So I decided last year to try to plant a garden and I thought I would
be cute and plant asparagus. Well, I planted the little plants and
left them alone like the package said. Well this year I forgot about
them and went to the garden (which we did nothing with this year) and
there were tall stalks where the four plants were. I snapped them
off and later on they ferned out. What do I do now? Do I leave them
alone for next year? I only had 1 stalk come up from each little
plant. Will I get more next year?

I am a little puzzled as I am no gardener of any sort and my husband
is threatening to till them up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Typically, Asparagus takes about three years to reach full production
in a well prepared bed. It will not tolerate competition, so the beds
must be kept weed and grass free. If you started these from seed, you
should let the ferms grow from this point to build up the root system
for next year.
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/county/cass.../asparagus.htm

"Beth" wrote in message
m...
So I decided last year to try to plant a garden and I thought I would
be cute and plant asparagus. Well, I planted the little plants and
left them alone like the package said. Well this year I forgot about
them and went to the garden (which we did nothing with this year) and
there were tall stalks where the four plants were. I snapped them
off and later on they ferned out. What do I do now? Do I leave them
alone for next year? I only had 1 stalk come up from each little
plant. Will I get more next year?

I am a little puzzled as I am no gardener of any sort and my husband
is threatening to till them up.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Asparagus is a heavy feeder. Don't just ignore them, you will need to weed
them, fertilise them with rotted manure or compost and water them for good
growth. The age to start cutting depends on the age of your crowns and how
well they have grown since planting.

With only one shoot per plant you cannot cut them as there needs to be
shoots that mature to allow the plant to grow for next year. I am assuming
that you are in the Northern hemisphere and so it is Spring, I would not cut
them now but be nice to them this year and cut them lightly next Spring.

David