[rogertb]

Hi chaps, I bought some asparagus plugs (not sure if that's the correct term and I can't find the name of the company I got them from), but I planted them as per the instructions in the autumn, I also planted a few crowns bought from a local reputable garden centre, in early spring, only one plant has shown some growth (from the early spring ones) and nothing else at all - should I give up and start again or might I get something. I know I shouldn't be harvesting this year but there is NO growth at all to look at let alone cut ... Roger

[ghost61]

Doesn't sound good.  Did you plant them on ridged sieved soil?  They don't like heavy soil when they are young.

The crowns should be showing good growth by now given the mild spring, so sounds like you have some duds.

[JayG]

Even a single weak shoot is better than nothing, which would probably mean they're kaput - I don't really understand the thinking behind what seems to be the relatively new idea of autumn planted asparagus, especially young plug plants - doesn't seem to give them much chance to establish before they have to face the winter. 

As Ghost61 has mentioned, asparagus doesn't like waterlogging at all, which was a distinct possibility this past winter.

A thick mulch (spent compost is OK) is helpful to protect them if you do need to/decide to try again.

[diospyros]

Not sure this is helpful or not.  But this morning I planted my new asparagus crowns, because the three I bought cheap in pots last autumn and planted out had shown no signs of anything.  I was just digging the hole for the last crown and out came a bedraggled tangle of roots - lo and behold one of the dud crowns from last year.  Now the roots looked quite firm and fleshy still, and had thin little white feeder roots apparently growing fresh off them, but I couldn't find any buds.  Still, it looked worth popping it back in.

So I suppose my advice based on that might be to at least be very careful if you dig in the same place to put new crowns in.

[Madame Cholet]

my new ones planted about 8 weeks ago are only just showing so give them longer.

[heygrow]

I would have thought that they should be showing by now if you planted in Autumn.
I planted 10 plants back in October and all but one shooted about a month ago. They are now about 2ft or so high and developing ferns.

The reason I chose Autumn planting is that you gain a year. So this is their first years growth and next year I can take at least one spear off each and the following year start harvesting more.

[ConfusedGardener]

my new ones planted about 8 weeks ago are only just showing so give them longer.

I agree. I planted some crowns 5 or 6 weeks ago. All had shoots at the time, but some died back. Then a few days ago the ones that had died back started producing new shoots.

[rogertb]

Thanks you all, as ever, for your really helpful responses, I don't want to leave it another year by continuing to wait so maybe I put some more in, getting a bit expensive though !

Best Roger

[JayG]

A combination of curiosity and 'nothing to lose' would probably lead me to uncover one to find out what's happening - if you approach it with the patience and care of an archaeological dig you may find that it's alive but very slow, although it is a long time since last autumn and you may find nothing at all.