How to Grow Asparagus

How to Grow Asparagus.

By eHow Contributing Writer

Instructions.Things You'll Need:

•Compost Makers

•Fertilizers

•Garden Spades

•Garden Trowels

•Mulch

•Plants

•Shovels

•Plants

•Shovels

Step 1 Choose a site where your plants won't be disturbed - and where you and they can happily coexist for 10 to 15 years.

Step 2 Grow asparagus in partial or full sun (it performs best in full sun) in soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7.0, amended with plenty of organic matter that is rich in potassium and phosphorus.

Step 3 Buy asparagus crowns (established root systems with dormant top growth) at your nursery or through a catalog. In cool regions, plant them in early spring when the soil temperature has reached about 50 degrees F. In warm regions, plant in late winter.

Step 4 Make a 7-inch-deep, V-shaped furrow (or more, depending on how many crowns you're planting) and in each one spread a handful of wood ashes, a handful of bonemeal, and an inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure.

Step 5 Soak the crowns in compost tea for 10 minutes or so and lay them on their sides on top of the organic matter, 12 to 16 inches apart, in rows 4 feet apart. (See "How to Make Compost Tea.")

Step 6 Fill in the furrows gradually as shoots emerge, taking care not to cover any foliage; eventually, the furrow will be level with the soil surface. Don't bother spreading out the roots; they'll find their way down.

Step 7 Weed diligently and mulch heavily with chopped leaves or straw after you've filled in the furrows.

Step 8 Side-dress plants with a balanced organic fertilizer in late summer, and top the bed in organic mulch in the fall.

Step 9 Give new plantings one to two inches of water a week; after that, water only when rainfall is scant.

Step 10 Refrain from harvesting any spears during your plants' first year in your garden. Each spear needs to "fern out" so that the roots can grow stronger and more productive. The second year you can pick a few that reach about the size of your index finger. The third year, pick finger-size spears for two to four weeks in the spring. In subsequent years, take all the finger-size spears you want for six to eight weeks, or until the spears that come up are thin and spindly.