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Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Asparagus
Types
Female plants produce berries; males plants do not expend energy on berries so they can be up to three times more productive than female plants. For this reason, growing male asparagus plants is often preferred.
- Gardeners in Zones 4 to 6 have a wider selection of varieties, including 鈥Jersey Giant鈥, 鈥Jersey King鈥, and 鈥Jersey Knight鈥. Older varieties 鈥Mary Washington鈥 and 鈥Martha Washington鈥 may produce female plants, which are not as productive as the males.
- In colder climates, 鈥楪uelph Millennium鈥 and other varieties that emerge late often escape damage from spring freezes.
- In warmer climates, early and heat-tolerant varieties such as 鈥楢辫辞濒濒辞鈥 and 鈥UC-157鈥 produce well before the weather turns hot.
White asparagus is not a variety, but simply asparagus grown in the absence of sunlight to prevent chlorophyll from developing. White asparagus is slightly sweeter but has less fiber than green asparagus.
Purple asparagus is bred to be purple in color but turns green when it is cooked. Purple varieties tend to have thicker spears, but fewer of them. 鈥楶urple Passion鈥 is tasty but is not an all-male variety.
Harvesting
- Skip the harvest in the first year and the second year, if possible. Ideally, wait three growing seasons before harvesting in order to allow the crowns to become fully established.
- If you have young plants, the season may last 2 to 3 weeks. However, established plants produce longer鈥攗p to 8 weeks.
- Check your plant every other day for harvest-ready spears. Spears grow quickly and may become too woody before you know it! Once an asparagus spear starts to open and has foliage, it鈥檚 too tough for eating.
- Harvest spears when they reach 8 to 10 inches in height and between 1/2 and 3/4 inch thick. (Bear in mind that younger, thinner spears will be more tender, so harvest according to your own taste.)
- To harvest asparagus, simply cut the spears with a sharp knife or scissors at ground level.
- Stop harvesting spears when the diameter of the spears decreases to the size of a pencil.
- After harvest, fertilize your asparagus patch in the early summer. You can top-dress with a balanced organic fertilizer or scatter another inch of rich, weed-free compost over the decomposing mulch.
- Do NOT cut down the remaining ferns in summer or you will ruin your asparagus bed. Allow the ferns to grow and mature; this replenishes the nutrients for next year鈥檚 spear production. Always leave at least two or three spears on the plant through the growing season.
- Only cut back asparagus ferns AFTER the foliage has died back and turned brown or yellow. This is usually in early winter after several hard freezes. Cut the ferns back to the ground.
- Fertilize the bed with a 1-inch layer of rich, weed-free compost or manure topped with 3 inches of straw, rotted sawdust or another weed-free mulch. Clean spears will push up through the mulch in spring.
How to Store Asparagus
- Plunge just-cut spears into cold water immediately to preserve their sugar content.
- Asparagus does not keep for very long after it鈥檚 picked, so be sure to eat it within two or three days from harvest.
- To store, bundle the spears together, wrap the stem ends of the spears in a moist paper towel, and place the bundle in a plastic bag. Store in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
- If you have enough space in your fridge, you can also store asparagus by placing the spears in a cup of water. Keep about an inch of clean water in the cup.
Cooking Notes
A simple and easy favorite when it comes to asparagus is .
Catherine Boeckmann
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Thank you so much for replying! :) Yes, I was referring to June and you've confirmed just what I was thinking to get them in and get the fronds growing so that the plants can store enough energy for next year. My main concern was summer heat and its effect on the health and future productivity of the plants, but it doesn't seem to be an issure. Again, thank you for answering and for this site. There's a ton of great information here.
have had asparagus for about 10 years, has not produced much, failure on my part, have had small shoots, I have noticed some with little white flowers, I was told I needed to cut them out and then told not to. what should I do beside fertilize
Which end is up?
Which end is up? We’re not clear what you mean. You typically plant asparagus from crowns in the home garden. Do you mean for cooking? You snap off the woody root ends of asparagus before cooking. Hope this helps!
I have planted my asparagus crowns near to some rose bushes, will the coexist happily in the same garden bed? I could not find any information on companion planting for asparagus. Also, how tall can I expect the ferns to grow. They have grown 10" this week alone and we are just a few days into June. I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Thank you for your timely response to this matter.
Both plants like about the same soil pH, and fertile soil with good drainage in a sunny spot. A concern, however is the height of the asparagus ferns, which can grow between 3 and 8 feet tall, depending on the age of the plant and the variety. It is possible that, depending on where they are placed by the roses relative to the Sun’s path, they might shade them out, as well as block air circulation (little or no air circulation increases the likelihood of disease for roses). It is important, though, to keep the asparagus ferns intact (and not prune them), as they provide the food that the plant needs to survive the winter and maintain health. You’ll want access to the asparagus to harvest the spears early on, and allow them light. Having the two together might be OK, if the two plant groups are positioned so that both get enough light (and air circulation) at all times, in all stages of growth.
I have a problem. I have followed all directions about preparing soil, digging trenches, planting the crowns etc. Now I am to the point where it say begin filling in trench. Some of the crowns have stalks 6" high, some are a quarter inch high and some have not sprouted yet. How/when should I partially fill in the trench? Would it hurt to fill in the trench completely now? I am afraid if we get a bad rainstorm the dirt that beside the trenches will wash away.
You might want to fill in on a case-by-case basis. If some crowns have growth 5 inches or more, add about 2 or so inches more soil over the base. For those that are under that amount, you might wait until the spears appear and reach a larger size — also, you don’t want to cover any foliage that develops. Once growth reaches the minimum size, you can start filling in about 2 inches every two weeks until trench is filled. To keep soil outside the trenches from washing away, you might try placing a tarp over it and around the edges. Hope this helps!
We just purchased a home that has a raised asparagus bed. It has not been maintained and is very overgrown with weeds, grass ect. It has some young and also ready to harvest asparagus. Do i need to pull the weeds by hand or can I till it up? Mulch after? Just need some general guidance for a newbie.Thanks
It’s best not to till an asparagus bed, as you might damage the crowns. Early in the season, before growth emerges, it is possible to use a hoe to remove weeds shallowly, but at the current stage, where you have young and ready-to-harvest spears, hand pulling is best to avoid damage. After you remove the weeds, a 3- or 4-inch layer of organic mulch, such as straw (not hay, which may have seedheads), can help prevent further weed emergence.
