How to Grow and Maintain Asparagus
An annual plant, asparagus is a delicacy especially made for the kitchen lovers of fresh vegetables. It\'s delicious taste is very in demand for every household and become a part of the ingredients for every vegetable you cook.
It\'s a sun loving plant that it thrives best and grows vigorously when grown in full sunlight exposure.
Asparagus is a hardy plant and well adapted when planted in early spring. It tolerates at a pH from 6.0 to 6.8 pH level and very tolerant to salinity.
The pollination process in asparagus is made possible with the aid of some friendly insects. So don\'t destroy some insects that are roaming in your garden.
Preparing the land
The land should be well-prepared to destroy all weed seeds and to make the soil properly pulverized. Asparagus does not tolerate weed presence, therefore, weed control should be your priority.
Planting
During planting, put about two inches of soil over the roots and replace more soil as the plant grows. As much as possible, don\'t cover the tips of the spear with soil.
Maintain a vigorous and healthy fern growth during the first two years to ensure a long production in the succeeding years.
Note: Asparagus should not be harvested in its first year of growth to get a maximum harvest in your first harvest.
Weed control
Weeds are the number one competitors for asparagus. To ensure a vigorous plant growth, you should maintain strict and complete field sanitation. To avoid weed growth, you should apply mulching materials at least two to three inches of pure compost every year.
Note: Don\'t till the soil around the plant to avoid disturbing the delicate root system.
Fertilizing
Asparagus is a fertilizer tolerant crop and responds well with proper fertilizer application.
To get a better result, apply nitrogen fertilizer two times a year, at least once in the spring at early growth and follows up again at the end of harvesting.
Water requirement
Maintain its water requirement especially during the first two years of growth period and apply mulching materials around the plants to conserve its soil moisture content and controls weed presence.
At its fourth year of plant growth, you should reduce water supply thus reducing them every two to three weeks. This is to let the water penetrate to the soil at least four feet below the soil surface.
Harvesting
To make a white asparagus spears – which is considered a delicacy, make a mound soil about 8 inches high over the asparagus plant in early spring before the spears emerges from the ground.
As soon as the tips of the spears emerge through the top of the 8 inches mound, push a long-handled knife into the base of the hill and spears well below the surface and cut the shoots out by the tips and level the mounds again after harvest.
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Cris Ramasasa, Freelance writer, writes about home gardening and Internet marketing tips. You can get a copy of his latest ebook 'How to get started in Flower Gardening' and 'Vegetable Gardening Made Easy', also get lots of tips, Free articles, and bonuses at: www.crisramasasa.com
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com
About the Author
Cris Ramasasa is a retired Horticulture teacher for 29 years and Freelance writer. Writes home gardening tips and resources. Written ebooks titled: How To Get Started In Flower Gardening and Vegetable Gardening Made Easy. www.crisramasasa.com - Still under construction
