Contents
The secret of asparagus fame is easy to reveal – its shoots supply our body with very important substances: beta-carotene, choline, ascorbic and folic acids, thiamine, niacin, potassium, iron, magnesium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, sodium, copper, selenium, manganese. Not a plant, but simply a multivitamin complex with trace elements! As popular as asparagus is, many people find it difficult to grow. Although wild asparagus (the Latin name of this plant) is found throughout Our Country, not everyone knows how to grow asparagus in the country.
Cultivation from seeds
Asparagus is a frost-resistant perennial herbaceous plant, it perfectly tolerates winter frosts even down to -30 degrees, but it can suffer from a cold snap in the spring to -5. It can grow up to 1,5 – 2 m in height, in one place it feels good 20 years. The pretty red berries contain only 1 or 2 seeds and are good for 5 years of sprouting. This perennial plant is so leisurely that the first harvest will give no earlier than 3 years from the date of planting. This is probably why the question “how to grow asparagus” turns for many summer residents of Our Country into the question “how to wait for its harvest.” Caring for it is no more difficult than for other perennials, there is a set of rules of agricultural technology, following which will certainly lead to a good result if planted in the Moscow region.
Planting asparagus requires a lot of space, it cannot be done at home, except that seedlings can be grown at home. Seeds are characterized by poor and slow germination, so many summer residents prefer to sow them in a greenhouse or at home, and then plant ready-made seedlings in open ground. In the south of Our Country, you can sow them in the spring right on the garden, but you need to remember that for germination they will need an air temperature that has reached +25 degrees, and soil that has warmed up to + 15.
Seeds must first be prepared at home: soak for 2 days with warm water, it is advisable to maintain the temperature at + 30 degrees, then they need to be dried. Some vegetable growers insist on the use of a growth stimulator. Only after such care are they ready for sowing.
If warm weather allows, then from mid-April you can sow. Asparagus loves neutral nutrient soil, grows well on sandy loam. But caring for her must necessarily include top dressing. For sowing, you need to prepare the soil in advance. It is good to mix 2 parts of garden soil with sand (1 part), peat (1 part) and manure (1 part). Acidic soil must be limed beforehand.
Seeds should be placed in the ground, lightly sprinkled on top (by 1 cm), watered with a spray bottle. For this period, care focuses on preventing the earth from drying out, it will need to be moistened with a spray gun all the time, otherwise shoots will not appear. You can cover the crop with glass to retain moisture for a while, but every day you need to ventilate and moisten. After a month and a half of such care, the result will be – cute tender plants, they usually do not germinate before 6 weeks.
Mid-June is a good time to transplant plants to a permanent place. As adults, they can be transplanted in autumn or spring, but they can do fine without it, they can grow in the same place all the time.
How to sow seedlings
Some summer residents believe that young plants should be replanted every year, and adults – after 10 years, then each of them can bear fruit even longer. Simultaneously with the transplant, you can divide the bush, this is a great opportunity for the reproduction of asparagus, you can breed it with cuttings. But most often in the Moscow region, asparagus is grown through seedlings.
At home, you can prepare the seeds by soaking them with a solution of a growth stimulator for a couple of days, then dry them, sow them in a special dish already in March. You can germinate seeds in a greenhouse or at home, it is necessary that the air temperature is not lower than +25, and the soil warms up to +15 degrees (if we are talking about a greenhouse). The soil must be pre-fertilized with compost, humus, mineral fertilizers. Grooves are made in the boxes 6 cm deep at a distance of 30 cm, the seeds that have hatched are planted at a distance of 7 cm from each other. Seeds cannot be germinated on a rag until roots appear, such roots will be too fragile and weak, they will die during planting.
Seedlings need to be weeded, watered, loosen the soil around it, feed it with urea or mullein infusion – that’s all the care. Seedlings that already have 5 stalks are considered to be of high quality, the root system is well developed, such plants are ready for transplanting from home to the garden. Furrows 35 cm deep are prepared on the site, at least 20 cm of rotted manure are laid there, humus is placed on top of it, in which seedlings are planted. A distance of 0,5 m must be left between seedlings so that they develop normally.
Video “Growing”
In this video you will learn about the features of growing asparagus.
Asparagus Care
Caring for asparagus is no different from caring for other plants – it needs to be watered, weeded, fed, protected from pests. For the winter it is sheltered from the cold, in the spring it is protected from frost. Asparagus loves moisture, so you need to water it often, but do not allow water to stagnate near its roots. After watering and weeding, you need to loosen the earth.
Top dressing should be regular, and they start right from planting. If you need to plant in the spring, then bring up to 10 kg of humus per 1 square meter of area. During autumn plantings, superphosphate (60 g), potassium sulfate (30 g), ammonium sulfate (20 g) are added.
Agricultural technology involves 4 top dressing. The second top dressing is carried out a month after planting the seedlings: watered with diluted mullein. The middle of years is a period of intensive growth after flowering, asparagus is fed with a solution of infusion of chicken manure or complex fertilizers. In autumn, before the onset of frost, asparagus is fed with a special fertilizer that will slow down growth; superphosphate and potassium salt can be used. Two and three-year-old plants are necessarily fed in the spring, using nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers for this. Adequate nutrition of this perennial will ensure a good harvest.
When asparagus blooms, it is advised to spray it with an insecticide to repel pests. And in the fall, before frost, you need to cut off all the stems, spud plants, cover with compost or peat. The lower part of the stem must be covered by 5 cm so as not to freeze in winter.
Harvesting
The summer resident grows seedlings at home, plants them in the garden, provides constant care for 3 years, and only after that, in the fourth year of life, can he harvest the first crop. Perhaps this explains the rare cultivation of asparagus in our dachas. The first shoots that we love to eat so much appear precisely in the fourth year of growth. On a May day (sometimes earlier) they begin to lift the ground – that’s when they need to be collected. It is necessary to carefully rake the ground (where the shoot lifted it), cut off the sprout at the base, and cover the holes again with earth. You need to cut off all the shoots, this stimulates the growth of new ones.
The first harvest is harvested no more than a month, so as not to weaken the young plant. The collection of shoots from old plants continues until the end of June. Asparagus grows quickly, and the shoots that have risen above the ground are already losing their qualities. Therefore, the harvest is often harvested – every 2 – 3 days, it is advisable to do this in the morning and evening, when the sun does not bake so much.
After harvesting, the asparagus is fed, the ground near the roots needs to be leveled. Seeds are harvested when the berries are fully ripe – then they will acquire a bright red color. Beautiful sprigs of asparagus are often cut to decorate bouquets, you can not cut everything from the plant, this can greatly weaken it.
Asparagus shoots for 3 months can be stored at home on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. They will last longer in wooden boxes placed in the basement, the shoots can be sprinkled with sand. Caring for asparagus is not difficult, you just can’t forget about it. And you can grow one plant (or several) even at home, and then divide the root and you can plant it in the garden.
Video “Practical recommendations”
Demonstrative video with useful information and practical recommendations.
