Well, for one, there ain't no way asparagus is going to be mature enough to flower after just six months. And even if it was, that would put the flowering time at around October for me. At that time of year asparagus would be going dormant, not flowering.

Secondly, the only way you are gonna be able to harvest in the second year is if you want to put extra stress on the plants and if you like pencil thick spears and smaller. I sure don't.

Having said that, if you want to start from seeds go ahead. I winter sowed some a few years back and they did great. I got damn near 100% germination.

Rodney

My experiences are slightly different. I reasoned that if I was spending $74 for 1M of male hybrid seed I would start indoors early, especially since seed takes 3 weeks to germinate. At that I only achieved about 80% germination rate.

Transplanting into prepared bed at 16-18" spacing is plenty close, 20-22" spacing might even be better and allow 4to 5 ft. between rows. All transplanted seedlings grew well and the second year I had thumb thickness spears. With a spring frost predicted I harvested around 40 lb from spears that would normally have frozen anyhow. So taking a few spears from each plant early the second year is no big deal.

Definately a cost saving over purchasing crowns. I have a bed of asparagus from crown establishment that is 25 years old so I can't say one will outlast the other. Just make sure that you prepare the bed in advance. Weed control is important and there are different ways to accomplish that.

Thanks for the responses. Any suggestions on favorite varieties?

For seeds or crowns? With seeds you have very limited choice, like 2, maybe 3. For crowns the choices are numerous and many have their favorites as the many discussions here about that question show. THe search will pull up many discussions about best varieties.

My personal favorites are the various Jersey varieties as well as Purple Passion.

Dave

Some of the statements comparing Seeds vs. Crowns are unfounded. Simple common sense will dismiss that there is a flavor difference.

"Simple common sense will dismiss that there is a flavor difference."

Are you saying there is no flavor difference between varieties? Do all varieties of tomatoes, corn, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, beans, onions, etc. taste the same? No. Asparagus is no different. If nothing else, the purple varieties have a higher brix, more sugar content.

Dave

Let me start this off by saying I have never grown asparagus from crowns but this past year I started growing asparagus from seeds. The variety is Precoce d'Argenteuil which I believe is a french heirloom variety. I started the plants indoors last February. The germination rate was high and was between 2 and 6 weeks. I transplanted them outside in late may. It was a new bed I built for these plants. I spaced them around 18"-24" in a grid pattern.

The plants grew well some bigger than others. One got dug up by an animal which I replaced with an extra transplant. I mulched with compost a couple times over the summer. In some cases by the end of the season the plants had 10 stalks pushed up at one time. In others it was just two or three. I did not get a single flower but my plan is not to segregate the males from females so it is not a big deal for me. I am curious to see what I get this spring. I have no plans on harvesting more than a spear or two for fun and that is only if they look extremely healthy.

For me the choice of growing from seeds was for the experience of it. I did enjoy the fact that it was cheaper and I felt much more involved in the process. I am sure my method isn't going to be the most productive and I would have quicker results with crowns. However this experiment has been fun. I will probably plant a few more this coming february just in case some don't make it through the winter. If everything makes it maybe I will make a second bed for the extras.

No, there are very slight differences between varieties but your statement implied flavor differences between seed started beds and crown started beds. I don't believe any of your statements to be true. First there are many of the newest male hybrid varieties available as both seed or started live seedlings. Further there is no evidence to support statement that overall quality of crown started beds surpasses that of seed started beds. Please cite your references and post a picture of your bed so we can all evaluate YOUR results.

Coltranem, you brought up an interesting concept and since Scott asked for variety recommendations it is evident that various growers of this crop have different aspirations. I went with Jersey Supreme from Rupp Seeds because others had expressed difficulty selling varieties with purple bracts. If you choose a purple variety, Jersey Giant (seed available from Stokes) might be preferred over Purple Passion solely because it has resistance to Fusarium wilt and Rust. Both Jersey Supreme and Jersey Knight also have FT and RR resistance. Stokes also has Millenium seed but that variety has only moderate RR resistance and no FT resistance. However some prefer Millenium because of advertised high Rutin content. So there are numerous reasons to choose one variety over others. None of the variety traits or resistances are affected by wether you start from seeds or crowns.

When starting my tomato seedlings, I noticed a pkt of "Mary Washington" for 50 cents (from the wonderful American Seed Company sold at WalMart). I have always heard that Mary Washington is one of the best asparagus cultivars. I crowded the seed in small pots to "see what happens" for 50 cents. They germinated with the tomatoes. I was not as careful about up-potting them as often as my precious overpriced tomato seeds. I built a raised bed of scrap lumber for them and put in all my remaining compost to build the soil up higher in the frame. I had over 50 plants. Every year, I will add compost. I was advised not to put in anything sandy because it will get caught in the spears as they emerge. This first year, they grew to about 3 feet tall. My lovely 50-cent bed of asparagus is definitely worthwhile. I do not mulch it because decaying wood uses up too much nitrogen in the soil. So it took a little weeding, but by fall, the lush asparagus were shading out most weeds. When the stocks are completely dead for winter, I will add potash, which will be my first expense over the initial 50 cents. They seem to need less frequent water than most other plants, so are pretty easy care. I would have had to fuss and worry more if I had invested in crowns.

Just my two cents of opinion!

Some older growers lament about many years of growing and harvesting Mary Washington asparagus. And you are correct,Tarolli, that seed is readily available and prices are low. In comparison Rupp seeds lists Mary W. seeds for $3.80 per M., they list Jersey Knight seeds for $84.65 per M.

My response: Pay the $84.65. You will see the difference in year two and again every year after that for many years.

Thanks for the help. I will still keep my MM for a while to see what happens. For fifty cents, can't go too wrong. I may mix up my own low phosphorus fertilizer to minimize blooms. And the plants are dense enough that I can remove females. But I may also replace with red raspberries that I love.

If you choose a purple variety, Jersey Giant (seed available from Stokes) might be preferred over Purple Passion solely because it has resistance to Fusarium wilt and Rust

Barrie...Jersey Giant is not a purple variety. Spears are green but the tips may have a little purplish tint to them.

I have 5 different asparagus beds for a total of ~80 crowns. 6 Mary Washington, 6 Jersey Knight, 10 Jersey Giant, 10 Jersey Supreme, 25 Purple Passion, 25 Pacific Purple. The purple varieties were 2 year crowns planted this past spring so I haven't harvested any yet but I am looking forward to stealing a few spears from them next spring. The Mary Washington and Jersey Knight share the same bed and surprisingly the Mary Washington are much more productive.

If you don't mind it taking maybe an extra year to get the same yield, I recommend starting from seed and wintersowing them. I got close to 100% germination last winter 2015. I bought the Sweet Purple seeds from Pinetree Garden and those purple hued mini stalks when they sprouted were the cutest things ever.