how closely did you plant them? that can have an effect...

They will not get any thicker after poking out of the soil. That's it for girth. I would remain optimistic as long as they are bigger than last year. Working compost in the the top layer of soil is a good idea, keep that up. Maybe next year is the year.

to biscgolf...... I planted them about two feet apart. I have two rows of six plants,with about 4 feet between the rows.

What and how often have you fed them? Asparagus is a heavy feeder. Our beds get a high phosphorous supplemental feeding 2x a year as well as regular spring and fall feedings of a well balanced fertilizer plus micronutrients.

Dave

I planted mine last year (2-18-2010) and I didn't harvest any the first year, but I plan on taking all of them this year (that are larger than a pencil) all of the thin ones ,I will let "fern" out.

So Far , So Good the First ones out are as thick as a quarter.

{{gwi:34238}}

Here is a link that might be useful: French Intensive/BioDynamic Asparagus

when you cut down the ferns for winter, do you let them get completely brown first? if not then the energy left in the spears is lost! if you do let them get completely brown first, then how deep did you plant and what type of soil do you have?

Yes, first of all, nothing wrong with thin spears. But with the info given, likely not enough N or manure for good establishment. I can see the ferns being cut too soon, but likely not enough N.

Dan

On a related note, my asparagus is in its third year and does not seem to be coming up as robustly as it did last year. Should I assume that the ones that are not coming up perhaps rotted?

Should I assume that the ones that are not coming up perhaps rotted?

First, I would assume that they need feeding and water. Spring emergence is the most stressful time of the year and they demand high nutrients and moisture levels accordingly.

Dave

Thanks so much--they've had water and a top dressing of composted manure in fall and recently, but it sounds like I need to feed. Do you recommend additional phosphorus (such a bone meal) in addition to a balanced fertilizer. I have Espoma's Garden-Tone, which is a 3-4-4.

Bone meal is an excellent source of phos but it is very slow acting. We apply it in the fall after cutting down the brown ferns and mix it into the top of the soil. For an early spring phos feeding I prefer to use Dyna-Gro 3-12-6 but most any high phos supplement should work fine.

Dave

They need annual N in addition to compost. That 3-4-4 likely is far from what they need, assuming the bed was prepared properly.

Dan

I have been reading with interest because this will be my first year.

I posted the below on the container forum but haven't heard anything....in the off chance someone on this forum could answer, I'm posting here.
I grow a lot of my veggies in containers, but use this forum way more than that one.

"I've been growing vegetables for about 8 years and have been really wanting to grow asparagus.

Because I rent and have limited space, I have been able to control myself and have not planted it.
But I was ordering some other stuff and the deal was too good, so I broke down and bought some.

So, even though I might be able to find some space in the ground, I would prefer to plant in a container.
I searched for info on growing asparagus in a container, but only found a couple hits.

Has anyone here done this?
I know they need a deep trench, but I seem to have narrow and deep containers, or wide and shallow ones.
What type of container (short of a half barrel) might give me my best shot at some success.

Even if it is just a few spears (three years from now!!!)"

Asparagus roots grow down to 40 get so I could answer about container gardening.

40 feet