Hi all

I've bought some asparagus seeds as I can't find crowns. I've done some reading on the net but still have a few questions. I hope some of you experienced growers can help.

I'd perfer to grow the seeds in pots for the first year, then transplant them. A site I visited said to plant in "peat cups". What are these? Can I plant in small pots? Would I use pure peat moss? Or what mixture? Am I correct in saying they must stay damp all the time?

Many thanks
Mozie

Mozie wrote:

I've bought some asparagus seeds as I can't find crowns. I've done some
reading on the net but still have a few questions. I hope some of you
experienced growers can help.

I'd perfer to grow the seeds in pots for the first year, then
transplant them. A site I visited said to plant in "peat cups". What
are these? Can I plant in small pots? Would I use pure peat moss? Or
what mixture? Am I correct in saying they must stay damp all the time?

I can only tell you what worked well for me:

Seeds planted 1"X1" in regular flats in "Pro-Mix" (peaty starting mix
readily available. Pretty cheap if you buy the compressed bale) in
Mid-February, germinated at room temp. They take a couple of weeks to
germinate. Transplanted in spring after all danger of frost to a nursery
bed 6"X6" and kept weeded. You should get nice fist-sized crowns to
transplant to their permanent home by the next spring. For my money, this
is a whole lot better than expensive commercially grown crowns that don't
always transplant well. Your own year old crowns should have zero
transplant loss, and do so much better than bought ones that the extra year
hardly matters.
Depending on how good conditions are, you can probably cut a few spears the
year after transplanting, and get a full crop in a couple of seasons.




Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

In article ,
Mozie wrote:

Hi all

I've bought some asparagus seeds as I can't find crowns. I've done some
reading on the net but still have a few questions. I hope some of you
experienced growers can help.

I'd perfer to grow the seeds in pots for the first year, then
transplant them. A site I visited said to plant in "peat cups". What
are these? Can I plant in small pots? Would I use pure peat moss? Or
what mixture? Am I correct in saying they must stay damp all the time?

Many thanks
Mozie

I bought my crowns off of ebay. :-)

I've never tried growing them from seed!
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

Thanks! I live in South Africa so apart from not having ready mixed soil like "Pro-Mix" at the nursery, our seasons are opposite to the northern hemisphere. We're at the end of spring going into summer at the moment. I visit nurseries regularly but have never seen asparagus crowns and none of my gardening friends have either (or the soil). I wanted to try something different so when I saw a packet of asparagus seeds I snapped them up. So, any help to get them growing would be appreciated! Can anyone help with the soil mixture? I'm thinking half peat moss and half regular potting soil? Am I right in saying the soil must always be damp?

Thanks again everyone
Mozie

Me again! Is there really noone out there that can help me with the soil composition to grow asparagus seeds? I'll just have to wingit then... Thanks anyway.

Mozie wrote:

Me again! Is there really noone out there that can help me with the
soil composition to grow asparagus seeds? I'll just have to wingit
then...

Any light potting mix will work for starting the seeds. What I referred to
as "Pro-Mix" is a commercial version of the "Cornell formula," which is
peat, perlite, sand, some fertilizer. Asparagus likes deep sandy soil,
though I do pretty well in heavy clay interspersed with rocks.
If you start the seeds in mid-winter, you can transplant them to a nursery
bed in the spring, then to a permanent bed the next spring. You'll get
excellent plants at a fraction of the cost of commercially grown roots, and
incur little or no time penalty for doing so.
Confession: I'm economical, verging on downright cheap.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Soil PH should be between 6.5-6.7 in well drained soil.

Asparagus is a heavy feeder and needs regular fertilizer with well rotted
manure, or compost or a commercial product worked well into the suface of
the soil. Use straw mulch to control weeds and hold mixture after you get
them planted outside. Plant the seeds about 8 weeks before the last frost at
25 C. sow outdoors 3 weeks before the last frost 1/4-1/2 deep and 1 inch
apart. Space to 18 inches apart in trenches 8-12 "deep. as the seedlings
grow fill the trench back in.

Plants from seeds will take about 4 years to before you can harvest the
spring spears. It will grow well beside basil and parsley and tomatoes as
companion plants. and asparagus is prone to rust but a sulfur spray will
take care of that at the first signs.

--
Lynn

"Mozie" wrote in message
...

Mozie Wrote:
Thanks! I live in South Africa so apart from not having ready mixed soil
like "Pro-Mix" at the nursery, our seasons are opposite to the northern
hemisphere. We're at the end of spring going into summer at the moment.
I visit nurseries regularly but have never seen asparagus crowns and
none of my gardening friends have either (or the soil). I wanted to try
something different so when I saw a packet of asparagus seeds I snapped
them up. So, any help to get them growing would be appreciated! Can
anyone help with the soil mixture? I'm thinking half peat moss and half
regular potting soil? Am I right in saying the soil must always be
damp?

Thanks again everyone
Mozie

Me again! Is there really noone out there that can help me with the
soil composition to grow asparagus seeds? I'll just have to wingit
then... Thanks anyway.


--
Mozie

Thanks Gary & Lynn, exactly what I needed

Ok, so here's my plan. I don't have a lot of garden space so I'm thinking of planting the asparagus seeds in pots approx 20" in diametre by 30" deep. I'll use a light potting mix with about a 1/4 fertilizer/manure to start. Is 1 seed per pot ok? or can I have more per pot? I'll keep them in pots for the first year, fertilizing every month or so. Too much? Thereafter I'll plant them in the ground among my tomatoes and other vegies - well I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Thanks everyone

Mozie wrote:

Ok, so here's my plan. I don't have a lot of garden space so I'm
thinking of planting the asparagus seeds in pots approx 20" in diametre
by 30" deep. I'll use a light potting mix with about a 1/4
fertilizer/manure to start. Is 1 seed per pot ok?

I can tell you what I did. There is no warranty, express or implied:

Seeds in regular flats on a 1" grid. Grown for a couple/three months, then
transplanted to nursery bed 6" by 6". You can expect 1-year crowns to get
fist sized and be ready for transplanting to their permanent home the next
season. With good conditions, some will be big enough for a light cutting
the next season.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

Hi Gary

Forgive my ignorance but what are "regular flats on a 1" grid"...

Thanks

Mozie wrote:

Forgive my ignorance but what are "regular flats on a 1" grid"...

In this case, I was just referring to the plastic trays plants are commonly
sold in, which gardeners customarily save too many of. Typically, six of
these fit into a larger holder, which is how the greenhouse folk handle
them. As the other reply said, the "grid" is just a 1" X 1" planting
pattern. And not all that precise; the really obsessive folk have a
"dibble board" with pegs or spikes at the desired spacing to make a nice
even array of planting holes. I've thought of doing that, but haven't gone
_completely_ 'round the bend yet.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

What do you think?
http://www.rae.co.za/Asparagus.htm

Mozie wrote:

What do you think?
[image: http://www.rae.co.za/Asparagus.htm]

Very pretty! Those babies will be in fine shape to plant out in the
spring, and into a permanent bed the next year....

Good show!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

PHEW THANKS I thought they were too spindly looking! So this is how they are s'posed to look then? Thanks. I'm actually in the southern hemisphere, so it's summer here (our seasons are opposite). How big should they be when I plant them out? I'm thinking of doing that next month, ie planting them in a BIG pot, leaving them for a year then plant them in the ground? This is such a learning curve for me, but I'm enjoying it

Thanks again