I'm in the Dallas area and have had a wonderful asparagus bed for over 10
years until "they" came. Our beds are very deep (10-12 inches of compost)
and well fed. The heat is not the problem here. It's grasshoppers, We had
two consecutive years of relentless plague like infestations as a result of
mild winters. We lost 4 mature peach trees and two pear trees to the
grasshoppers not to mention the asparagus. They ate limbs as large as my
fingers off the trees. It hasn't been too bad the last couple of years, but
we helped the problem by incorporating chickens and guineas to the garden.
They love those hoppers! One thing I would encourage you to do is add
copious amounts of lava sand to your beds. Lava sand holds tremendous
amounts of moisture in the soil which means less watering in the heat of
July and August. The asparagus roots are amazingly resilient..they came
back and we fertilized them and cut no asparagus this year to invigorate the
root systems, so hopefully next year we will be able to harvest again.
Good luck,
Tom
"Stan Goodman" wrote in message
news:uViCr8LlbtmJ-pn2-xHkPvyiGEWpj@poblano...
On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 00:14:25 UTC, "Garland Grower"
opined:
Is it okay to try Asparagus in East Texas; zone 7-8?

If that means "hot, dry climate", I can only say that here I have wild
asparagus growing around the house, and it is very hard to fight. This is
a
plant with stalks about 2mm in diameter, and its only use that I have
found
is to be added to soups to give an asparagus flavor. Still, it IS
asparagus,
and if it can thrive in this hot climate, in which rain falls (if at all)
for only three or four months a year, domesticated varieties will probably
succeed where you are.
--
Stan Goodman
Qiryat Tiv'on
Israel

Saddam is gone. Ceterum, censeo Arafat esse delendam.

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Had the same problem with grasshoppers 2 and 3 years ago in Central Texas.
The asparagus did come back tho. Amazingly the first thing the grasshoppers
attacked was Bay Laurel. Devasted every leaf on some. But they all came
back too-in a year. Now I have Guineas to help keep the grasshopper
population bearable but they haven't been the problem this year as in the
past.