Thanks. I have two real-looking spears, and the rest I'll leave until next year. A feast, I tell ya! :)

The rule of thumb is wait to harvest for 3 years or until the spears are the thickness of your pinky finger and ignore what's left for the rest of the season.

I'm surprised that you would try to grow asparagus in Florida, or any sub-tropical location.

Thanks Rizo. I'm zone 9a, 80 miles south of Georgia.

Asparagus grows in Mexico, various spots in the Caribbean, the Seychelles and the Solomon Islands. In fact, Mexico is one of the largest exporters of asparagus. Northern FL doesn't sound like much of a stretch :-)

Right now there is some really nice gus in the stores from Mexico but I don't know where in Mexico it is grown. There are some pretty temperate climates in higher elevation areas like Mexico City.

I also believe there are varieties of gus that do better in sub tropical climates.

You planted two year old crowns two years ago. This would make the plants 4 years old so technically you could harvest spears for 3 weeks. Personally I don't start harvesting new plants until the 4th year and only for 2 weeks but if any of your plants have spears smaller than a pencil you shouldn't cut from that plant and let them grow.

We may have different Idea's on what spindly means but if they are thinner than a pencil let them grow and don't cut from those plants. If the spindly ferns have thick stems you can cut them off so the plant will send up more spears to cut and eat but only for a few weeks. Next year you can add an extra week to the harvest and continue each year for up to 8 weeks so Enjoy!

I personally I don't cut from plants unless the spears are bigger then my pinky finger and shoot for spears the size of my index finger but it's just my preference. I have over 200 plants and over the last 25 years of growing asparagus I've learned not to get greedy and over harvest.

Thanks everyone. By "spindly", I mean very thin -- thinner than a pencil, pinky, or any other finger. :) More like pasta than pencil. So, maybe next year!

I agree, I don't pick asparagus until it's at least as big as my pinky finger. I planted mine 4 or 5 years ago. The first two years I didn't pick anything. The third year I picked a few, but left most to grow. Last year I picked throughout the season, but quit picking earlier than I probably needed to. I have 100 crowns, and this year I hope I can pick all I want.

The ferns should be left until they die off, then cut and discarded so they can't harbor any insects in your asparagus patch.

Annie

I miss my gus! Had a great bed, but then moved. Being in our mid/late 60s and with a much smaller yard, didn't think it was worth it to do another bed.

I certainly hope the new owners appreciate it!

We had a huge bed in Wisconsin that gave us wonderful spears. The property sold and we moved to Ohio. I heard from the grapevine that the new owners had tried to kill whatever this plant was" by burying it in wood. Didn't work. I managed to get word to them that this was an old Asparagus bed and they could benefit by eating it.

They cleared the wood, and I'm told, checked out how to care for it, and began to eat it. One bed saved.