[Grubbypaws]

I planted my autumn asparagus last year and they started putting up shoots in June. These I allowed to grow into tall ferns.

Last week they all started going crazy and putting up countless more shoots! Should this be happening? Surely as they wont get producing a benefit to the plants before the frosts come this is just a drain on the plants.

..........Should I eat them?


Any one out there experiencing the same thing?

[Dave Mack]

Yeah i've started getting new shoots ... i'm just letting the plant do its own thing 

[Trillium]

Don't eat them and don't trim them back. A warm spell has boosted growth which is normal. Mine have put up loads of small shoots but this is the way the plant nurtures itself. Your young plants still need about 2 more years of growth before you can start taking some shoots, and then only until about mid July before you'd need to stop for the season so the roots can recover. Anything after that puts stress on the plant.

[Grubbypaws]

Thank you both. I was hoping that these delicious looking new shoots were detrimental to the plants so I could gently fry them in a little butter for lunch 

Oh well.

Trillium, do I really have to wait another 2 years? I thought that I just had to show restraint this year 

[Trillium]

Sorry, but if you planted 1 yr old roots then you really do need to wait about 2 more yrs before picking. It's tempting to try to take a bit off earlier but you'll only put back main production but another 2 yrs by doing so. If you can keep hands off until the 3rd year, and pick only a little then, you can start harvesting to your heart's content in the 4th year.  You have to understand how the root regenerates itself, which is by putting up new shoots to nurture further growth, and if you pick any of it off, there's a setback. Same rule applies to rhubarb except you can pick rhubarb in year 3.

[JayG]

It's tough but Trillium is spot-on!

When you think about it a 1-year old asparagus crown is only a few inches across with roots spreading out about a foot but at full size may be at least 3 feet across (I know, I've had a look!) you realise that pinching a few spears from young plants is actually removing quite a large percentage of the plant's growing capacity!

Needless to say I found out the hard way, my asparagus bed has taken about 5 years to really get going as I'd hoped, and would certainly have got there quicker if I'd kept my thieving hands off!

[sunshineband]

Is that the crown 3 ft across or the root plate? 

[SUTTY1]

Growing asparagus definately a good lesson in patience. But definately worth the wait
Roll on 2012

[JayG]

Is that the crown 3 ft across or the root plate? 

Don't know Sunny (I only had a little peek, although the best of them produces spears from a diameter of at least a couple of feet across!)

[Grubbypaws]

Trillium and JayG and Sutty1

So is it 2011 ,2012 or 2013 that I start picking?

I planted my bed of Guelph in autumn 2009. Being an autumn variety makes things even more confusing but I guess they were a year old.

Can I pick them next year when they will be 3yo or do I wait until the year after next (2012) when they will have been in the bed nearly 3 years or is Trillium saying that I should leave them alone for another 2 years so pick them in 2013?

Sorry to be so dumb, but as you all say it is important to get this right.

[Trillium]

I've never heard of autumn ripening asparagus so I wonder if you're thinking of autumn planted asparagus, when some suppliers make roots available yet again in one year.

Anyway, I would start picking a little in 2012 but only ones that look sturdy enough for picking. Any very slim ones should be left. Your main crop (aka - pick all you want) will be 2013. And that's provided you keep them weeded all the time, watered the first year if the weather becomes very dry, lightly fed each year and checked for pests which will strip the foliage. They're not high maintenance crops but they do need some checking.

[SUTTY1]

I'd agree with Trillium on that

[JayG]

This is all fag-packet stuff, but on the basis that mine took 5 years to really get going but I could have reduced that by a year by being a bit more patient, I finish up with the same result as Trillium's suggestion!

Don't know how many plants you have clareblues but I'm sure they wouldn't miss one spear apiece next year (just to let you know what a treat you are in for in the future, of course!) 

[sunshineband]

I shall have even longer to wait -- my crowns haven't arrived yet 

[Trillium]

Stop watch at the ready, Sunny