Today I did the sixth and final planting - until I start working on fall crops. I was supposed to plant watermelons and asparagus, but the store-bought asparagus still hasn't poked through, and I've decided to wait and see if anything ever happens with it before planting the seeds. I will still be able to compare growth, and this is just easier.
The watermelon turned out to be difficult to plant, only because I have read wildly different recommendations on spacing - everything from 18 inches to 15 feet! I decided to go with the seed packet instructions in case it was specific to the variety, but even those were quite different and it didn't seem to be related to the size of the watermelon. I planted Crimson Sweet from seeds of change, Sugar Baby from territorial, and Petite Yellow from livingston.
Because the soil still hasn't quite warmed to where it should be, I'm using the cold frames to help the seeds along. I did the best with the space I had and planted them 3 feet apart - just one hill of each variety. I'll let you know how it goes!
Showing posts with label asparagus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asparagus. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Planting asparagus crowns
Around the time I planted the squash I planted the asparagus crowns we bought from a nursery in town. The plan was to compare the growth and ultimate production with that of our asparagus seeds, since my most reliable resource contradicted all of the other resources by advising me to grow asparagus from seed instead of from crowns.
The asparagus crowns looked like hay that had been knotted together at one end. They were dry, brittle, and very light (in weight). All ten combined were the size of what I thought one asparagus crown would be. So far, I think my trusted source will turn out to be right! I'm certain they must have been treated with something to be sold in a package that way, with instructions to plant them in a couple of months. I expected them to be packaged in dirt.
To plant them, the directions on the package said to dig a trench, spread out the roots and plant at the bottom of the trench (sorry no photos, they were accidentally deleted in a computer crash). It was confusing and I felt like I was hurting the asparagus crowns, which were very brittle. But it seemed to work okay. Then you cover them, but you only fill the trench about halfway - once the crowns start to poke through, you cover them up again.
Anyway, it's been a few weeks (perhaps even a month) since I planted them, and I have not seen them come through. Neither the package nor any of my resources have had much to say about planting asparagus crowns, so I don't know if this means they are not going to live or if this is normal. The next planting (the sixth and final planting) is when the asparagus seeds are set to go in, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out!
The asparagus crowns looked like hay that had been knotted together at one end. They were dry, brittle, and very light (in weight). All ten combined were the size of what I thought one asparagus crown would be. So far, I think my trusted source will turn out to be right! I'm certain they must have been treated with something to be sold in a package that way, with instructions to plant them in a couple of months. I expected them to be packaged in dirt.
To plant them, the directions on the package said to dig a trench, spread out the roots and plant at the bottom of the trench (sorry no photos, they were accidentally deleted in a computer crash). It was confusing and I felt like I was hurting the asparagus crowns, which were very brittle. But it seemed to work okay. Then you cover them, but you only fill the trench about halfway - once the crowns start to poke through, you cover them up again.
Anyway, it's been a few weeks (perhaps even a month) since I planted them, and I have not seen them come through. Neither the package nor any of my resources have had much to say about planting asparagus crowns, so I don't know if this means they are not going to live or if this is normal. The next planting (the sixth and final planting) is when the asparagus seeds are set to go in, so it will be interesting to see how this turns out!
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