You really don't want to pick anything the first year, just let the fronds blow in the wind. The second year you might get a few pencil-sized spears that you can harvest, but there won't be many and as soon as those get thinner you want to stop cutting and let the fronds get big --- and blow in the wind. The third year you should be seeing some larger spears, and more of them. When they get to be thin spears stop cutting. Every year the harvest should improve.

Each crown will get bigger and spread some, but not unreasonably so. You don't want to double-crop the asparagus bed. Don't forget to fertilize.

Would agree with all the above and add that spacing between crowns should be about 18-24". Keep the soil moist but not wet. And as weed-free as possible - asparagus does not like any weed competition and weeds can affect growth and spear production.

And you want to figure on about 5 crowns per person for a reasonably decent harvest amount.....after the third year :-)

Thank you all for the input, I have a few follow-up questions.

CA Kate - I think I'm bid confused on the terminology. What is the difference between fronds and crowns?

Also, if I stop cutting in the 2nd year, won't the growth of the spears impact the growth of the fronds? I would think the plant would be putting energy into the spears and as a results, lack energy input into the fronds...

Lastly, we are in a temperate climate that has the ability to harvest all year round. Does that mean, each year would be like the equivalent of a 3-4 month time frame where you all harvest, since I don't have a winter?

Salevene - You didn't mention the variety of crowns you planted. The plants in your picture look more like young seedlings than grown from crowns. They recommend planting the purple asparagus varieties much closer than 18-24". Actually I've read that 12" spacing most often recommended for green varieties.

I purchased 2 year old Purple Passion and Pacific Purple crowns from Nourse Farms in 2016 and they recommend 8" spacing for these varieties to keep the spear diameter more normal size. Even at this tight spacing I've harvested several that were larger diameter than my thumb.

The fronds (or ferns) are spears that are allowed to grow out. The ferns from mature crowns can get to around 6' in height. The crowns need a recharge period to feed the crown below the soil. Even in your climate I believe you want to allow about 8 month without harvest for the crowns to recharge even if the ferns don't die off. You would want to cut the ferns from the previous year down prior to the new growth in your spring.

Now, that being said, this advise is all coming from gardeners in more temperate climates. You might want to consult someone else in Columbia to get more local advise. It's possible that the asparagus growing practices are different.

LoneJack said it well.

Crowns are what you plant. Fronds are what un-picked asparagus turn into. It's best to let your gus turn into fronds for a couple of years! I always tied them together until they browned in Nov-Dec. Unfortunately as someone mentioned, it takes at least 2-3 years to get a good eating crop!

Being in a high weed area, I would pile high with leaves after cutting the fronds in the winter.

Boy! I miss my asparagus bed!

Hi Nancy, in my picture, are those consider Crowns or Fronds? What are gus?

Wow, lots of terminology here, but I got it now :). The first spears that come through, I'll let them grow out and into fronds and then once I see production after that, I will start harvesting :). Hoping the 3 years is just a year in total, being in a temperate climate :). It was a bit tricky, because with other vegetables, if you leave the fruit, it will delay future growth of the plant. As such, sometimes I get the flowers to promote new growth and a largest harvest. Here, it seems, when the spears start to grow, it seems I'll get more fronds and eventually more harvest (quite the contrary!) Confusing, but I'll give it a go!

It is important to remember that asparagus is not a fruit in the common sense so do not expect it to behave like a tomato or corn plant will. What you eat is really just an immature stem and it will take time for a plant to achieve the size and maturity necessary to produce a reasonable crop to harvest. And you will always want to leave some of the spears to mature into the ferny fronds. If you don't, you are doing the equivalent of chopping down a tree or shrub...you will have effectively eliminated the plant's ability to photosynthesize and recharge its energy reserves

It seems like the crowns are also the spears and in order to have a reasonable crop, you need to let the crowns create more crowns. What would happen if I just planted 1,000 crowns and then just kept chopping new crowns after the 1st year? That would be the same difference as leaving new crowns after planing like 100 initially, correct?

The crown refers to the root crown....the center or heart of the plant, from which the spears/fronds emerge. Multiple spears will emerge from a single crown, starting with just a few when newly planted and increasing as the plants mature. The crowns will increase in size over time but they do not spawn new crowns. That only happens if you plant a new crown or grow them from seeds.

I'm not sure I understand the rest of your question..........

salevene, I hate to burst your balloon, but I'm also in a temperate area, and I had to wait a couple of years to harvest my first gus (asparagus)! After that I was in 7th heaven! Except for severe drought years when I lost some, I got so much in my 4x8 bed, I ended up blanching and freezing some! Almost got tired of it!

In a new house, smaller garden, not much room to garden. Miss my gus bed! Nancy

I'd forget the term crown if you find it confusing. An asparagus crown is basically just another way of saying asparagus plant. The crown/plant expands just like any other herbaceous perennial. The bigger/older the crown/plant the more stems it will push up each year. No different to a Shasta daisy or peony or any other perennial. As GG says the asparagus you eat is just immature stems. So it's obvious that if you ate every stem the plant made it would die. You must leave some to grow to maturity and feed the crown/plant.

If you planted 1000 crowns you'd have a farm. I have 6. I could do with more. Maybe 12.

I too don't understand the last part of your question.

UPDATE: It looks like my first spears are coming through from the fronds I planted 2 months ago. To confirm, I should let these mature into new fronds? Then, when new spears come in after that I can start to harvest some? But, also leaving some so the crown can recharge and photosynthsize and therefore produce a real crop?

nancyjane - that is indeed sad news, but I suppose you gotta start somewhere! :)

I see small stalks coming up! Good for you! Do not cut and eat anything this year.

Next year.... maybe you can eat a few; but probably not. The third year there will be some big enough to eat... but not many large enough. After that you will start getting a decent crop.

For now, I don't plan to cut anything. Interesting though, so I spoke with some locals and their strategy is the following: after 7-8 months of growing, chop the fronds at the bottom, completely cover with an inch or two of organic material and then they claim the harvest will start and I should even have decent spears :). I'm torn! ;)

Sounds like good advice. As to Harvest: just watch for the size of the spears... baby finger or larger - cut; any thing smaller - stop cutting.

Don't chop them until the frost kills them!! I am in sunny California and mine never got a real killing frost this winter yet! Remember that what grows above the ground is replenishing and making the roots below larger and healthier. Each winter toss some finished compost or manure on top off the bed and work it into the soil around the crowns. Don't dig to deep and damage the roots! I would restrain from cutting anything until the third year so the roots get a chance to get a strong foothold. When you do harvest Don't cut anything smaller than a pencil.These will help regenerate the roots below. Once your bed gets established you will never want to eat store bought asparagus again! Keep the aphids in check when and if they present themselves because they will introduce a toxin into the root that kills it.Remember to feed them because they are a heavy feeder.

Even though you are in a warm climate, you can't hurry the process. I'm in So Cal, zone 10 and it still takes a few years to get a crop. You have to deal with soil temp. and length of day as well as air temperature.

Here is how the asparagus are doing over the past 6 months. We planted 6 crowns and 4-5 took off! I only fertilized once several months ago, we are generally organic.