[Yana]

I am going to dedicate a piece of the lottie to growing Asparagus but have no idea how many crowns I would need. I've dug it over, it will be given a nice feed of manure (is that ok?) and then planted up a.s.a.p with crowns.
The space is 4.8m X 2.4m

[simonwatson]

I planted 22 crowns in a space that is a little larger than a third of that area. You could get 50 odd crowns at 18 inch centres. That would be a lot for anyone I'd think.

The only problem with a bed that wide is that you'll need to walk on the soil to harvest the spears from any rows in the middle. I think you could safely halve the width and plant it up with two rows that are 18 inches apart and have between 10 and 15 plants in each row. In a couple of years you'll have more than you know what to do with!

[JayG]

If you haven't gurgled it already you will find an extraordinary range of plant and row spacings to choose from! 

As a guide my now mostly mature asparagus plants (a few had to be replaced) have spread up to 12" from the original crown (i.e. 24" in diameter) - some are a little less so I would agree with Simonwatson's suggestion as they can probably stand a little overcrowding if you really want that many!

Manure is good, drainage is even more important (you might want to plant crowns on mounds of sand if in doubt.)

[Yana]

The path idea is good. I've planned that in now and will go with two rows on each side of the path. Thanks for the advice.

[New shoot]

they can probably stand a little overcrowding if you really want that many!

I do, but then asparagus envy in a well know affliction on here  I have a dozen plants and would plant many many more if I had the room to spare.  Homegrown asparagus is something else    You have a treat to come Yana 

[Yana]

I do hope so new shoot. The wait will be agony tho

[savbo]

I do hope so new shoot. The wait will be agony tho

ssshhhhhh don't tell anyone but you can eat one shoot per plant in the first year without too much effect...and then 2 or 3 the second year...I just had third year and took 5-10 off each....and the plants were enormous and very healthy by the end of the year.....

just give them some TLC and a few bags of seaweed if you can get them and make sure they dont get soggy

sav

[Yana]

Whooooppppeeeeee. I'm happy with that Sav.
When you say bags of seaweed, do you mean as in straight from the beach?

[Yorkie]

Whooooppppeeeeee. I'm happy with that Sav.
When you say bags of seaweed, do you mean as in straight from the beach?

Not necessarily.

Read this thread ... http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=86170.0

[Yana]

Oh right. 
I regularly visit my mum in Ramsagte so will contact the local council and see what they say before looting the seaweed

If i do get the seaweed, is it really just a case of drying it, shredding it and digging it in?

[simonwatson]

I do hope so new shoot. The wait will be agony tho

ssshhhhhh don't tell anyone but you can eat one shoot per plant in the first year without too much effect...and then 2 or 3 the second year...I just had third year and took 5-10 off each....and the plants were enormous and very healthy by the end of the year.....

just give them some TLC and a few bags of seaweed if you can get them and make sure they dont get soggy

sav

I'm not questioning your experience, however, some of my first year plants produced only very spindly spears with very small ferns. I'd have been very wary of cutting them for fear of the plant being unable to produce another spear. Two of my first year crowns produced the most pathetic spears that died part way through the season and I suspect I won't be seeing them again.

I've seen plenty of suggestions that it's OK to take a spear or two in the second year but most advocate patience in the first year.

[ptarmigan]

Hi

Re the Seaweed, once you've got permission, you could try just laying it down as a thick mulch.  I've done that and it doesn't seem to have done any harm - I don't rinse, dry or chop it. Just put it down, over winter as it does hum a bit, and leave it until it rots down and gets dragged into the soil by worms.  According to the internet (which is always right!) it's a great source of free nutrients and helps with poor soil.  If you google there's a lot of information from people who have used it for years, which does give it a bit more credibility than just the internet.

[JayG]

I'm not questioning your experience, however, some of my first year plants produced only very spindly spears with very small ferns. I'd have been very wary of cutting them for fear of the plant being unable to produce another spear. Two of my first year crowns produced the most pathetic spears that died part way through the season and I suspect I won't be seeing them again.

Like most things in my garden my asparagus patch is a scaled-down version of what could be achieved on an allotment - 10 plants in a double row, at least 3 different varieties (only one of which I can remember, and 1 is a female plant which it's usually recommended to avoid as male plants tend to have thicker spears.)

Very difficult to avoid sampling a spear in the first year, but if you do make sure it's not the only one on the crown as it could turn out to be the only one the plant has the strength to produce (big mistake!  )

The reason I have different varieties is that half the plants produced very weak spears from the word go - one or two eventually recovered their strength, the others had to be replaced.

[simonwatson]

I would replace my dead crowns, but I forgot to mark the location before I cut them back and manured for the winter sleep. 

[savbo]

I do hope so new shoot. The wait will be agony tho

ssshhhhhh don't tell anyone but you can eat one shoot per plant in the first year without too much effect...and then 2 or 3 the second year...I just had third year and took 5-10 off each....and the plants were enormous and very healthy by the end of the year.....

just give them some TLC and a few bags of seaweed if you can get them and make sure they dont get soggy

sav

I'm not questioning your experience, however, some of my first year plants produced only very spindly spears with very small ferns. I'd have been very wary of cutting them for fear of the plant being unable to produce another spear. Two of my first year crowns produced the most pathetic spears that died part way through the season and I suspect I won't be seeing them again.

I've seen plenty of suggestions that it's OK to take a spear or two in the second year but most advocate patience in the first year.

I picked the 2nd or 3rd spears from each crown and only if they were looking strong. I got very good stock from Kings and the soil is rich, organic and well-drained... so I was probably lucky!