the 1yr crowns later

1yr crowns you leave until year 3 of life to crop, so two years from when You plant them.

[sarraceniac]

3 years is a vicious rumour BrideXIII started by the asparagus marketing board. Apparently you pull a few spears after 3 years but they are not edible.

[lavender lou]

i brought some seeds from ebay for 99p and gonna try some this year just waiting for the right time to sow the seeds

[BrideXIII]

3 years is a vicious rumour BrideXIII started by the asparagus marketing board. Apparently you pull a few spears after 3 years but they are not edible.

you could wel be right, personally that's what i would have done anyway, with any perrenial i would only take a few the first cropping year.

when my dad died earlier this year, he had had 1yr crowns in, and my mum and my sister harvested (that would be yr2) mum said they were delicious right up until i told her off for even touching them so soon, luckily they hadn't taken them all, so they are still going, i told her to leave them alone next year to give them a chance to recover.