Asparagus from your own garden is something fine. But it takes about 3 years until the first harvest. To ensure that plenty of asparagus sprout from the ground, there are a few things to consider when planting.
Cultivating asparagus takes time and effort, but the effort is worth it: the white spears simply taste best freshly harvested.
The perennial perennials deliver a rich yield with good care. It is best to plant in a sunny and wind-protected location, then you can enjoy your own asparagus from the third year of cultivation. Preparation is important for a rich harvest.
Prepare site and soil
The asparagus plants take up a lot of space. A generally mild growing climate is also favourable. In which region you live, however, is secondary: the location should above all offer full sun and be protected from the wind. A sandy to sandy-loamy soil is ideal. Before planting the first plants, prepare the soil thoroughly in the autumn of the previous year. Dig the soil for the planned asparagus bed deep, about twice the depth of the spade. It's backbreaking work, but it's worth it!
Dig up and you will see the quality of the soil. Mix in a lot of compost and some rock flour, sand if necessary. The substrate should be loose, nutritious and well drained. Remove stones and weeds without sifting the soil. Otherwise the looseness is lost. Asparagus plants need very good drainage at the roots, otherwise waterlogging will form.
Put young plants in spring
Next spring, dig a ditch. Create a kind of earth wall in it, consisting of small mounds about 40 to 50 centimeters apart. Plant the asparagus seedlings on the individual mounds. This is already possible in April. The young plants are insensitive to frost. Cover the roots with substrate and lightly mound the soil. Water the newly planted plants well.
Prepare seedlings yourself possible
One thing in advance: Preparing asparagus is possible, but it also takes a lot of time. Besides, go with mebought seedlings on the safe side. However, if you want to sow asparagus plants yourself, be sure to use purchased seeds. Seeds obtained from asparagus flowers are usually not germinable. Sowing is possible outdoors in a protected seedbed or indoors. The young plants are not allowed to move into the final asparagus bed until next year. However, anyone who considers asparagus cultivation as a hobby will have a lot of fun raising young seedlings.
Care tips for white asparagus
Always keep your asparagus bed slightly moist. Rainwater is ideal for watering. After the first summer, remove the above-ground asparagus greens, in the coming spring the withered stems. A thick layer of mature compost is used as fertilizer, which you spread around the rootstock and carefully work in. In addition, heap soil around the plants again. In the second year the care is exactly the same, in the third year the first edible asparagus sprouts form.
A special fertilizer is not necessary, well-rotted compost provides the soil with plenty of nutrients. Take more care when watering so that the plants never dry out. Weeds should be removed regularly.