Yet again, another Asparagus Question!

17 years ago

I planted 10 crowns of Purple Passion asparagus on May 2nd and there's still no sign of them. Tomorrow will make 4 weeks since I planted them. It's been really strange weather here in Boston. Colder than normal temps for the most part with a few way hotter days than normal interspersed. We had warm, sunny weather for awhile and all this week it's been 40s and 50s, cold and rainy. I don't know if the colder than normal weather is the problem or what. Maybe the soil hasn't warmed enough? I've read the other threads covering the same issue and I guess I'm just trying to find out when to give it up and plant something else - it's a pretty significant chunk of my garden space that I devoted to the asparagus and if it isn't going to grow I can certainly use the space for something else!

Thanks!

Lisa

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Comments (8)

cassieinmass
17 years ago
Dont give up till next year! I planted a bunch and I had a "weed" problem in my patch, so I think they were getting choked out. Now I have about 10 shoots coming up, almost 2 months later from planting them....-cass
vtguitargirl
17 years ago
I planted 10 crowns of Purple Passion & 10 crowns of Jersey Knight. The JK had succulent little shoots starting when I planted them on April 26 (I think) the PP crowns seemed very dry. All of the JK came up quickly.

Only 6 of the PP are up, two of which just came up this week. Although we had a couple of really hot days a few weeks ago, it's been mostly cold up here in VT.

I'd say be patient. (Actually I don't have much choice, the only asparagus at Agway are the same dry PP I got back in APril and all of the online places I know of seem to be sold out)
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alicate
17 years ago
They take quite a while that first year. Just be patient! (And keep the weeds out!)
vtguitargirl
17 years ago
Today, 3 more PP (out of 10) are up! Just one hold out. Plant asparagus & reap patience.
thefarmguy
17 years ago
oh yes those lazy gus,,, maybe it knows something about your upcoming weather you don't......not sure if you have been having much rain, but i would give it a good drink of water, just might be the trigger it is waiting for. did you give it a really good soaking when you planted it? the water drives out air pockets, and stimulates the dormant roots.
catherinet
17 years ago
My new ones took forever to come up. I'd almost given up on them, but now they are going like gangbusters. Don't give up! Be sure to water them often.
edible
17 years ago
REALLY dumb question. I put the bare root asparagus down and since I figured they won't we able to be harvested until next year, I put canteloupe plants in the same area. Think I will have any problems?
lisazone6_ma
Original Author
17 years ago
I actually soaked them overnight as I didn't get them in the ground the day I planned to, but had to finish digging the area the next day. So they were soaked well and I've kept them watered - when it hasn't been raining! The only thing is, I didn't put them in a trench and backfill as they grew (obviously, since they're not growing yet!) I planted them according to the Ohio State instructions - dug a wide trench, spread out the roots for each crown, then just filled the whole thing in in one go.

I was wondering the same thing edible - can I plant something else there for now as I'm waiting for the asparagus to grow? I don't want to do anything that will hurt or set them back tho.

Lisa