The Best Way To Grow Asparagus

 Best Way to Grow Asparagus

There are a few ways you can grow Asparagus but I find that one way is better than the others. I will explain my reasoning of course, but first a few important facts about growing Asparagus for the modern day gardener.

Growing asparagus seed in your garden is a great way to frugally add more green veggies in your diet. It often sells for over $3 a bundle in the store when its on sale, but if you grow it yourself you will save money while adding a healthy vegetable that has many positive benefits. Seed is much cheaper than purchasing Asparagus roots/crowns, and you will get more for your money. However there are benefits to both.

Growing Asparagus Crowns/Roots

Growing Asparagus by root or as some like to call it, crowns, is more expensive but gives you a faster harvest. The downside to this is that this method is 50% more expensive than growing by seed. Some will tell you that this is the best way to grow asparagus. In many ways they are right but in other ways they are wrong. It can be difficult to find rare varieties of Asparagus in root form, and depending on where you live you may not have access to roots at all. Although visiting a nursery usually gives you more specialty options like white or purple asparagus.

Prepping the Soil

 

Growing Asparagus Seeds

While seed offers more variety, and are 50% less expensive it can take forever to grow. You can purchase 100+ seeds for under $6 yet if you are going for crowns/roots you will likely get no more than 25 roots per $8 spent. With seed you have better availability of heirloom varieties but will pay a little bit more for those. The greatest downfall of planting by seed is that Asparagus takes much longer to grow this way. It is not only time consuming but many of the seeds will not germinate. You need to find seeds that have a 100% germination guarantee as this will ensure the best harvest. Seeds take at least 1 month to be transplant ready, and then can take up to an additional 3 years to reach full maturity. By using crowns/roots you get to skip some of the long process steps, and will ultimately have a faster harvest.

Asparagus does not do well in containers. Some people have success this way but for the majority of gardeners it does not grow well and will eventually die off. So the Best Way to Grow Asparagus is to grow in ground or raised bed.

Asparagus is a Perennial!

And an interesting fact about Asparagus is that it is actually a perennial, meaning its going to come back every year! The trick to this is if its not planted correctly you won’t actually see it the following year. Many people kill their Asparagus by accident due to planting it incorrectly, but if planted correctly it will return year after year. This means you invest only once but reap the benefits for years to come! This definitely makes splurging on Asparagus roots more enjoyable. Asparagus grows upright, and because it’s a perennial, many people plant it against their house, circling a tree trunk, against a fence or use it as a a barrier to prevent animals from going into their vegetable gardens.

The best way to grow asparagus is by crown/roots. You will have a head start of the growth process, a quicker harvest, and better chance of it surviving after the first year. To purchase Asparagus crowns you can use this link.