
Asparagus
- Botanical Name
- Asparagus officianalis
- Hardiness
- Zones 2 to 8
- Height
- 5 to 9 feet
- Width
- 2 to 2.5 feet
- Flowers
- Not showy - yellowish-green, small. Male flowers are larger and longer than female flowers.
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Soil
- Moist, well-drained, rich in organic matter
- Planting & Care
- You can begin planting in spring as soon as the ground is workable.
- Start with one or two-year-old crowns. These are the roots with the growing point intact.
- Set crowns 12 inches apart in furrows 6 inches deep, set 36 inches apart. Cover the crowns with 2 inches of soil. Continue filling the trenches with soil as the crowns sprout and grow.
- Water thoroughly as needed.
- Once established, asparagus are fairly drought tolerant.
- Asparagus plants are either male or female. Because male plants do not produce seed; the plant's energy goes into developing stouter, more abundant stems. For this reason plant one of the many new all-male hybrids for a greater harvest.
- Mulch the soil around plants to maintain moisture and more importantly suppress weeds which can compete with developing spears and decrease the quality of the harvest.
- Problems
- Asparagus beetles, fusarium wilt, crown rot, rust
- Varieties
- Jersey Giant, Jersey King, Jersey Knight - all-male hybrid introductions from Rutgers University; resistant to rust and fusarium wilt, crown and root rot
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