Asparagus hasn't come up - How bad is this??

[JodiInVA-USA]

I planted asparagus crowns two years ago and have been patiently waiting until this third season to harvest any to eat. I think I'm in Zone 7a (northern Virginia). Nothing has come up in my asparagus beds (I have two raised beds dedicated to asparagus). I'm thinking that if something were going to grow, it would have come up by now. Very sad, and not looking forward to all the hassle of re-planting the beds and waiting another couple years to eat any!

Do you think there's still a chance for them? Later this year? Do they ever go dormant for a year but come back later? Or if they don't come up this summer does it mean they're dead and need to be replaced?

I'm not aware of anything that should be so different from the last couple of years when they did grow nicely. I haven't been living at our house since January, so the garden isn't getting as much tending as it normally would. I haven't amended the beds with any new compost or fertilizer or anything -- could that be the problem? Can I still fix it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Vanisle_BC]

I can't comment on the dormancy question other than being surprised if it happens; but I can say that this year I started asparagus seed in pots as well as planting roots (mail ordered and a lot punier than I expected.) The performance of the roots has been somewhere between pathetic and forget-it, but the now-planted-out seedlings are doing well. Which is just to say that if you do have to start from scratch, I think seeds could be the better and maybe speedier option.

[jal_ut]

"Do you think there's still a chance for them? Later this year?"

I hate to say it, but no, I think you have lost it somehow.

[Vanisle_BC]

I suspect jal_ut is right in saying the plants are probably gone. But I'm confused as to whether they were growing OK last year, or have never broken the surface? I think there can be a problem with planting the crowns too deep (or shallow!) and that may have been part of the trouble with the roots I planted; after reading about that I dug them up and raised them, since when 4 out of 5 have put up some very scraggy shoots. Meantime the plants I started from seed, potted up then planted out, are doing well. Some were started 2015 and overwintered in 1 gal(?) pots, some started this spring, potted up then planted out and they don't look much - if any - behind the 2015s. Here's a picture (sorry for the quality.) The 2 plants on right were started 2015 and planted this year. The others are this year starts. I sure recommend starting from seed.

[Peter1142]

My asparagus came back pitifully too (and some not at all) after such a vigorous year last year. I wonder what happened to them.... I am writing it off to the crazy weather we had.

[Lindsaylew82]

I'm curious as well. Did they EVER come up after you planted them?

[jal_ut]

I have never grown asparagus in zone 7 but here in zone 5 when planting asparagus crowns we dig a trench 8 inches deep and put the crowns in and cover about three inches, then wait until it is all up and growing tall then finish filling in the trench. They seem to winter pretty well doing this. I have suspected little burrowing critters of eating the roots though.

[mavisdavis]

Hi,
This is my first post. I found this forum, because I was very upset this spring when my asparagus production was, at best, 1/4 of what it has always been. I have been growing asparagus and re-planting asparagus for 31 years. This is the worst season I have ever had. One whole section of one asparagus bed never surfaced. I am in zone 5 in NYS, and I have yet to find out why this happened. I have blamed it on the mild winter and lack of snow for moisture, but I have no idea if that is correct or not. A neighbor, who has a small asparagus bed, is blaming the cutworms. I wonder what to expect next spring. I want to correct the problem, but I haven't been able to find out if it is something I can correct. I can't correct the weather. If anyone has any ideas for me, I would appreciate the help. Thank you. Sue

[Lindsaylew82]

Hi! Welcome to the forum!

Can you tell me about the previous year's harvesting methods?

[jal_ut]

You can plant asparagus from seed, but it takes three years to get big enough to give you some good shoots. It is common practice to plant 2 year old crowns. You can usually get these from garden stores in the Spring. Plant them as I described in the earlier post. As a rule we plant the crowns and do not pick any the following spring. When we do begin to harvest the asparagus, we only pick it for 30 days in Springtime, then let it grow up and let the top growth stand all season to enrich the roots for the Spring crop. Don't cut these fronds until fall frost. Yes, these fronds get six feet or more tall so put it where you can let it go like this.

[JodiInVA-USA]

I was the original poster, but "disappeared" for awhile and am just seeing your replies now -- thank you for them. To answer some people's questions: They did come up very nicely for the first couple of years, and I just didn't harvest them so that the roots/plants could become well established. I was being extra conservative in this regard, and probably could've harvested some in 2015. Oh well.

I'm interested in the advice to start from seed. I'll read up more on that. Most likely, will wind up completely replanting my beds this spring - possibly with a combo of 2 year old crowns and seeds (or seedlings - I'll read about starting them indoors this winter) to see what happens with each.

[applestar]

Keep an eye out for asparagus beetle damage -- I have had both kinds in my garden

https://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheet ... gus-beetle
https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/ins ... s-beetles/

[Lindsaylew82]

I hear that planting tomatoes with them is a huge deterrent. I planted coyote around our patch. It was a good pairing. Only problem is that we had AB causing problems before the plants could go in the ground. It got worse with mulching. Every day we would have eggs. It was a daily chore. Go out wipe the eggs off. Drown the adults(they're quick!). Cut the spears. Next day repeat. I did notice that we didn't see them as much once they started to fern and the coyote really started creeping. ( That thing was HUGE!)

[imafan26]

Asparagus needs to get regular water. An older patch can tolerate some neglect but a young one like yours may not have survived. I lost some young asparagus too because I did not water enough. The last two years have been especially bad with the record heat, and asparagus needs even more water when it is hot and dry.

[rainbowgardener]

Treat your asparagus like a tree -- you don't need to water it real often (although still more when it is really hot and dry than otherwise), but when you water, really soak it, give it a good deep watering. Check when you think you are through watering, dig a hole near it and see how far down the soil has been moistened. You may be surprised at how little it is! You want it moistened six or more inches deep.

Here's a picture of the root system of a healthy six year old asparagus plant. Each block represents one foot square:



Really deep watering encourages the development of a deep root system like that. That helps drought proof it, since it can draw water from so far down and from such a big volume of soil. It also allows the plant to draw nutrients from very far down, not just from the surface soil, which gets depleted.

Asparagus plants should be fertilized in mid summer.

[SQWIB]

Treat your asparagus like a tree -- you don't need to water it real often (although still more when it is really hot and dry than otherwise), but when you water, really soak it, give it a good deep watering. Check when you think you are through watering, dig a hole near it and see how far down the soil has been moistened. You may be surprised at how little it is! You want it moistened six or more inches deep.

Here's a picture of the root system of a healthy six year old asparagus plant. Each block represents one foot square:



Really deep watering encourages the development of a deep root system like that. That helps drought proof it, since it can draw water from so far down and from such a big volume of soil. It also allows the plant to draw nutrients from very far down, not just from the surface soil, which gets depleted.

Asparagus plants should be fertilized in mid summer.

Very interesting.
What would you recommend for a fertilizer?

[jal_ut]

Get something that says NPK and use according to the instructions on the label.

[jal_ut]

Over in the valley West of us the farmers used to grow acreages of asparagus for commercial use. Of course after harvest it would grow up and bloom and make seed. Some of the seed would make it out onto the ditch banks and roadways. So you had asparagus growing wild all over the place. We used to go over in springtime and pick a bushel basket full of asparagus just along the roadways.

[Lindsaylew82]

There's a fair amount along the roadside here too! We have a small patch which is actively reseeding a couple tiny plants per year! It needs to be divided now! I love watching the roads in the fall for the neon yellow splash! It's location forever emblazoned in my memory!

[JodiInVA-USA]

I was the original poster, and to answer my own question: "Very bad. Definitely dead!"

This spring I decided to start over from scratch. I suspect at least part of my problem might have been soil that was too clay-y. Yesterday I bit the bullet and emptied my two raised beds completely (this old body is feeling it today!), and plan to re-fill with good quality soil and compost. Does anyone have other recommendations to make my soil conditions as ideal as possible?

Also, previously I bought crowns, and this time I decided to try growing from seed (what the heck, might as well try). I have nice looking seedlings after a month or so inside under grow lights. What I'm thinking I'll do, in a couple of weeks, is fill my beds about half-way with good soil mixture, put the compostable 4" pots down in, and later fill the beds (about 12" tall) with additional soil mixture gradually as the seedlings grow. Does this sound like a good approach?

Finally, I just realized that by starting with seedlings rather than commercially bought crowns, I probably have a lot of female as well as male plants (~50%?). Should this be a concern? If, as the plants get bigger, I realize that some are female, would it be a good idea at that point to pull those and buy some crowns to put in their place?

Thank you all for any additional asparagus wisdom you can share!
Jodi

[rainbowgardener]

I can't answer most of your questions. But I wanted to say if you are planting your seedlings in "biodegradable" peat pots, be sure to at least cut the bottom off the pot. Personally, I would peel the whole pot off before planting your seedling. The peat pots do eventually biodegrade, but not soon enough to keep from smothering the roots of your little seedling.

[Lindsaylew82]

I wouldn't fill up the beds the rest of the way this year. I would wait until fall when the ferns die off. Cut them down and then fill with high quality soil and then mulch the top of the bed with several inches of pine straw.

A word about clay.
I live in the heart of the upstate in SC. All we have is dense red clay. Nutrient rich, yes! Water rententive, like the koolaid man says...OH YEAH! If you beds are on clay, or you have clay as your base, buy a long pitchfork. Twice a year I go around my raised rows every 2 feet and pierce the ground deeply, then lift every so slightly. Just enough to crack the earth the tiniest bit. This has helped tremendously with drainage in my big garden.

My asparagus is very mature these days. I get some stalks that are nearly quarter size in diameter. I have seedlings as well. I have male and female plants.... they eat the same. I don't fertilize them, but I do mulch them heavily in the fall with chopped leaves and grass clippings, and pine needle them lightly in the spring. Every single year. They love it. I have never watered them here. Your seedlings will likely need the water this year so high on the soil, but once you cover them in the fall, and their roots extend past the parameters of your raised beds, you likely won't need to water them unless you're having extreme conditions.

It will be several years before you make harvest on your seedlings likely 3-4 years. Your first harvests will be harvested sparingly before they are left to fern for the season!

I hope you have success! Please come back and post progress here!