[Deborah1]

Hello. I am going to be ordering asparagus crowns shortly and am thinking of two varieties - Portlim and Grolim - has anyone any experience of either of these? I am thinking 30 crowns in total to provide enough asparagus (after a bit of a wait) for 2 people. Does this seem correct? I tried before from seed and although the plants are 5 years old I have never had much of a crop. Thanks for any advice.

[ghost61]

Don't know those varieties, but we have 30 crowns in full production and there are just two of us, and we manage to eat at least two or three times a week from the crop.  The season is short, so I don't mind overdosing on it!  In fact we have just increased the number of crowns to 50 but we are going to experiment with those to end up with white asparagus and also an Autumn crop. 

My advice is move as many stones as you can, and keep them weed free.  I give them a thick layer of well rotted horse manure and some seaweed tonic each year.

Good luck!

[Nobbie]

I'd be worried that your 5 year old plants aren't producing yet. There must be something they don't like and maybe the new crowns will have the same problem? What's the soil like? Does it retain moisture? The asparagus that I sowed 3 years ago was very vigorous last year and will be picked this year.

[Deborah1]

Thanks both for your replies. My five year old crowns have been regularly manured and top dressed with sea weed as I'm not far from the coast. But although they produce quite a lot of shoots they are mainly pencil thickness. The variety was Connover's Colossal, sown from seed.
The soil is acidic here, it's quite damp in winter but the soil is well-drained and not stony. Am hoping that planting fresh in another part of the garden will give better results.

[ghost61]

i'd expect to pick asparagus grown from crowns after three years, but not seed.  I have some that have self seeded and they are very small after two years!

[Goosegirl]

Could it be that your soil is too acidic for them? If so, just sprinkle some gardener's lime on the soil. Was the seaweed washed to get the salt out? They also require good drainage so check that's ok.

[Trikidiki]

........ Was the seaweed washed to get the salt out? ......

Being a maritime plant, asparagus is quite tolerant of salt.