Hello! I grew up with a garden that produced quite a bit of asparagus, but I haven't been as successful with mine. My dad says that asparagus does better if rhubarb is planted nearby (and he had some plants only for that reason). Does anyone know if this is true? I have a small garden so I don't want to take up the space if it won't help the asparagus. Thanks! moderator's note: moved topic to more appropriate forum
Hi Debmbroz, if your Dad had Rhubarb growing near the Asparagus then it would be the manure fed to the Rhubarb that helped the Asparagus,..but its patience with Asparagus waiting two years for a crop is certainly patience thats if you plant crowns,..seeds take three years before cropping.
My rhubarb is 200' from the asparagus bed. I don't notice that it make a difference to the asparagus. asparagus likes deep, composted and sandy soil. The plants are heavy feeders so you need to add fertilizer of some kind twice a year. They also take two to three years before you can harvest the spears. the spears should be about the size of a pencil OR larger. break them off, don't cut them while harvesting.
This is the first time I've read this. Would you please explain the rationale? If I'm going to go to the trouble of putting in a good sized bed, I want to learn all I am capable of before starting the heavy labor.
As with Rhubarb its best to,.. "snap off",.. rather than cut,..cutting will leave an open source for rot and disease. I love Asparagus,..and when i grew it i always snapped off the spears,..i planted Crowns and the species was Connovers Colossal,..it is one of the OLD types and had produced large spears with a good flavor,..the area i planted them in was slightly sandy,..and my reason for picking Connovers Colossal as that is the type of soil it liked. I dug trenches 12 inches wide and 8 inches deep,..i had to look up my notes on this as its some time since i grew them,..but its all on paper,lol.
Hi FBG, Everytime you put your knife below the surface of the soil, you run the risk of damaging any newly emerging spears. then that spear will die or emerge curled, unfit for use. if you snap off above the soil you snap right where the spear starts to toughen up, eliminating the need to guess where the tender part starts. All fairly simple.
In my estimation, asparagus is one of the swine of the garden. It wants the most sun, water, manure, and mulch. Stint any of those and you'll get fewer-smaller spears. Rhubarb likes almost as much garden loving up. My guess is the two do better with the same attention to their horticultural needs met.
