Asparagus Bed

[Mark the Bodger]

Hello everyone,

Sorry if similar questions have already been asked.

I have 3 raised beds at the back of my garden. 2 for general veg; carrots etc.

The other I would like to put some aspargus in. The size of the bed is 1.5x1m.

Q1) Can I put some aspargus in the above size bed?
Q2) If I plant crowns how many can I plant in there?
Q3) Is there anyway I can plant them soon or do I have to wait until autumn?

Thanks for any replies.

[Dorothy rouse]

Not sure about Q 1 & 2, but the GC, are selling Asparagus crowns now, so wud assume now is the right time.

[rustylady]

Some advice on growing asparagus, and planting distances, here for you Grow your own asparagus / RHS Gardening

[Pies]

You can plant asparagus in the bed but remember it will grow quite tall, so could shade your other beds.

You could squeeze nine plants in there, dont buy the crowns from the garden centre get them from a specilist i got mine from asparagus-in-kent.co.uk/ The crowns are a far better product and only cost a few pence more.

Prep the bed fully

[Veggielot]

Q1 I certainly hope so, its bigger than mine, 8 ft x 2 ft.

Q2 Don't know the recommend spacing but I have four crowns.

Q3 I tend to think that if they are for sale then it is probably alright to plant.

[RaptorUK]

Q1 I certainly hope so, its bigger than mine, 8 ft x 2 ft.

Q2 Don't know the recommend spacing but I have four crowns.
.

I'm working on a 45cm row and column spacing.

[Mark the Bodger]

Thank you for all the replies.

Rustylady - thanks for the link that was very useful
Pies - as you expected I was going to get them from the garden centre or wilkos, hopefully I can get 9 in that would be marvellous! also this bed is in the corner near my fence so I think it will be ok.
Dorothy / veggielot - good advice if its in the shops its probably the right time (Christmas stock not included in that comment!)
Raptor - sounds like I have enough room to get anywhere from 4 - 9 in.

[Mark the Bodger]

Here is a quick pick of the bed

I think the bed is actually 4x3ft rather than previously mentioned.

[PMW]

Well I planted 10 crowns in a 6 x 3ft bed in April 2012. Its a bit of a squeeze and a bit less space than is usually reccomended, but they seem to have done okay so far.

The only problem I've had is that some of the spears produced later in the summer last year seemed to go brown and wither instead of producing healthy ferns. I suspect this may mean they need more feeding so I added a good thick layer of manure when I cut them down at the beginning of December.

Fingers crossed for the spring...

[Kristen]

I wonder how many crowns you need for a meal? (Sorry I don't know the answer)

We pick our Asparagus bed twice a week, and longer and the spears are growing too tall.

If you had, say, 6 crowns you might find that only half of them had a spear ready for picking on a specific occasions, and perhaps only one spear per crown ... so you'd wind up with between 3 and 6, or may 9, spears. I wonder if that's enough?

Perhaps someone with relatively few crowns can put me straight on this point please?

We have about 50 crowns, don't take a huge amount of care over them, so I'm sure we are not maximising our crop, and we pick enough for probably 4 - 6 people to each, twice a week, so I am guessing that we get an average of 0.5 spears per crown at each picking. I might be way off though!

[Kristen]

some of the spears produced later in the summer last year seemed to go brown and wither instead of producing healthy ferns

Lack of water perhaps? Particularly if the late Spring was dry.

[crannman]

sorry to hijack the thread but has anyone got recomendations for the best asparagus to plant

[Kristen]

May not be any use, but I grew mine from seed. The bed I wanted to plant in wasn't ready, so I used the year's wait to raise the plants, and then planted them out the following spring. I bought a couple of packets of F1 seed (in the sales the Autumn before - they were 50p a packet) so that's what we have got! Best to go for F1 All-Male see, so as not to get any female plants, otherwise they will seed on the plot and that will lead to competition amongst the crowns.

If anyone is planning to grow Asparagus from seed there are some photos and other thoughts on my blog:
http://kgarden.wordpress.com/project...table-patch/3/