I got some Jersey Knight asparagus crowns from walmart today and took them out to the garden to (uncharacteristically) follow the planting instructions.
I assume these are 1 year old roots and I'm not totally sure what to expect harvest wise over the next few years. I am thinking that this summer, out of 9 plants, I may be able to expect only 2-4 spears per plant. maybe double next year, and a much more solid harvest on the third year. Is this reasonable?
I kept putting off starting these young crowns because I am usually much to impatient to wait for the good part. But I realized that I have been putting it off for so long now that I could have planted these 1yr roots in the beginning and had full sized plants by now. So I just bit the bullet and did it.
Also, do I need to allow some spears to grow at the end of the season to turn into the ferns? Or is this a different part of the plant? I would think that I would have to avoid harvesting after mid-late june to allow the plant to get ready to overwinter. Is this true? Thanks for any pointers.
- rainbowgardener
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What Larry said! Don't harvest ANY this year. And definitely you always need to stop harvesting early enough in the season to leave some spears to feed the roots. Leave them until the ferny-frondy stuff turns all yellow in the fall. As long as it is green, it is feeding the roots for next year's growth.
- rainbowgardener
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