[Colino]

I try to find wild Asparagus plants at this time of year and dig the crowns up for transplanting in my patch at home. It can save you a couple of years establishing them over store bought crowns. I found a couple of nice ones today and it always amazes me how far the roots run. Seems no matter how far out I start digging it is never far enough because I always end up cutting some off.

 

[dphillipm]

They aren't native to this part of the world, so where do you find them? I also have another question you may be able to answer? They like a high PH, and will develop a root fungus if they are planted in a low ph. soil like we have on the south eastern US. How do I raise the PH in my planting bed. Without waiting a year for lime to work?

 

[Colino]

They aren't native to this part of the world, so where do you find them? I also have another question you may be able to answer? They like a high PH, and will develop a root fungus if they are planted in a low ph. soil like we have on the south eastern US. How do I raise the PH in my planting bed. Without waiting a year for lime to work?

I find that asparagus is found up here in Alberta almost everywhere once you learn how to identify them. The seeds are spread quite easily by birds from domestic asparagus stock. It is like trapping bees once you find one, it will be a good area to search for more, so every year I go to places where I've found some and search out new places. I have a few out there that I know of but they are too small yet for transplanting. I'm not sure about raising my PH so I don't have knowledge of that. All I know is I've been doing this every year for 10 years now and my asparagus bed is doing well.

 

[Kenww]

I don't think they are that picky about soil ph, but I'm sure there is a limit. They grow on the highway ditches here and I'm pretty sure that soil is acidic. Some lime is almost instant acting. I think it's called hydrated like but that may not be right. Ask a farm supply store that farmers use and they can tell you. The farm supply stores that are more like garden centers and are for hobby farmers don't always know much.

 

[jdmidwest]

I have a package of asparagus seed that I am going to plant in a raised bed this spring. It was the first time I have run across seed. Usually it is the root stock that you find to plant.

I am going to see how it turns out. I never really thought it was too picky about where it grows. We had a spot in the fence line of the family garden when I was a kid. The stuff grew up every year without any maint. from season to season. Dad cleared out the fenceline several years ago and the asparagus quit coming back.

 

[Kenww]

It doesn't grow much the first few year if you plant seeds. It takes one to two years longer that way but works.

 

[justin]

we started 300 plants from seed 4 years ago. we moved them to raised beds the second year. this is the 4th year and we had our first harvest of the year for supper last night. i always thought they were frost hardy but they are not. we cover them at night this time of year. there is some wild asparagus around here, i usually find it a few weeks too late.

 

[Colino]

we started 300 plants from seed 4 years ago. we moved them to raised beds the second year. this is the 4th year and we had our first harvest of the year for supper last night. i always thought they were frost hardy but they are not. we cover them at night this time of year. there is some wild asparagus around here, i usually find it a few weeks too late.

Hello justin:

If you've found some plants growing wild why not dig them up and transplant them to your garden? Even if they are sprouting, they should still take at this time of year just don't harvest any spears this year and only a few next year. The year after that you can pretty much harvest them until they get about as thin as a pencil. It will save you at least 2 years over planting from seeds. The roots are where the energy of the plant is. The energy for the spears you are eating this year was stored last year by the tops of the plant.
Colino

 

[WBVC]

Must admit the photo you posted looks nothing like I thought asparagus would look like. How on earth do recognize that!

 

[Colino]

Must admit the photo you posted looks nothing like I thought asparagus would look like. How on earth do recognize that!

What you are looking at are the roots of the plant, what you look for are the old fronds that died over winter. They are generally laid over because the stalk has bent about 10" above the ground. Around here the dead fronds are also a unique color that stands out against the background, a sort of yellowish tan color. If it clears off tomorrow I'll get some pics and post them.