HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS FROM SEED

How to grow Asparagus from seed

When buying asparagus plants for a newly created asparagus bed, most plant retailers will only offer a small range of one or two year old plants. Although they will always look healthy in the pots, there is always a risk of failure when it comes to transplanting - around 10%-15% for one year old stock and as high as 20% for 2 year old stock. When paying full retail prices - particularly with regards to 2 year old stock - this can end up being an expensive lesson.

How to grow Asparagus from seed

Growing asparagus from seed - either in pots or directly into the beds - gives the best viability, with a survival rate of around 100%.

In addition, with direct sowing there is no transplanting or root shock to delay valuable root development.

The best time to sow asparagus seeds is around mid-April when the ground is warm enough to initiate germination. A good tip is to soak the seeds in water for a couple of hours before planting.

You will find that this will help to speed up the germination process considerably.

Direct sowing

Once the bed has been prepared raked over the top layer into a fine tilth, then sow the seed into thin rows down to a depth of about 2 inches. Depending on how many plants you intend cropping each subsequent row should be between 12 and 18 inches apart. Water them in well if conditions are dry.

The new seedlings should emerge in about 3 weeks, and as soon as they are large enough they can be thinned out to about 2in apart. Then, once the seedlings reach about 6 inches high, they can be thinned out again to around 18 inches apart. For the rest of the year you just need to keep the beds weeded and the plants well-watered.

If you have bought seed varieties that produce both male and female plants, you will need to remove any female forms as soon as they become identifiable - normally from their berries.

Main image credit - Ryan Freisling released this work into the public domain.
In text Image credit - Permission granted to use under GFDL by Kurt Stueber. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or less.

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