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    Home » Blog » Organic Gardening » Vegetable Gardening

    April 11, 2023 | By Jami

    How to Grow Asparagus with Tips & Frequently Asked Questions

    Learn how to grow asparagus, an easy perennial that will give you early spring harvests. Get my best growing tips, lots of questions answered and see what an asparagus bed looks after it's left to fern out.

    asparagus growing in spring garden

    Asparagus is really an unusual plant that many people only know about from the bundles of stalks available in the spring in stores.

    The stalks we know and love to cook and eat are only one of the first stage of the plants seasonal life cycle, though. Once the season is done and the stalks are allowed to grow, it literally creates a hedge of ferny foliage.

    When I showed visitors my garden with the 20-foot beds of asparagus in July or August, the #1 question I got was "What is that?" pointing to the asparagus hedge because hardly anyone knows what asparagus looks like as it grows.

    I didn't either before I started growing it - and it is an amazing plant, I think!

    Which made me realize that while I have a great Ultimate Asparagus Guide that shares how to grow, harvest, and cook with asparagus, I should share more about growing asparagus, especially what the beds looks like in summer after the asparagus harvest has stopped, as well as answer a few questions I've gotten.

    I love growing asparagus and hope you will try it if you haven't.

    It's a plant-once-and-forget-it (almost) perennial vegetable. Meaning once established, it will produce for you every year with minimal work.

    That's pretty great, isn't it?

    How to Grow Asparagus

    thick purple asparagus growing in raised bed
    Purple asparagus growing - it tends to have thicker stalks and more production and turns green when cooked.

    The #1 thing to know about growing asparagus is that the roots will take a few years to get established.

    This means you can't harvest all the shoots you see coming up in the first three years - you have to let them grow and "fern out" to provide food for the next year's larger crop.

    Here's a basic establishing-harvesting schedule:

    • Year 1: Plant 1 to 2 year old crowns and let all the spears that appear grow.
    • Year 2: Add a layer of compost and maybe harvest a hand full of spears (if you have a large enough bed and if the spears are growing well) - err on the side of no harvest if you're in doubt. I've read that a light harvest after the first year may stimulate more bud production, providing greater future yields, as compared with waiting two years before harvesting, but again it's still a very light harvest.
    • Year 3: You can harvest about 25% of the spears that appear in the first three weeks, then let them grow.
    • Year 4: Harvest the spears for 4 weeks, then let them grow into their fern-like hedge.
    • Year 5 and beyond: Increase the harvest by one week each year until you are harvesting a full season, about six to eight weeks.

    Your reward for this patience? Many, many years of faithful, strong asparagus production!

    Other than knowing how to establish an asparagus bed, growing them is pretty simple.

    Steps to Grow Your Own Asparagus

    While you'll find these steps covered in the Ultimate Asparagus Guide, I'll briefly list them here with some additional tips.

    1. Where to Plant: Site the bed in full sun - at least 8 hours a day. This bed will be there for many years, so make sure it isn't near plants that may shade it as they grow or compete for water. Make sure the soil isn't too acidic and that it drains well - you don't want the roots to sit in any pooled water.
    2. How to Plant: You can plant the crowns 2 to 3 feet apart in a raised bed or just mounded soil, but you have to be able to dig down 18 inches to plant the roots deep and spread them out then mound the soil as they grow the first year. I chose to do this with a raised bed as that was easier with our hard clay soil. TIP: Asparagus roots do not like to compete with weeds or other aggressive roots (think running berry roots), so think about this when planting, This was another reason I went with a raised bed with sides, since it's easier to monitor weeds.
    3. How to Water: In the first two years you will want to water regularly to supplement any rain so that the newly established roots get 1.5-2 inches of water a week. Older plants need 1 inch of water a week. TIP: I found it easiest to lay soaker hoses that ran weekly to meet this need. You can also automate it as part of your garden watering system, too.
    4. Maintenance: Besides water, both newly established and older asparagus beds need only a few tasks done - occasionally weed to keep the roots free of competition, top dress with compost (about 1 inch) in the spring each year, and then cut off the brown, dead stalks the next fall to prepare for the new spring harvest. That's it - they are SO easy compared to fussier vegetables!

    How to Harvest Asparagus

    spring asapargus in raised bed that needs harvesting

    The above photo is our old asparagus patch in desperate need of harvesting - I hadn't been in the garden for about 3 days, but that's all it takes during harvest season.

    Here's what I wish someone had told be about growing asparagus:

    Once established, it will grow prolifically and if you want to harvest for the full season, you have to pick it almost daily during the 6-8 week season - and that's a LOT of asparagus, depending on the size of your bed!

    So if you can't pick everyday or at least every other day, you'll want to have someone come and harvest for you to be able to keep harvesting or the stalks will all start to turn into fern stage.

    As you might imagine, we were all so excited each spring for the first stalks of tender asparagus...and then two months later, we were equally excited to let the stalks grow and move on to other vegetables!

    purple asparagus growing and harvested
    Purple asparagus growing with some stalks harvested.

    Tips for harvesting Asparagus

    • Remove the spears when they are 6-10 inches tall (ideally) and the tips are closed. However, if you can't get out to the garden for a few days and the spears have shot up about a foot (it happens!), you can do what I do - simply snap them and cut the tough bottoms off to make them the length you want.
    • To harvest, snap the stalk or use clippers to cut the spear at ground level. I've read various ways to harvest, some calling for cutting at the dirt level, some below, some breaking off at the natural point, others below dirt level in case of fungal growth (but then you can cut a new spear emerging...). TIP: After years of growing, the easiest and most effective is to snap the spears at or slightly below ground level - with clippers I found I would often cut the new emerging growth by accident.
    • The first spears will appear when the soil is 40-50 degrees and your harvest will continue depending on the air temperature (so different parts of the country have different lengths of harvest). TIP about late frosts: I've had the first spears appear at the beginning of April followed by a couple of 29 degree lows which frozen them. I simply cut all the mushy frozen ones off, added more compost, and more grew - this is one hardy plant.
    • Harvest Timing: In the early cooler part of the season the spears can grow 10 to 12 inches with tight heads and a low amount of fiber in the base of the spears. As the weather warms the spears will “fern-out” at a shorter height and fiber will develop faster so you should harvest the spears shorter during warmer weather until the harvest season ends.
    • Cut all the spears during the harvest window, even small ones (you can compost them) to keep the bed growing evenly and to not provide a place for asparagus beetles to lay their eggs.
    • When to stop harvesting: as a general rule, you should stop harvesting when the diameter of 75% of the spears becomes less than 3/8 inches. I've found that using a specific number of weeks is easier to calculate for me, which is between 6-8 weeks on older, established beds.

    One thing I've learned about growing our own asparagus is that the spears that grow are not uniformly round like the bunches in the store.

    You'll get thin ones, normal ones, and really fat ones. And I do mean fat- I've personally never seen asparagus as fat as some I grow. But they still are tender and I've learned to adjust cooking times accordingly.

    Also, they don't all start getting thinner toward the end of harvest as I've read.

    There are always good sized spears even after six weeks, but I decide to stop harvesting at that point to provide the roots with the food they need to produce well the next season.

    Asparagus Pests

    The most common pest is the asparagus beetle. basically if you grow asparagus, you will have them. They are orange with black spots or lines with a more elongated body than Asian beetles. If your spears are curved or hooked, the beetle infestation is doing harm.

    Monitoring and hand picking the beetles off plants can keep a small population under control. A beetle’s instinct is to drop when it feels disturbed, so hold a pail of water, or even just a box, under the plant before gently shaking it to knock the bugs off.

    For bigger infestations try an application of neem oil in combination with cutting just below ground so that asparagus beetles will not use the stub to lay their eggs and multiply.

    The best organic control for spotted asparagus beetles is to plant male-only cultivars that do not form berries. If your plants do produce berries, gather and compost all asparagus berries if spotted asparagus beetles have been seen to remove the potential larvae inside the berries. 

    Growing Asparagus FAQs

    Here are a few of the questions I always get from visitors to my garden and readers who've seen photos of my beds:

    • How long can you pick asparagus? Asparagus is harvested only for about 6-8 weeks in spring and then you let the spears grow, which produces fern-like growth from the tall stalks. Alternately, to get a fall harvest you can let the spears grow in spring, cut them all down in August and then harvest the spears in September and October.
    • Why do you have to stop picking? Harvesting for only a season of time is important to the health and longevity of the plant - letting it grow feeds the roots and creates bigger and stronger plants.
    • How hard is it to grow? It takes awhile to grow a decent asparagus patch - you don't really harvest much of anything for the first 2-3 years after planting. But it is a perennial plant that only requires the basic maintenance I've mentioned: keep weed-free, water regularly, feed in spring with a top coating of barnyard compost, and cut down the brown fronds in the fall or winter.
    • How much should I plant? The two 20-foot beds with two rows of crowns I planted actually provided too much asparagus for our family of four (with two kids who were only so-so about it). I froze and canned it and found other people to give it to, but I should've planted less. A 10 to 15 food bed is probably fine for a smaller household, depending on the amount of preserving you'd like to do.
    • How come the spears are all different sizes in the photos? Like I mentioned I've found that the spears are never all the same size - there will be thick spears and super thin ones from the same root. And from the first month of harvest to the last. So the common instruction to stop harvesting when most of the spears are "smaller than a pencil" doesn't really work for me - I use the 6 weeks rule.

    Finally, a reader asked, "Do you grow only asparagus in this bed?"

    Which is probably because there seems to be a lot of bare ground in the photos above.

    The answer is yes, it's all asparagus (besides a few nasturtium I let reseed at the front of the beds) because:

    1. The roots of asparagus don't like competition.
    2. And this is what asparagus looks like in summer:
    Asparagus beds in July 2016

    They grow to a HUGE six-foot tall ferny hedge by the height of the summer!

    The nasturtium like it and I allow a few to grow at the front of the beds to provide beauty and bee food, but that's about it.

    Spring Rhubarb and Asparagus Harvest - An Oregon Cottage

    In spring, I reap baskets like this shown almost weekly (the asparagus more often, of course)- the prolific asparagus with early rhubarb stalks.

    Both of these are perennials for the vegetable garden and growing these perennial plants assures that we always have something to harvest in early spring, whether we've planted anything or not.

    Do you grow asparagus? What growing tips would you add?

    Ready for more information and a TON of recipes for asparagus and rhubarb, two of early spring's easy perennial crops?

    • The Ultimate Rhubarb Guide: Grow, Harvest, Cook & Preserve
    • Ultimate Asparagus Guide: Grow, Harvest, Cook & Preserve
    • See All The Ultimate Growing Guides HERE
    grow asparagus easily

    About Jami

    Since 2009 Jami Boys has been helping readers live a simple homemade life through whole food recipes, doable gardening, and easy DIY projects on An Oregon Cottage. From baking bread, to creating a floor from paper, to growing and preserving food, Jami shares the easiest ways to get things done. She's been featured in Cottages and Bungalows, Old House Journal, and First for Women magazines as well as numerous sites like Good Housekeeping, Huffington Post, and Apartment Therapy.

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    1. Lola says

      April 11, 2023 at 2:18 pm

      Hi Jami, I was lucky enough to inherit an established asparagus patch! It's probably between 80 and 100 years old! We look forward to it every year! Thx for all the tips!

      Reply
      • Jami says

        April 12, 2023 at 12:11 pm

        Wow, that's amazing how long-lived asparagus is, isn't it?!

        Reply
    2. Tonya Selfridge says

      February 11, 2023 at 12:02 pm

      Hello!! How wide are your 20 foot beds? I have some spare space between my garden beds and a fence so I’d like to do some link skinny perimeter beds. How wide would it need to be to do two or tree plants wide?
      Thanks,
      Tonya

      Reply
      • Jami says

        February 13, 2023 at 10:28 am

        Those beds were only 2 feet wide - I staggered the rows of asparagus so that no two plants were directly across from each other.

        Reply
    3. Barry Ott says

      February 25, 2022 at 5:40 pm

      I live in Northern Colorado and ordered 1 y.o. plants, due to arrive in Mid-March. We have heavy, clay soil which I dug down 15 inches and replaced with peat moss, Miracle grow bedding soil and top soil. Since these are perennials, what do I do to maintain these plants in the future?

      Reply
      • Jami says

        March 02, 2022 at 9:35 am

        They do not like their roots disturbed, so keeping weeds away and top dressing each year with 1-2 inches of compost is all I've ever done and have great harvests every year after they matured.

        Reply
    4. Vicky says

      September 20, 2020 at 6:51 am

      Hi, I'm about ready to rip up my asparagus since its year 4 and not doing at all well and it takes up alot of precious space. each year i look at my dismal results and think of the other crops i could have planted, but then i saw your suggestion for a fall harvest. This could be a game changer as we love asparagus but only need enough for two of us. We would love a more spread out harvest. But that is only if we can make it happier and more productive generally!!

      We are in the south east of UK (zone 8?). We made a shallow raised bed for our asparagus and dug over the soil underneath before filling it. but in hindsight our soil is clay and probably not very hospitable for asparagus once the roots reach down past the lovely compost in the raised bed. Its claggy and damp and cold in winter and liable to bake hard in summer. Do you think making a deeper raised bed would be of benefit or is there something else at play?

      Reply
      • Jami says

        September 21, 2020 at 9:28 am

        Gosh, I feel your frustration, Vicky. My bed wasn't that deep - I think we used 5 inch boards (which are 4.5 in reality) and our soil is heavily clay as well. I did dig down like you did to probably a food before adding horse manure, soil, and compost mulch. Did you plant the roots 15-18 inches down and then fill in as they grew?

        Once I did all that they seemed to be fine with the soil below the amended, so I'm not sure that would be the answer. What kind of harvest are you getting from it? I would probably leave it alone since asparagus take so long to establish, and give it maybe two feedings of a quality compost/mulch yearly instead of the one I do to see if it will take off.

        Hopefully it's just a slow starter!

        Reply
    5. Yolli says

      July 08, 2020 at 8:28 am

      Hi I just grow asparagus thru seeds it still in the pots and planning to transplant it in the container , I’m doing container gardening ,can asparagus survive in the container and if when to cut off the over grown plants , please
      Let me know

      Reply
      • Jami says

        July 10, 2020 at 12:32 pm

        I'm pretty sure you can grow them in containers, since I grow them in raised beds. As long as you live in a climate that's okay for growing them.

        You leave the fern tops until they turn brown in the winter and then cut them off. Since you're starting from seed, you won't be able to harvest spears until the plants are four years old, though. They need that much time to grow strong.

        Reply
    6. Roberta says

      July 07, 2020 at 6:33 pm

      I like your ideas. If we transplant into a raised bed how long before you can harvest.

      Reply
      • Jami says

        July 10, 2020 at 12:37 pm

        Since they are established plants and hopefully you'll be able to get most of the roots, I'd give it two years before doing a light harvest. In the third year you can harvest fully from when the spears come up for a couple months as long as the spears are big enough (bigger than a pencil).

        Reply
    7. Roberta says

      July 04, 2020 at 6:41 pm

      We have a large asparagus patch that is full of weeds & grass
      Do you have any tips on how to get rid of weeds

      Reply
      • Jami says

        July 07, 2020 at 11:52 am

        Oh, that's a tough one, Roberta, as asparagus doesn't do well with competition like that.
        If it were me, I'd dig up the asparagus roots as much as possible and then dig or kill (with black plastic) all the weeds and grass and then start again, but in a raised bed with an edge that might help to keep the grass out.
        Layer with thick cardboard and bring in clean soil and mulch.
        It would take work, but you'd be rewarded with a healthy patch again.

        Reply
    8. SarahPerry says

      April 01, 2020 at 9:09 am

      Hi I know this is an older blog but I am ready to set up my asparagus bed and am hoping you can advise me a bit...I read depth and spacing etc to plant. But I’m in hot Texas and wonder if the asparagus needs any relief from the heat with afternoon shade etc? Also how deep do the roots go after planted and established? Hoping you can reply🙏Thanks Sarah

      Reply
      • SarahPerry says

        April 01, 2020 at 9:11 am

        Also do you have a blog about rhubarb? Also interested in starting that too?

        Reply
        • Jami says

          April 01, 2020 at 9:29 am

          Yes! I have Ultimate Guides to growing and using a lot of fruits and veggies - here is the Ultimate Guide to Rhubarb. There is also an Ultimate Guide to Asparagus and you can see all the Ultimate Guides here.

          Reply
      • Jami says

        April 01, 2020 at 9:27 am

        Hi Sarah - I check all my comments no matter how old the article, so happy to help!
        Asparagus loves sun, so I'm not sure about the shade issue. The bigger issue is temperature and being in Texas that is going to be an issue. What I've read is that you need to find the varieties that are suited to hotter climates and that will go into dormancy through drought and not cold in winter. I think if you googled "asparagus varieties for hot climates" you'd get some answers.

        As for the roots, they aren't as deep as they are wide, which is why you plant them relatively far apart so they have room to spread. The roots need about a foot deep. I've grown them in a 5-inch tall raised bed that I dug down to get the 12 inches, and now I'm going to grow them in a foot tall raised bed since there is a bedrock base.
        Hope that helps!

        Reply
    9. Michele says

      April 30, 2014 at 11:32 am

      I just pinned this for when I get my own asparagus beds started. So helpful! Also, I just linked up for the first time this year! Thanks for hosting, Jami!

      Reply
    10. Mindy says

      April 29, 2014 at 7:44 pm

      Whoa!!!! I had NO idea asparagus got that big! Clearly, I've never grown it. And now, I'm even more sure that I don't have the space! I can't get over how big the greenery gets. I wish I was in the neighborhood, I'd take some of the harvest off your hands. 🙂

      I was checkin' out my rhubarb yesterday. I only have one plant, but I think he'll be ready to make somethin' yummy in about two weeks. I can't wait!

      What a surprise to see a picture of my yard! Thanka so much for the mention! The blog has turned full on garden-themed over the past couple of weeks, so I have several link-ups this time. Now, off to check out what's goin' on with everyone else.....

      Reply
    11. Connie at Bird and Seed says

      April 29, 2014 at 3:29 pm

      Asparagus are crazy! I love your basket full of asparagus and rhubarb. How old is your rhubarb? If I can plant some soonish to insure a decent harvest this time next year I totally will- my garden at the moment is sad and I'd love to be able to pick something!

      Reply
      • Jami says

        April 29, 2014 at 5:36 pm

        I think the rhubarb is 6 years old - we tried it in a couple of areas before setting it next to the asparagus bed (which is 8). It does take a couple years to get established, but then will produce regularly for you with almost no maintenance - love that 🙂

        Reply
    12. Green Bean says

      April 29, 2014 at 1:55 pm

      You have rhubarb!!! Mine is in its second year. I've read conflicting reports as to whether I can harvest this year or whether I have to wait until next. I think I'll take off a few stalks.

      I love your asparagus bed! I am TOTALLY making one next year. I've been putting it off for years but you have inspired me.

      Reply
      • Jami says

        April 29, 2014 at 5:34 pm

        I think you'll be safe with a couple of stalks - as long as you leave some to grow and feed the roots. 🙂

        Reply
    13. Vickie says

      April 29, 2014 at 11:38 am

      Wow, I didn't know you can get a fall harvest from asparagus! That's exciting, because I love asparagus and just hate that I can only eat it fresh in the spring! Thanks for that information. Also, thanks for hosting the linky party!

      Reply
    14. Shelly says

      April 29, 2014 at 10:32 am

      I've never knew asparagus grew like that, it really gets huge! We have rhubarb ready to harvest too. I'm thinking of making some dairy free rhubarb ice cream with it. What's your favorite way to use rhubarb? I think I need some new recipes to try.

      Reply
      • Jami says

        April 29, 2014 at 5:33 pm

        I love, love Rhubarb Chutney with pork, Shelly - it's amazing (and I never thought I'd say that!) - it's in our preserving section in the recipe index. I want to get some more rhubarb recipes up this year, since I sadly do not have some of our favorites yet - so stay tuned. 🙂

        Reply
    15. Kimberly says

      April 29, 2014 at 8:58 am

      Thank you for hosting!!! We would love it if you would stop by our party.
      Have an amazing week! Lou Lou Girls

      Reply
    16. Natalia says

      April 29, 2014 at 7:34 am

      Wow, I am so impressed with your asparagus and rhubarb--gorgeous! I have tried growing rhubarb twice, to no avail. 🙁 Who can't grow rhubarb? Me, apparently. 🙁

      Thanks so much for hosting this link up--I posted today's list of free homesteading/DIY/etc e-books that I searched up just this morning. I hope you and other readers find something there you like. All the best in your lovely garden...

      Reply

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