How to grow Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis · garden asparagus

A long-lived perennial vegetable grown for its young spears. A bed crops for 10–20 years, but the first spears are cut only in the third spring after planting crowns.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Asparagaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6.5–7.5
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 10 °C
Germination	21 days
Sowing to harvest	730 days
Where it grows	Open ground

When to plant

It tolerates light frost: sow straight into the bed about three weeks before your last spring frost.

The first harvest comes about 730 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 7 days	—	—
Growth	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), at the start of the stage
Harvest	every 7 days	—	balanced (NPK), 28 days into the stage

Growing notes

Light

Best in full sun, at least 8 hours a day; tolerates dappled shade.

Soil

Well-drained, weed-free soil with plenty of organic matter, pH 6.5–7.5. Heavy, compacted or waterlogged soil does not suit it.

Care

Plant crowns 30–45 cm apart in a trench about 15–20 cm deep, cover with 5 cm of soil and fill in as the spears grow. Water about 25 mm a week in dry weather for the first years. Give a general fertiliser in spring and again after the cutting season. Do not cut spears for the first two years; then cut for about 6 weeks, later up to 8, stopping in early summer. Cut the ferns to the ground when they turn yellow in autumn.

Pests and diseases of Asparagus

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.