Anyone grow asparagus? I'd love some info!

[StaceyinLA]

We are planning to do a raised asparagus bed behind the garden my husband just built. I'd love to hear from anyone who has done, and be successful with, asparagus. We are in the south if that makes a difference.

[maize]

Asparagus needs plenty of water and takes a few years to get established. I have a couple of small patches.

[saraha]

I miss our popcorn munching emoji. I have nothing to offer but was literally going to ask this same question today! (Oh and I miss our little running away emoji too haha)

[Lady Florida.]

I really wish I could grow asparagus. It just doesn't work in my part of Florida because it doesn't get cold enough, long enough, for it to go dormant. Asparagus needs to go dormant for a period.

 

1 hour ago, saraha said:

I miss our popcorn munching emoji. I have nothing to offer but was literally going to ask this same question today! (Oh and I miss our little running away emoji too haha)

I still miss so many of the emojis we used to have here. 😞 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bootsie]

If your LA is Louisiana, I grew up in south Louisiana where all of my relatives had gardens or small farms.  None of them has ever grown asparagus.  I decided to try once and could not get it to work.  

[StaceyinLA]

I know it takes time to get established. I wonder how much cold it needs, and for how long. We do typically have some sort of winter. I guess I need to do some heavy duty research.

[Miss Tick]

I'm father north than you (funny, because I always, for some reason, assumed the LA was L.A. and thought I was about the same distance from you but in the easterly direction). I have come to think of asparagus as a lot like sourdough starter. There is a lot of information out there, some of it conflicting, a lot of it anecdotal, very little truly tested. Plus, like sourdough, sometimes it goes great, sometimes it seemingly dies off. Who can really say.

One thing is, if you don't have a bunch of plants, we've used the random few shoots in sheet pan recipes, rice salads, and grilled salads, so every bit counts, even when it is the only bit.  Oh, and you are smart to plant it behind your garden since the frondy stage gets so tall that it provides a lot of shade.

[Miss Tick]

5 minutes ago, StaceyinLA said:

I know it takes time to get established. I wonder how much cold it needs, and for how long. We do typically have some sort of winter. I guess I need to do some heavy duty research.

So you have a local greenhouse? If they sell it they probably offer advice about it. That way you get some real, local-to-you advice.

[maize]

I found this from Cornell:

"When the soil temperature is below approximately 50° F or the water supply is limiting, crowns become dormant. In the Northeast, cool soil temperatures induce winter dormancy, whereas in tropical or subtropical growing areas, irrigation may be withheld to induce dormancy or special methods are employed to produce the crop without a dormant period. The dormant period preserves the carbohydrates or energy, giving rise to spear production the following season."