asparagus!!!

[peppereater]

what's the deal with culling female plants, and what varieties are really best? Mary Washington has been around forever, but it's said to be less vigorous than Jersey Giant and some others. I've heard the giants are also selected for males only. Seed is not desireable, evidently, because it resows readily, why would you not want new plantlets?

[durgan]

Feb 9, 2010 11:23:15 GMT -5 peppereater said:

what's the deal with culling female plants, and what varieties are really best? Mary Washington has been around forever, but it's said to be less vigorous than Jersey Giant and some others. I've heard the giants are also selected for males only. Seed is not desireable, evidently, because it resows readily, why would you not want new plantlets?

Here is how I handle Asparagus. Apparently Millennium is a new variety and the plants are all male so not seeding. Google for the story.

Asparagus Bed.
www.durgan.org/URL/?asparagus 16 May 2008 Making Asparagus bed</a>. Note: An asparagus bed is a long term effort. It should last many years, and the third year full Spring harvest should commence..

The bed is 41 inches by 102 inches by 12 inches deep. About a cubic yard of soil was removed. Time taken three hours from start to finish. Compost, sand and a bit of bone meal was added and mixed prior to planting the Asparagus Millennium Rhizomes. There were a total of eleven rhizomes. The bed will be filled in with compost, sand and a bit of normal soil as the plant grows. The rhizomes were spaced about 16 inches apart, and covered with two inches of soil, with the crown just protruding above the soil level.

www.durgan.org/URL/?Millenium August 2008 Asparagus (Millennium)
This indicates the growth over the summer. The bed was gradually filled in with good soil, as the asparagus fern stems grew.

www.durgan.org/URL/?AsparagusJ 18 June 2009 Asparagus (Millennium)
All originally planted eleven plants are now growing. The end of the bed with slow growth may be due to being wetter at that end.

www.durgan.org/URL/?MNJPH 13 September 2009 Asparagus bed.
Growth is excellent for one year. The bed was planted in May 2008. Only a few spears will be taken in 2010, then the main harvest will begin in the Spring of 2011. .

[jcm05]

I'm growing Jersey Supreme. All male plants from Johnny's. Growing it from seed takes a few years before getting spears of any size.

www.johnnyseeds.com/p-7098-jersey-supreme-f1.aspx

[peppereater]

That's not too bad a price, john, but they are just one year old crowns. You could selectively harvest a few next year. Trouble is, I've been planting a few each year, but I've got other priority investments for the garden. Growing from seed would be the only way to have a nice yield down the road without so much expense.
Thank you both for the varieties, I'll keep that in mind.

[grapenut]

I find Purple Passion a bit sweeter than others, its the only one I can eat raw.

[GunnarSK]

Feb 10, 2010 15:17:06 GMT -5 peppereater said:

Growing from seed would be the only way to have a nice yield down the road without so much expense.

I moved some volunteers that had come up in and outside my garden this past summer. Indeed it is cheaper than buying crowns, and you can always cull female plants if you don't want them to use energy on setting seeds.

[tomc]

Yes, you can cull female plants. I'll not bother to do that. The "startling" and "massive" increase in yeild from all-male supermale plants is vastly over rated. *If* any increase exists at all.

I likes my mary Washingtons and I collect seed against my inevitable 'next' bed, or relocation.

Supermale's aren't GMO's but the puffery is about the same.