How to grow and care for asparagus in open ground at home

Vegetable crops today are considered exotic in Russia. Many housewives grow it in flower beds, not realizing the valuable and beneficial substances of this culture, beloved by supporters of healthy eating. The answer to the question of how asparagus grows is: the plant prefers sunny, windless areas. It does well under fruit trees, as it reaches technical maturity before the leaves appear. Asparagus is grown by seeds and vegetatively. The collection of shoots begins in the third season.

When to plant asparagus

Experienced gardeners plant asparagus bushes in winter in a previously prepared place. The bed is dug up and fertilized with a mixture of superphosphate, potassium sulfate and ammonium sulfate. In spring, they prefer to plant pre-soaked seeds using growth stimulants. This process occurs in early April, and seedlings appear after two months. The seedlings are moved to their permanent place of growth in the second half of June.

Propagation by cuttings

For this type of propagation, cuttings are cut from last year's shoots and placed in wet sand. It is advisable to equip the plantings with a cap made from a plastic bottle.

Before rooting, the cuttings should be ventilated and sprayed, and after one or two months they should be transplanted into separate containers.

Asparagus can be propagated by dividing the bush. In this case, all divisions must have shoots.

How to plant asparagus

Asparagus is planted in open ground in early June under the protection of fences or building walls. The crop does not tolerate soils with high groundwater levels, but produces crops in one place without replanting for up to a quarter of a century. Therefore, a permanent place should be chosen. The ideal option is fertile sandy loam soil, which is prepared in advance. In autumn, weeds are removed from the ridges, compost, potassium sulfate and superphosphate are added and dug up. After the snow melts, the area should be harrowed and fertilized with wood ash and ammonium nitrate.

When planting asparagus seedlings in open ground, prepare holes 30 x 40 cm, 30 cm deep, at intervals of one meter. The holes are filled with loose soil and the plant is planted, shortening the roots to 3 cm.Compact the soil, water and mulch.

Where to plant asparagus

Since the crop grows in one place for up to 25 years, the highest yields are achieved in the first years, then stabilize and decline after 10 years. They select a well-lit corner in the garden where cereals and potatoes previously grew.

Medicinal herbs and spices can be grown nearby.

If seedlings are placed near a fence, they are protected from the negative effects of weeds from the street by digging in sheets of tin or slate.

The soil in the garden should be loose to ensure free access of air to the roots. Heavy, clayey soils are corrected by adding coarse sand. It is enough to plant five or six asparagus bushes at the dacha to provide the whole family with food. In the case of close groundwater, a high ridge is built. Soil acidity is reduced with bone meal, dolomite meal, and lime.

How to grow asparagus from seeds

Growing crops in open ground occurs in several ways. Sowing seeds is a lengthy process due to slow germination, so preference is given to planting seedlings in the garden. To do this, the seeds are soaked in warm water for 3-4 days, changing the water to fresh twice a day. The swollen seeds are wrapped in a damp cloth until the sprouts hatch. Then prepare containers with a soil mixture of two parts sand and one part each of peat, garden soil and rotted manure.

Sowing is carried out in furrows to a depth of 2 mm, the seeds are laid out at a distance of 5 cm from each other. The container is installed in a well-lit place with an ambient temperature of +25 degrees. With daily watering, seedlings appear after a week. Features of caring for sprouts - peat powder.Two-week-old seedlings are fed with complex mineral fertilizer of moderate concentration.

Germinating seeds on sand

Seeds are planted in a plastic container equipped with a lid in early spring. The container is filled with river sand to 5 mm and slightly moistened. The seeds are laid out on the surface at intervals of one millimeter and slightly buried with a spoon. If the container is without a lid, it is placed in a plastic bag and left at above-zero temperatures.

The location of the crops does not matter, since they do not need lighting.

Dried sand needs to be moistened. After a week, the sprouts sprout, then you should open the container and place it on the windowsill.

Picking

Asparagus seedlings are picked when they become crowded. When replanting, you need to provide each plant with a growing area of ​​5 x 5 cm. You can purchase ready-made soil or mix peat and garden soil in equal proportions. Seedlings are planted together with a lump of soil and buried slightly. Seedlings tend to stretch out and bend to the ground; this is a temporary phenomenon.

Growing asparagus seedlings

At the end of May, seedlings begin to harden, exposing them to open air, first for one hour, gradually increasing to 12 hours. At the beginning of June, asparagus will be ready to plant in beds 30-40 cm high and one meter wide. A distance of 60 cm is left between the rows, separating the seedlings from each other by 40 cm.

When growing asparagus, you need to take into account the ability of some varieties to withstand short-term severe frosts in adulthood, over four years. Young plants are harmed by temperatures of -25 degrees.

How does asparagus grow from rhizomes?

The root method of propagation is the fastest, most effective and popular. Planting occurs before winter or spring.Rhizomes are bought or used growing on the site. Having dug them out of the ground, divide them into parts and soak for half an hour in warm water.

A half-meter distance is maintained between rows. A nutrient substrate is poured into the center of the hole, into which the roots are placed at intervals of 30 cm. The plantings are covered with earth, watered and mulched with sawdust, tree bark or dry leaves.

Preparing the soil for transplanting seedlings

In the case of seedling cultivation method, autumn preparation of the site is necessary. The need to fertilize the soil is to apply manure and fertilizers containing potassium and phosphorus. Acidic soils are deoxidized with chalk or liming, after which the ridges are dug up.

Seedling care

Asparagus needs abundant moisture immediately after planting. Then the plants need to be watered from time to time and weeds need to be removed.

To stimulate growth, the shoots must be fed with a solution of slurry prepared from one part manure and six parts water.

Three weeks later, bird droppings are added, diluted with water tenfold. Fertilizing with complex mineral fertilizer is carried out in the fall. For the winter, asparagus is cut to a height of 2.5 cm, hilled and covered with dry leaves and humus.

The soil around plants needs to be regularly loosened in order to provide the root system with oxygen. The procedure is carried out monthly, with caution, due to the superficial location of the roots.

Neighborhood with parsley, green onions, dill has a beneficial effect on the growth and development of asparagus.

Diseases and pests of asparagus

Garden plants are susceptible to:

• Fusarium, which is a type of root rot. Appears from waterlogging of the soil.
• Plant rust.A disease caused by fungi inhibits development and destroys plants left untreated.
• Rhizoctonia. A rare disease transmitted from carrots requires preventive treatment due to the proximity of this crop.
• Asparagus leaf beetle eating leaves.
• An asparagus fly that gnaws tunnels in young plants. The pest insect lays larvae that destroy the plantings.
• Garden slugs that eat all parts of asparagus, not disdaining old and hardened shoots.

To avoid such phenomena, timely treatment with appropriate drugs is necessary. Preventive measures in the form of spraying with Karbofos, which has minor toxicity and is suitable for protecting various garden crops, help against pests.

Harvesting asparagus

Asparagus is suitable for consumption in the 3rd-4th year. Asparagus should be cut after the rhizomes rise above the ground surface. If the winter is not too frosty and spring comes early, the harvest begins in April. Twenty-centimeter shoots are used for cutting. No more than three stems are collected from the plant. Cleaning continues for 14 days. In subsequent seasons, it is permissible to cut up to 10 shoots from each plant in a month and a half.

The stems should be hilled, weeds removed from the area and mineral fertilizer applied. The rhizomes produce new shoots that develop and form buds before the onset of cold weather.

Cut asparagus is sorted to get rid of unsuitable stems and placed in a warm place. Leaves smooth, creaking stems with a noticeable shine. Then wrap it in a damp cloth and store it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator or in another dark, cool place for up to 3-4 months.Strong-smelling products give off their odors to the shoots, so their proximity should be excluded. To avoid deformation, vertical placement is recommended.

Many gardeners store their crops in the cellar, placing them in wooden boxes, sprinkling the layers with sand.

Asparagus intended for long-term storage has its tips trimmed off. The products are placed in a hermetically sealed container and placed in a refrigerator with a temperature range of 0...-20 degrees. Such conditions help preserve color and nutrients. Freezing of pre-boiled asparagus is allowed.

Asparagus is popular not only as a food product, but also as a garden decoration. An ornamental plant harmoniously complements flower arrangements.