[brownp]

I planted 6 asparagus crowns (not sure of variety) in a raised bed , two seasons ago.
I have been keeping an eye on them and now have evidence that four of them are alive (if not kicking).
All of them have just one spear sticking out of the soil and very, very thin and spindley.
I gave the bed a manure dressing over the last couple of months.
I'm just wondering if I ought to start again with better quality/ more expensive crowns. I bought them 'off the rack in a garden centre'.
Any thoughts on what to do ie, cut my losses and replace or be patient?

[Hampshire Hog]

Hi there brownp definitely a case for being patient in my view. I had a similar situation with mine but now they put up spears as thick as my thumb. 😂😂

Cheers HH

[RichardA]

In my opinion you could probably do both. You cant plant new crowns now so let the ones you have in the ground have a few weeks to come good or be thrown out. In the meantime put some seeds into pots for something ready to use the space such as sprouts or cabbage or with all that manure perhaps courgettes or dwarf beans. Make your final decision in early June, if nothing by then then out them.
In meantime look for a good supplier and do any prep you need to do for planting in the autumn. Perhaps your soil or the site is not the best for asparagus or perhaps the crowns were damaged in the garden centre process. Asparagus is a long term yielder and deserves the best prep and crowns to start with. I have about 40 crowns, all producing well in North Lincolnshire and we love the stuff.
Best of luck
R

[Salmo]

It is not too late to plant now. Crowns will have been lifted in March while still dormant and stored in a chiller so that they remain dormant until sold. They should be available until May.

Try http://www.asparagus-in-kent.co.uk/

That site is also a great source of information on growing asparagus

[gobs]

I would certainly use this situation as an excuse to justify some spending on a different variety.

You can indeed do both.

[ghost61]

Can support Salmo's comment.  I planted some new crowns a couple of weeks ago and they are sending up spears.  IMHO the crowns in packets from garden centres and diy stores aren't very good, get some from a seed catalogue, we now have over 60 crowns at various ages and have had no problems.  Mind you we did riddle the soil to get rid of stones, added sand, feed with seaweed and manure overwinter.  Effort well worth it!

[brownp]

Thanks very much for all of the replies

[lettice]

My Asparagus always throw up a few spears mid April and then nothing for a few weeks to a month and then goes mad producing during June.
Variety is Connover's Colossal and produces about 10-12 spears per crown. I have five crowns.
They were £1.99 for 3 by Taylors bought from Wilkinson's (just checked the label) many years ago.

I've recently sown seeds of the Connover's Collosal and Mary Washington this year for a new bed.
There is never enough so this bed will be bigger than our current one. They do say after fifteen years or so its time to replace the crowns.

It is still fine just to plant crowns form what Iv just been reading in all the traditional Gardeners books.

[Stewarty]

And mine seem to have just been grazed by the muntjac deer that have been bothering our allotment site in urban Oxford for a year ot two....

[Luiska]

I planted 30 crowns bought from the Organic Gardening Catalog that arrived in early April - 10 each of Ariane, Stewart's Purple, California 2000. I planted in foot-deep trenches on top of 4 inches of well-rotted garden compost, then the crowns (which had dry-looking shoots folded back against the roots - which I didn't much like the look of - but I haven't done it before so went ahead), then topped up with very good quality, bought field compost. Kept them damp. Only 3-4 shoots of each variety have appeared - should I be worried?

[Hampshire Hog]

In my experience asparagus is a crop that requires patience. As I mentioned above I had to wait a couple of years for anything decent. What you probably need for those crowns to get established is time and a decent amount of rain. Just keep the bed well weeded.

Cheers HH