New Asparagus Bed

[johninblackpool]

Hi Folks

I have just planted my first Asparagus bed for the second time, and was wondering if I should put a cloche of polythene over them for the first couple of months to protect against any sudden frosts until they get propely established.

I Say for the second time, last year I planted 10 one year old crown bought from B&Q I didn't realise how poor quality they were the roots were about 3 inches long and like taglitelli needles to say they didn't take and all rotted
This year I got the same amount from Barton Grange Garden Centre near Preston and allthough they were exactly the same price the roots were about 12 inches long and look really healthy

[Kaiya]

What about a mulch instead? That way they can still get water/grow through it, but you keep the weeds down and keep them warm.

I planted two crowns in the cold clay wet mud of Feb 2011 - initially sideways (imagine a squid chasing it's own tentacles - yes, really) as I had no idea what I was doing. I think I did uproot them some weeks later and put them back the right way up, still in dodgy cold mud though with no prep. One made one fern last year, the other I assumed rotted. Then they sat through the recent snow and ice. I dug them up a few weeks ago to move them to a new bed, very surprised to discover the second crown was still there, although I don't think it sprouted last year, and moved them to a new bed with nice compost, proper little mound to sit on and everything. The tops of my crowns are about 2-3 inches down and I have no mulch on them yet.

So based on how much utter abuse my two took, I would think a little surface frost probably isn't going to hurt a healthy crown, and a soft mulch will help against weeds +/- harder frosts.

[rustylady]

As long as you've prepared your bed properly and the crowns are 2 to 3 inches below the soil surface they should be fine without protection. However, as Kaiya says you could mulch them with well rotted compost or FYM.

[BarleySugar]

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...rus_54098.html. All of the plants made good growth last year, I don't think a frost or so will be a problem, although mulching is recommended to keep the soil fertile and give them a good start as they grow.

[johninblackpool]

Cheers guy's and gal's

Will get the manure on the go and cover it