On 5/13/13 4:38 PM, DirtBag wrote:
Chris said

On May 12, 7:54 pm, "David E. Ross" wrote:
On 5/12/13 3:01 PM, DirtBag wrote:

Planted several Asparagus plants last season. They came back this
se
ason
but were really thin. How many years should I wait to harvest -
and
when
will they get thicker than a pencil? :-)

It takes 2-3 years. Then, you have to stop harvesting when new
shoots are again very thin.

Feed and water as you would other plants in your garden. Leave the
billowy "ferns" in place until they turn yellow in the fall.

When you cut the yellowed plants, leave a 3-inch stub as a marker so
you can see where to expect new edible shoots the following spring.
If you get snow in the winter, Sunset recommends leaving the dead
growth to hold snow in place, which will protect the roots from even
colder temperatures. (Fortunately, that is not a problem in my
climate.)

--
David E. Ross

Yes, wait at least two years before you harvest any asparagus. Don't
let them flower. And you might need to move them around in about 5
years. Generous fertilizer is a plus.

Chris

Thanks for your help guys.

How do I stop them from flowering? Cut off any attempts for flowers to
form?

(Sorry, newby here) :-)


The flowers are tiny and scattered over the plant. Don't bother trying
to stop them or remove them.

Asparagus shares a characteristic with certain other plants -- including
ginkgo and ash trees and date palms -- that there are separate male
plants and female plants. If you have female asparagus plants, you
might get berries. If they ripen (turning bright red) and fall off, you
will soon have even more asparagus plants, some where you don't want
them. In that case, you might trim away parts of the plants that have
berries turning red.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary