Asparagus: tips for growing in your own garden

Asparagus, whether green or white, is enjoying increasing popularity. We give tips on planting and cultivating asparagus in your own garden.

The official name is vegetable asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) However, the short form asparagus, which actually describes the entire genus, has mostly become naturalized with us. Its origin is believed to be in North Africa or the Middle East. Earlier forms of asparagus are believed to be one of the oldest cultivated vegetables. According to written records, the Chinese and Egyptians used asparagus 4,000-5,000 years ago. At that time it was used more as a medicinal plant for coughs and bladder problems, but thanks to the progress made by breeders, it was ultimately able to establish itself as a vegetable.
Synonyms: God's herb, spargle (CH), sponge root (CH)

Grow asparagus yourself

You can use asparagus in the home garden cultivated will. However, growing asparagus requires skill and patience. However, both are rewarded with tasty sprouts! In commercial farming, asparagus is mostly planted with annual rhizome plants. Special asparagus propagation companies buy seeds directly from the breeding companies, sow them in beds and then cultivate the young plants for a year. In the spring of the coming year, the plants will be dug up before they sprout and sold to asparagus producers. They plant the rhizomes in rows at the desired spacing and depth.

Only a few companies decide to plant small plants grown in the greenhouse. To do this, the seeds are sown in soil press pots in the greenhouse at the beginning of April and the small plants are planted in mid-May. The small compressed soil plants require a significantly higher level of care and also have little reserves in case something goes wrong. In principle, this method is also possible in your own garden, but the amount of maintenance speaks for it Young plants and, in addition, with the rhizome plants, you only have to wait a year for the first asparagus harvest.

Asparagus likes it sunny. The soil should be sandy-loamy and not too heavy. Since asparagus is grown in the same location for several years, you should ensure a good supply of nutrients before planting. Since the soil has to be loosened up anyway, you can mix in plenty of compost, manure and horn shavings in the previous year. If you want to harvest white asparagus, you should either dig a 30 cm deep and 30 cm wide trench or pile the soil accordingly high. You can also use approx. Add 200 g of phosphorus and potassium per meter. They are planted at a distance of 25-33 cm.

If you have bought young asparagus plants, you can put them in the ditch in spring and add approx. Cover 10cm of soil. When the first shoots appear in spring, more soil is added. However, the topmost shoot tip should always look out of the ground. In the case of white asparagus, the rhizome is about 20-25 cm below the ground. With green asparagus it is only 15 cm. After one year, the asparagus can be harvested for 10-14 days, after two years, if the asparagus plants develop well, 4 weeks are possible. The plant first needs time to grow and to store enough energy in the fleshy storage roots. The quality of the young plant is essential here. High-quality young plants weigh at least 70 grams and have well-developed storage roots as well as a strong sprout system of the crown. If some roots are already rotten or rotten at the time of delivery, you should complain about your delivery again immediately. Inferior young plants do not grow well and one is annoyed about a poor harvest years after planting.

Some key data for the cultivation of asparagus summarized:

White asparagus:

Planting density: 3 to 4 plants per running meter; thicker varieties tend to be planted closer together
Row spacing: 1.5 to 1.6 m
Plant spacing: 25-33 cm
Planting depth: 20-25 cm

Green asparagus:

Planting density: 3 to 4 plants per running meter; Planting in double rows is possible
Row spacing: 1.5 m, more with double rows
Plant spacing: 25-33 cm
Planting depth: 10-15 cm

During the summer you should water once in a while if it is dry for a long time. Depending on the region, asparagus blooms between mid-June and the end of July. Modern varieties are purely male and do not grow berries, which means they are more productive and have a longer life. The red fruits of asparagus should not be consumed as they are slightly poisonous. Asparagus can stand for 10 years in one location without any problems, but it needs sufficient nutrients for a good yield. In autumn, it is always advisable to work compost and long-term fertilizers into the soil. In the first year, young plants can be fertilized three times with blue grain (25 g per square meter). The first fertilization takes place directly after the budding, the second in early June and the last in mid-July.

In the second and third year of standing, the asparagus has a strong growth in storage roots and needs more nutrients for it. Two doses of 50 g blue grain or a comparable NPK fertilizer (Entec-Perfect) per square meter are recommended. Fertilization with individual components is also possible, the requirement is 12 grams of pure Nitrogen in the year of planting, 16 grams in the 2nd and 3rd year of standing and from then on at 6-8 grams per year and Square meters. Limescale can also be used every 2 to 3 years if necessary. Depending on the soil, a pH value of 5.8 to 6.5 should be aimed for; the heavier the soil, the higher the target pH value.

tip: Alternatively, you can also use a primarily organic organic fertilizer such as our Plantura for your asparagus in autumn Organic universal fertilizer and during the season with compost or a green manure.

In our article Cultivate asparagus properly: pour, fertilize and dam up find tips and tricks from the expert to get a good return.

Asparagus varieties: choosing the right variety

Asparagus can be divided into white and green asparagus. While the former, also known as pale asparagus, is harvested before the asparagus sprouts reach the surface of the earth, green asparagus is harvested above the soil layer. Although you can use any type of white asparagus to produce green asparagus, there are types of green asparagus that contain little anthocyanin. Although this plant substance has positive properties on our metabolism due to its antioxidant effect, it also intensifies the taste of asparagus. Lovers of mild green asparagus should therefore prefer anthocyanin-free varieties, but the plants are a little more susceptible to fungal diseases. In addition, there have been purple to purple varieties of asparagus for some years now, which are also harvested above the ground. These are particularly suitable for consumption raw, when they are cooked they lose their attractive color.

• Argenteuil: French, old open-pollinated variety with a good yield; very aromatic.
• Mary Washington: A very popular variety for green asparagus, especially in the USA; fast growing and tasty.
• Ramada (F1): All-male new breed from Baden-Württemberg with a very early onset and high yield; good thickness (16-26mm) and high quality of the bars; robust variety for the home garden, excellent taste.
• Ramires (F1): Modern, all-male variety with very early and high yields; despite the very early harvest time, the stalks have a good diameter (16-26 mm); ideal asparagus variety for the home garden (3-4 plants per linear meter) with excellent taste. Also works well as green asparagus containing anthocyanins.
  

• Rapsody (F1): all male asparagus variety with high yield; also tolerates heavy soils well; Rapsody is suitable for deep planting, which will delay harvest; if you combine an early asparagus variety with rapsody, you can harvest tasty asparagus over a long period of time; particularly healthy and robust herb, also works well as green asparagus.

• Steineo (F1): good variety for white asparagus; good taste, high yielding, medium thick sticks.
• Steinivia (F1): Green asparagus anthocyanin-free, good variety for the home garden, avoid wet soil, with a high yield and good taste.
• Violetta (F1): violet / purple asparagus (green-white inside) with a very good taste; also ideally suited for the home garden. Particularly suitable for raw consumption z. B. in salads. Most of the purple varieties are tetraploid and therefore have softer cells, which means that they are less stable, and it may sometimes be necessary to tie the asparagus.

Worth knowing: A good source to buy high quality young asparagus plants is the Südwestdeutsche Saatzucht (www.suedwestsaat.de/spargel). It is best to send a request directly to the propagation company in Möringen / Stendal using the contact form: [email protected]. The plants are sent by parcel.

Can't decide which strain to choose for your garden? Have a look here: Asparagus varieties: overview of tried and tested and new varieties.

Harvest and store asparagus properly

In the first few years at the site, you should protect the asparagus plant because it still has to develop its storage roots. If you use seeds, you can harvest in the third, standing year at the earliest, if you plant rhizome plants, a short harvest of 10-14 days is possible after just one year. But you can do without it, especially with white asparagus, the heavy work for the dams for the short harvest is hardly worthwhile and is often omitted by professional growers.

Depending on the vitality of the plant, it can be harvested for four weeks in the following year. A year later, the first full harvest is said to be 6 weeks of harvest. Vital systems can now operate approx. 6-8 weeks are harvested, but never longer than Midsummer Day (24. June). Late varieties can usually be harvested until Midsummer Day. In the case of earlier varieties and early plants, the harvest must be stopped beforehand. The plants need the remaining time for regeneration.

You can find out more about harvesting and storage here: Asparagus: harvest and storage of the noble vegetables.

Yield expectation, required number of plants for self-sufficiency:

8-12 stalks of approx. Expect 40-55 grams per season, i.e. approx. 400-500 grams. With green asparagus, approx. 250-300 grams realistic. However, this yield is spread over 6 weeks. In order to be able to regularly harvest the required amount for a family of four asparagus, 30-50 plants are recommended.

Instructions for harvesting white asparagus:

If the earth is very loose, you can see on the surface where an asparagus spear is looking for its way into the daylight. Carefully lay the bar free and prick the bar with a sharp knife or Asparagus cutter cautiously off. You remove the rod, fill the hole again with earth and smooth the dam with a trowel.

Instructions for harvesting green asparagus:

With green asparagus, harvesting is a little easier and less expensive. The poles grow out of the ground, gradually turning green and can be cut to a length of 15-25 cm just above the ground. You should use a knife that is as sharp and clean as possible for the cut, so that the cut heals quickly and no diseases can lodge. Even if the storage of asparagus is no longer a technical problem these days, the stalks should be consumed as fresh as possible.

Asparagus from Peru is transported to Germany by ship for weeks under optimal conditions (temperature, humidity, protective gas) and looks appealing. However, the taste is mostly bland. In your own garden you should always harvest as much as you can use directly. Asparagus can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. To do this, you should wrap the rods in a damp towel or newspaper. After two or three days, the cloth should be moistened again.

Asparagus: ingredients and uses

With less than 20 kcal per 100 g, asparagus is very low in calories and is suitable for a low carb diet. It contains a lot of potassium and some B group vitamins. Similar to garlic, the typical taste and smell comes from sulfur-containing compounds. Green asparagus generally contains more valuable ingredients. Above all, the green sticks contain more vitamins C and A.

White asparagus is usually boiled in water and then served with butter or hollandaise sauce. With green asparagus, your own creativity knows hardly any limits. You can boil it, sear it or grill it. Green asparagus is also very good in salads.

Asparagus: pests and diseases

Particularly in commercial farming there are numerous diseases and pests that must be watched out for. In your own garden, asparagus is much less affected by diseases.

An infestation with botrytis, for example, causes the above-ground stems to turn pale and lead to death. If the humidity is high, Botrytis spreads very quickly. In the morning you can also see mold growth with the naked eye. The infestation slows down significantly as soon as the weather becomes sunny and dry.

Stem and foot disease (Fusarium) can be recognized clearly by spots (pink to brown) on the shoots of the plant.
Another strain of Fusarium can cause root rot. The asparagus leaves usually change color early in summer and then dies off after a while. As soon as parts of the plant are infected, they should be removed generously and disposed of in the residual waste.

Asparagus rust and stemphylium can also cause the asparagus to die prematurely. The plants can no longer store as much sugar in the roots and are accordingly less productive. It is advisable to remove the dead asparagus in autumn, as pathogens are found in the dead shoots and can otherwise overwinter. Robust varieties are best suited for the home garden and should therefore be chosen.

The robust varieties not only cause less trouble, you also get good yields and do not have to resort to chemical pesticides.

The asparagus fly and asparagus from the plant attack the plant as pests. These mostly weaken the asparagus, which means that other diseases such as rust or fusarium have an easier time later in the year.

A detailed article on this topic and how to protect your asparagus can be found here: Asparagus: diseases, pests and plant protection.

About the guest author:

As a graduate engineer in agricultural science Felix Grebhardt responsible for sales and marketing at Südwestdeutsche Saatzucht GmbH. The company is a family-run, medium-sized plant breeding company based in Rastatt. The asparagus cultivation has a long tradition in the company and can be traced back to 1912. In addition to his job, Mr. Grebhardt is passionate about growing various types of kiwi, persimmon and figs in his garden.
Additional information: www.suedwestsaat.de/spargel

Many thanks go to Mr. Grebhardt for his valuable contribution to the creation of the article and to the hardworking photographers of Southwest German seed breeding.