[mjg000]

Just looking at planting a new Asparagus bed, How many crowns do you need to plant, they seem to be sold in 5's, 10's and 15's and Marshall's are recommending at least 30 which seems quite a lot to me.

[Kristen]

I have 60 crowns. We pick about 3 times a week, and have enough to share with friends (not at every picking)

I'm guessing a bit, would be interested to hear what other folk think, but "One harvestable spear per plant per week"?  Maybe Two?  Maybe One-and-a-half?

I would recommend planting a mix of Early and Mid Season varieties

[Salmo]

I have 20 crowns which is OK for the two of us with some to give away. Usually a good picking for Sunday with another in the week depending on weather. If they are coming too fast you can always put them in the bottom of the fridge. If the weather turns cold and they slow down you can cut the ones that appear and put them in the fridge until you have enough for a helping.

[Goosegirl]

How much space do you have for your bed as that will determine how many crowns you will need.

[green_lolly]

I've just started off an asparagus bed - approx. 4 square metres - and have put in 20 crowns.  Half early and half mid season.

It seemed a little crowded when I was planting so I hope I've given them enough room.

[Goosegirl]

I read that they should be planted 12" apart, so - um - probably is too crowded as you thought.

[mjg000]

Have just discovered a fab website called Asparagus-Lover.com and quoting from it:

"assume an average of 2-3 pounds per plant you might want 10 to 15 crowns to plant."  and also re spacing...

" Most sources advise planting crowns about 1 foot or 30cm apart. This may give you the optimum yield per crown. However, Hargreaves have conducted trials that suggest that 6 plants per meter gives the best yield per hectare. So if you want to get the most asparagus for the size of your bed plant closer with around 6 plants per meter while if space is not an object to maximise yield per plant go for about 3 per meter. "

Whichever you go for plant crowns in rows maybe 5’ wide.

So I think 15 crowns will give 2 of us plenty of asparagus and now I just need to get my head around how much space I need!  I've got a bed of about 13ft x 4ft which might work.....

[Salmo]

A yield of 2-3 lbs per plant seems a lot. Say the spears weigh 1 oz each, that is 32 to 48 per plant in a 10 week cutting period. That is between 3 and 5 spears a week from each plant. I think I am doing well to get 1 per plant per week and certainly that would be the average over the season. Are mine a bit slow?

[mjg000]

Does the website I quoted earlier suggest that if you give the crowns plenty of space each crown produces more, and if you put them close together you can put in more crowns but they produce fewer per plant?