Asparagus is ubiquitous: in Europe, Asia and Africa, this plant is actively cultivated in order to obtain juicy young shoots. Despite the fact that not everyone likes the characteristic taste of the vegetable, asparagus is constantly used in cooking as an irreplaceable source of many vitamins. Manganese, potassium, copper, vitamins of groups B, K, A, E - all this is contained in the shoots that you can grow in your own beds. Growing asparagus from seed involves choosing the most fertile spot on your plot, as asparagus are picky about the soil. You should also decide in advance whether you want to immediately immerse the seeds in open ground or pre-germinate them in a container, and place the already matured seedlings in the garden. We will talk about the intricacies of planting and caring for asparagus bushes further.

Planting asparagus seeds is done in two ways:

• immersion of seeds in open ground;
• pre-planting of seeds in a container, assuming a seedling method of growing a plant.

Since seeds take a long time to germinate, the seedling method is considered safer and more effective, because it allows the plant to have time to form before winter and cope with frosts. Both methods of preparing seeds for planting involve their preliminary germination, which allows accelerating the further development of the plant.

When should you plant asparagus?

You can plant asparagus seeds in both spring and fall. Usually, spring planting is more common and is carried out in late March - early April. Before planting, the soil is fertilized with humus so that the seeds take root better in the ground.

Autumn planting is carried out at the end of September and involves digging the garden in advance, as well as enriching it with superphosphate, potassium sulfate and ammonium sulfate.

Germinating seeds for planting in open ground

For germination, asparagus seeds, like all other seeds, need an abundant amount of moisture and heat air. Germination takes place in early April and involves a few simple steps:

With proper observance of all these stages, the first signs of germination will appear after a week.

If you intend to place the planting material immediately in open ground, then the awakened seeds are immersed in holes or rows specially dug for them at the end of spring. Immersion depth planting material- about two centimeters. A distance of ten centimeters should be maintained between adjacent seeds so that the plants do not interfere with each other's growth in the future. At favorable conditions, the seeds will begin to germinate in ten days, and in two months they will stretch in height by ten centimeters.

Important! If in May there are sharp drops in temperature at night in your area, cover the nursery in the late afternoon to prevent it from freezing. Agrospan is well suited as a material for shelter.

Growing seeds with seedlings

The seedling method allows seedlings to grow stronger in sparing conditions, so that by the time they are planted in open ground, they will acquire a certain immunity. Before placing the hatched seeds in containers, you should select the appropriate soil seven. The following ingredients are suitable for asparagus:

• Soil from the garden;
• Rotten manure;
• Peat;
• Sand.

If there is no desire to engage in the preparation of soil mixtures with your own hands, you can always purchase a finished product in a specialized store. There are both universal and crop-specific potting mixes that already include a range of fertilizers.

The main disadvantage of such mixtures is that, being in them, the seedling does not get used to the garden soil and is the first to encounter it only when it is planted in the ground, which provokes stress in the asparagus. If the plant gets acquainted with the soil from your site in advance, its subsequent adaptation will be easier and faster.

For the rest, caring for seeds in containers consists of stages that are well known to any gardener who has at least once dealt with seedlings. The seeds immersed in separate pots are covered with a centimeter layer of earth. This layer is periodically sprayed. To create greenhouse conditions, the containers are closed with a transparent lid until the first shoots. A few days before planting in open ground, attention should be paid to fertilizing, enriched with potassium.

By the way! For asparagus, 100-150 ml pots or plastic cassettes work well.

Landing in open ground

When the plant gets stronger, it should be planted in the garden. We'll cover how to prepare the soil for planting asparagus in the following chapters. And now we note that the most fertile territories should be selected for growing asparagus, since the plant is very sensitive to soil.

Until the plant has time to grow, it can be placed in holes located fifteen centimeters from each other. As the asparagus develops, the distance between the rows and between the holes should be increased by replanting young plants. When the seedlings are placed in a permanent place, the distance between them should be at least forty centimeters.

Preparing for winter

Since the first winter is the most difficult for asparagus, you should prepare well for it:

Important! Despite the fact that asparagus copes well with frost, during the first wintering, it is advisable to cover it with a layer of peat to avoid the risk of hypothermia of the asparagus.

Soil for asparagus

Every gardener knows which great importance the quality of the soil affects subsequent yields. In addition to quality, the compatibility of the cultivated crop with a specific type of soil should also be taken into account. If asparagus grown to obtain beautiful bouquets, will bloom on almost any soil, then asparagus grown for culinary purposes requires special attention to the landing site.

The land in which asparagus seeds are planted must meet the following criteria:

• Looseness and nutritional value. The best combination of these qualities is sandy loam soil. With a lack of nutrition, the shoots become thinner and lose their juiciness;
• Neutral acidity. Even slightly acidic soils should be limed prior to sowing asparagus seeds to ensure the best yields;
• Sunny location. Asparagus is a light-loving plant and the amount of light directly affects the quality of the shoots.

Preparing the soil for planting asparagus

Although asparagus is considered sufficient exotic plant, preparation for planting it is no different from any other preparation and includes standard procedures.

Step 1. Cleansing seat from all rhizomes of old weeds.

Step 2. Loosening the earth to a depth of forty centimeters.

Step 3. Soil deoxidation with fluff lime or any other suitable materials(chalk, dolomite flour, wood ash).

Step 4. Footprint processing. The soil is fertilized by introducing rotted manure or compost. The product bucket is enough for square meter vegetable garden. After making organic fertilizers, mineral should be added.

Step 5. Organization of space. Organization implies the choice of a method of planting seeds, which is carried out based on the number of plants planted. If you have big plans for asparagus, plant the seeds in specially dug ditches to create structured rows of plants. With a limited number of seeds, it will be more expedient to dig a hole for each specimen, measuring 30 by 30 centimeters and fill it with rotted manure, compost and soil already involved.

Asparagus care

Plant care directly depends on the season. For example, the summer season involves:

• Watering plants: asparagus does not tolerate both a lack and an excess of moisture, therefore it should be moistened as needed;
• Feeding - in the summer months, asparagus especially needs mineral and organic fertilizers. Bird droppings diluted with water can be used as top dressing;
• Loosening the soil between the rows: loosening is done after each soil moistening.

With the onset of autumn, the time comes for other actions:

• Stalk pruning: Before wintering, all asparagus stalks are pruned, regardless of whether they come from an old bush or a new one;
• Wrapping bushes: to cover the plant, it is enough to use dry foliage;
• Tillage: autumn involves fertilizing the garden big amount organic fertilizers (humus, peat, compost).

Top dressing

Asparagus needs constant feeding regardless of the season. The list of necessary dressings includes the following:

Video - Features of caring for asparagus

Breeding asparagus

Asparagus propagation is carried out in two ways: by cuttings and by dividing the bush. Each of these methods is briefly described in the table below.

Table 1. Breeding methods for asparagus

When to Harvest?

Before planting asparagus, it should be borne in mind that it makes no sense to wait for a harvest from it for the first few years. Only by the third year of life will the shoots of the plant develop enough to be used in cooking. However, this long wait has its advantages - with proper care, asparagus can last about twenty years without requiring a transplant.

"Lord's vegetable" - as they called asparagus in pre-revolutionary Russia... Dishes made from white or greenish young shoots were so expensive that only a wealthy person could afford to order French asparagus with sauce in a restaurant. Despite the ease of cultivation, delicate taste and a rich set of trace elements and vitamins, asparagus is still not popular with gardeners in our country. Although many people grow asparagus - as an ornamental plant. Everyone knows the delicate twigs with needle-like leaves and bright red berries. This is the pharmacy asparagus, which was eaten by Louis XIV himself, the famous "Sun King".

Planting asparagus during cultivation: a, b - green shoots, c, d - leaded shoots.

You can grow asparagus on the site from seeds and root layers. The disadvantage of the vegetative method is that when buying rhizomes on the market, as a rule, neither the variety nor the condition of the plant is known. Therefore, gardeners should prefer growing asparagus from seeds purchased in a specialized store. Rice. 1.

For decorative purposes, mainly female plants are grown, in which spring shoots are thinner and smaller.

Seedling bed preparation

A well-lit, sun-warmed area is suitable for growing young plants. The soil for sowing seeds or planting seedlings is prepared in the spring:

• for 1 sq.m. scatter up to 10 kg of humus or compost, adding about 100 g of complex fertilizer for vegetable crops and 0.3-0.5 kg of chalk or sand;
• the ridge is dug up, removing the rhizomes of perennial weeds;
• the soil surface is carefully harrowed and leveled.

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How to sow asparagus seeds correctly

This can be done in 2 ways:

• sowing directly on the ridges;
• sowing in pots for growing seedlings.

1 way. Asparagus seeds are sown in well-warmed soil, in the last decade of May - early June. Seedlings usually appear in 20-30 days. To speed up the germination of seeds, before sowing, they must be soaked in warm water (up to 40 ° C) and put the container for 3-4 days in a warm place (25-28 ° C)), making sure that the moisture does not evaporate. After that, the seeds are placed between layers of damp paper and kept warm for another week, keeping the paper moist by covering it with a film on top or placing it in a plastic bag. Sprouted seeds are carefully sown on the garden bed, seeding to a depth of no more than 2 cm. Seeds prepared in this way can sprout as early as 7-10 days.

Method 2 makes it possible to sow seeds 3-4 weeks earlier and plant already strengthened seedlings on the ridge, having received young plants more prepared for wintering by autumn. To grow seedlings, you need to soak and germinate the seeds, as for sowing in the ground. They should be sown in seedling cassettes or small containers (100 ml) so that the plants can be removed along with a lump of earth for replanting. Small peat pots are convenient for growing asparagus seedlings.

Harvesting leaded asparagus shoots; a) with a knife, b) with breaking out.

The soil is prepared from fertile soil, peat, humus and sand in proportions of 2: 1: 1: 1, respectively. Before planting on the ridges, the seedlings are gradually accustomed to sunlight and tempered by taking the pots outside. They are planted on ridges in the 1st-2nd decade of June.

Further care consists in watering, loosening the soil and weeding. When sown in the ground, the seedlings can turn out to be somewhat thickened, so they will have to be thinned out, leaving the most developed specimens at a distance of 15 cm from each other.

Top dressing is carried out about a month after the emergence of seedlings or planting seedlings in the ground, using 1 sq. M. 20 g of ammonium nitrate, diluted in a bucket of water. During the growing season, feeding is repeated every month, adding 40 g of superphosphate to the nitrate solution.

In order for the plants to successfully overwinter, especially in areas with little snow cover, before the onset of frost, the asparagus ridges must be covered with rotted manure or compost. In the same autumn, care should be taken to prepare the beds for planting asparagus in a permanent place.

The next spring, young asparagus plants are dug up, selecting well-developed bushes with 5-7 shoots and a powerful root system. The sorted seedlings are placed in a permanent place for further cultivation. A little more shrubs may be left than is necessary to meet the needs of the family in order to remove the females later. They are less productive and are able to inseminate and spread throughout the site.

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Transfer to a permanent place

Asparagus is a perennial plant, it can grow in one place for 15-25 years, the shoots are collected in early spring (April-June). Based on these features of the culture, it is necessary to choose a place so that the snow falls off the ridge early, the earth warms up quickly in the sun, and the asparagus grows. The most preferable is the southern slope, protected from the north wind by a building wall or a high fence.

An adult plant reaches a height of 1.5 m, is very spreading and will shade everything that grows next to it. Therefore, the place should not be located close to flower beds or other plantings.

Types of asparagus: 1 - white, 2 - green, 3 - soy.

Asparagus prefers non-acidic and fertile soil. It will grow well where greenhouses or compost heaps were located.

The selected site is prepared in the fall, digging deeply into the earth and bringing in humus or peat. For 1 sq. m. beds for asparagus, you must add 50 g of superphosphate. For spring harrowing, an additional 20 g of ammonium nitrate and 25 g of potassium chloride (50-60 g wood ash).

Repotting is carried out after the soil has completely thawed. On the prepared ridges, furrows are made 25 cm deep at a distance of 100 cm from each other. Seedlings are planted every 40-50 cm in furrows, completely covered with soil. All sprouts should be covered with a layer of soil up to 15 cm thick. At the beginning of May they will appear on the surface, then it will be possible to judge how the plants have taken root. If necessary, the deceased are replaced.

In summer, planting care includes watering as needed, weeding and feeding with slurry (diluted with water 1: 6) or ammonium nitrate (30 g per 1 sq. M.). After the end of the growing season, cut the stems at ground level, cover the ridges with a layer of humus 6-10 cm thick.

The next year will require the same care measures. Planting asparagus can be compacted with beans on a shoulder blade or beans, herbs, radishes. In autumn, all aerial parts of plants are removed and burned, and plantings are prepared for wintering. Be sure to note the arrangement of the rows of asparagus in stakes so that in the spring you can prepare for the harvest.

After the snow melts in the 3rd year of the growth of asparagus grown from seeds, the rows marked with stakes are spud to a height of 25-30 cm. The top of the ridge is slightly compacted, which makes it possible to determine where the shoot is ready to be harvested.

Recently, asparagus appears more and more often on our tables. True, at the dachas and household plots vegetable can be found rarely, despite its beneficial features and excellent taste. We can say that growing asparagus in our area is practically exotic. By the way, harvesting is already possible in April, when our bodies are totally suffering from a lack of vitamins. And the price of asparagus is not low. Therefore, these factors speak only in favor of planting this vegetable crop on your own land. Well, we will tell you how to grow asparagus from seeds.

Choosing a site for planting

When it comes to growing asparagus, it is of the utmost importance to choose a well-considered plot of land. A vegetable needs fertile and nutritious soil. It is better if it is loose sandy loam soil. But the acidic soil, to which they are close groundwater, the worst option for asparagus. At the same time, the land where the vegetable will be planted must have good drainage properties so that the roots of the plants do not rot.

In addition, the area for planting asparagus should be sunny and calm, preferably at the back of the plot, free from cold winds. In the fall, it is recommended to apply rotted manure, phosphorus fertilizers to the ground, dig up the area thoroughly and deeply. Asparagus can grow in one area for up to 15-20 years. That is why you need to choose a place carefully.

How to plant asparagus seeds?

This valuable vegetable crops can be grown by seeds in two ways - first obtaining seedlings followed by transplanting or immediately sowing in open ground. At last option in the fall for seeds is produced. To do this, the seeds are first poured with warm water and left in a warm place, and then they are folded into a damp cloth, wrapped in a bag and placed in the refrigerator compartment, where the temperature does not exceed + 2 + 5 degrees. You can also store seeds in a bowl of wet sand. From time to time, the bag should be taken out and checked for rotten seeds, they are removed. So they are stored until spring.

When growing asparagus from seed seedling method it is necessary to pre-soak in water for several days. Thanks to this, the seed will hatch faster, which means it will sprout faster.

Dates for planting asparagus seeds

When planting seeds in open ground, the most successful time is the end of April - mid-May. On the plot, you first need to make grooves about 3-4 cm deep. The distance between the rows of beds should be 20 cm. Sowing asparagus seeds should be in the interval of 4-6 cm. When the seeds sprout, the plants need to be thinned out, leaving a distance of 10 cm between them. in the future, do not forget about systematic watering, weeding and feeding of seedlings.

If you decide to grow seedlings from seeds, then you should do this in February, you will need small peat pots, in each of which you need to plant two seeds. We recommend preparing an asparagus-friendly soil by mixing sand, peat, manure and into the ground in a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 2. In the spring, when the asparagus shoots gain strength, the plants can be transplanted into open ground. For this, the asparagus is planted to a depth of 30 cm so that the distance between the plants is 40 cm. In the future, sowing and care of asparagus is reduced to watering and weeding.

In the fall, asparagus shoots should be covered for the winter. To do this, use of various kinds: peat, fallen leaves or straw. The covering layer should be at least 4-5 cm, then the winter frosts will not be terrible for the vegetable. Unfortunately, the first usable crop can be obtained from a three-year-old plant. You need to cut off young, still fragile, shoots in April with a sharp knife.

To begin with, it is unlikely that it will be possible to grow a full-fledged asparagus suitable for food on the windowsill. Its long root takes too much space. Therefore, asparagus is often found in apartments as ornamental plant, it is customary to plant a vegetable crop in the beds.

• Asparagus seeds germinate for a very long time, therefore, before sowing, they are soaked in warm water for up to four days, changing the water twice a day. Moreover, the container with the seedlings should be warm so that the water temperature does not drop.
• After soaking, the swollen seeds are laid out on a damp burlap or other material and left so for about a week until sprouts hatch (periodically, the seed must be moistened).
• Young sprouts are planted in plastic cups or in a box filled with a store-bought loose soil mixture. It is advisable to maintain a distance of 6 cm between the plants on each side. It is enough to bury the seeds into the ground by two centimeters, no more.
• Containers with seedlings should be placed in a well-lit place, and an additional source of light will not interfere, so that the plants gain strength faster.
• The sprouts that appear are lightly sprinkled with peat.
• After 10-15 days, a complex mineral fertilizer is applied to the ground.
• Within a month, water the asparagus, gently loosen the soil and turn the seedlings in different directions to the light for even growth.
• When the stems stretch up to 15 cm in height, planting should be thinned out, leaving the healthiest specimens at a distance of 10 cm from each other.

Water the asparagus for a month, gently loosen the soil and turn the seedlings in different directions to the light for even growth.

In the last days of May, the seedlings must be hardened: every day, subject to good weather, put containers with plants outside. Hardening begins at one hour and gradually increases to 12 hours. By the beginning of June, the seedlings will be fully ready for transplanting to their permanent place in the garden.

For young plants, a bed of 100 cm wide, 30 cm high will be enough.A distance of 40 cm should be left between the seedlings, and up to 60 cm between the rows.

More popular is the propagation of asparagus by means of segments of rhizomes with live buds. The survival rate of plants in this case is almost 100%. Planting with rhizomes is carried out both in spring and before winter. Let's take a closer look at the technology of planting asparagus in May.

After choosing the strongest, fleshy rhizomes on the market, divide them into several parts. Carefully place each part in a previously dug hole 50 cm deep, on the bottom of which a mound of earth mixed with humus is poured. Thus, the seedling should be deepened by 25 cm. Optimal distance between bushes is 15 cm, the intervals between rows are 50 cm.

Having chosen the strongest, fleshy rhizomes on the market, divide them into several parts

When planting, try to straighten well root system, top up the rhizomes with a mixture of soil and humus and press down firmly. Then pour a little water over the garden bed.

Regardless of whether asparagus is planted with rhizomes or seeds, the subsequent care for it will be the same. Immediately after planting on the plant site, you will need to water abundantly for the first one and a half to two weeks, then sprinkle the holes with peat and reduce watering.

During the summer, it is necessary to regularly remove weeds, loosen the soil in the aisles and water it from time to time so that the earth does not dry out, but it cannot be overmoistened either. To accelerate the growth of shoots, after the first weeding, you can add fertilizing to the garden bed from water-diluted slurry (6 parts of water per 1 part of slurry). After three weeks, it is recommended to feed the plants with bird droppings diluted 10 times with water. And already before the first frosts, the last feeding with complex mineral fertilizer is carried out.

During the summer, it is necessary to regularly remove weeds, loosen the soil in the aisles and water from time to time

For the winter, the upper part of the asparagus is cut off, leaving only "stumps" of 2.5 cm, which are covered with earth, covered with humus and dry leaves on top. The aisles are covered with manure.

Caring for asparagus in the second year looks exactly the same as in the first. And as much as you would like to try juicy shoots, be patient until next year so that they are filled with strength and accumulate more vitamins. Cutting the stems prematurely will nullify all your efforts.

In Europe, it is customary to cut off asparagus shoots only when the height is at least 22 cm, and the diameter is at least 1.6 cm.

In the third year, with the arrival of spring, the planting will need to be hilled so that the asparagus grows long, straight, and its heads do not open ahead of time. From about the end of April, the time for the first harvest begins. Try not to miss the moment when the heads have not yet had time to appear above the surface, otherwise the shoots will lose their marketable condition, change color and become deeper.

Video about growing asparagus on your site

You can determine readiness by cracking the earth above each plant. As soon as you notice that the soil has risen and cracks have appeared, then it's time to dig up the stems, cutting them to the very root. In warm weather, you can pick asparagus every day or every other day. Just do not remove all the shoots at once, otherwise the plant may die.

After cutting the crop, level the garden bed, sprinkle it with humus on top and compact it slightly. V further care for asparagus is repeated as in the first two years.

Asparagus is a vegetable that city dwellers meet on sale in the form of white, green, sometimes purple bunches. It is sold dearly because it comes from other countries. In restaurants, asparagus is present in salads, sauces, and delicious dishes. In this we will tell you how to grow an expensive gourmet vegetable in your backyard.

When buying asparagus, it is not the thickness of the stalks that is important to people, but their quality. Choose stems so that they are not lethargic, so that the tops are unblown, and the stems are dense, shiny and crunchy if rubbed against each other. Consumed immediately in 2 - 3 days, do not store for weeks. Someone eats raw, someone blanches in salted water. To do this, they are dipped into the water with the ends down, and the tops are under steam. Asparagus is fried in pans, in microwaves, salads, sauces, cream soups are prepared. It can be combined with many other products.

Asparagus contains in its composition various vitamins of group B, PP, C, E, microelements, there is asparagine in it, its presence is explained medicinal properties asparagus. Asparagine helps to remove uric acid from the body, improves the functioning of the heart and blood vessels.

When eating asparagus, some people prefer white asparagus, it has more tender shoots. Green asparagus is currently considered healthier, but it may have bitterness or rougher stems, but this may depend on the time the stems were picked. After boiling green asparagus, its stems are dipped immediately into cold water, then it retains its color. The difference between white and green is in the way they are grown. White stems are produced because they are covered with soil or cover material when grown, while green stems are exposed to the sun. The stems turn purple if the white ones are briefly exposed to bright sunlight. But when cooked, they turn green - that's the whole difference, they do not differ in taste from green.

Asparagus is successfully grown throughout our country in their garden and garden plots... Growing asparagus is no more difficult than growing other vegetables.

Asparagus tolerates frost and dry summers well. It grows worse where mild winters with thaws and frosts and rainy summers. Non-acidic, fertile soils are suitable for asparagus. At the landing site, they are located where the wind pulls less, preferably on a slope or on raised ridges, where there is no waterlogging.

You can often see green, fluffy, needle-like twigs in flower bouquets. This is also asparagus. Such twigs grow from an adult asparagus bush. At the bottom of the asparagus, there are rhizomes and long roots in the ground. Asparagus is a perennial frost-resistant plant. In place permanent landing can grow for 12 - 20 years. The plant is often monoecious, that is, every plant is only male or only female. But there are also bisexual. Plants bloom in the second year. Male flowers are long, large. Women have smaller flowers, after flowering a dark red berry is formed, inside the seeds.

The seeds can scatter uncontrollably. In addition, female plants are believed to produce fewer shoots. Therefore, female plants are often thrown out of plantings. There are currently only male varieties of asparagus.

Growing asparagus can be started by sowing seeds or planting rhizomes. Seed growing takes longer, but you can grow more and more hardy plants with good rhizomes yourself, which is important for further harvesting. You can buy rhizomes or parts of them, but then when buying it is difficult to distinguish rhizomes of asparagus from rhizomes from other plants or very old ones.

Asparagus seeds are sown in late May - early June. In order for the seeds to sprout faster, they are germinated. To do this, first soak in warm water(30 - 40 degrees C) for several hours. For disinfection, add a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Then they are washed in clean warm water and kept in moistened fine sawdust (it is possible in wet peat tablets, in wet paper). So that the water does not evaporate, it is placed in a plastic bag. Keep in a warm (+ 25 degrees C) place for 4 - 8 days until the seeds germinate.

Sprouted seeds are sown in a nursery (planting bed), where the soil was prepared while the seeds were germinating. The soil should be fertile mixed with humus, peat, sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 1. Sow in rows with a distance of 20 - 25 cm to a depth of 2 cm. If the seedlings are dense, immediately thin out so that the distance between plants is 10 - 15 cm. Do not tighten with thinning, so as not to injure the left seedlings. The seedlings will remain in the nursery until next year.

You can sow asparagus seeds in advance in April - May in pots or cups with a capacity of 100-200 ml. Sow one seed per cup, then transplant the seedling into a nursery with a lump of earth. With this planting, the plants are accustomed to the sun, hardened. They are transplanted into a nursery in pits 7 cm deep with a distance of 10-15 cm in mid-June and left there until next year.

This year's seedlings in the nursery are being looked after. Watering, but not needing to fill. Weeding is done. The soil is loosened and mulched. After three weeks - a month after the emergence of seedlings, top dressing is done. Dissolve 20 g of ammonium nitrate, the same amount of potassium sulfate per bucket of water per 1 sq. M.Then top dressing is done every month, adding another 40 g of superphosphate. At the end of the season, use 20-30 g of complex mineral fertilizer for 1 sq. m. The mullein is suitable when diluted with water 1: 6, if any. Straw compost or humus is poured in a layer of 3-5 cm for the winter.

At the same time, in the fall of this year, they select and prepare a site for planting asparagus in a permanent place. The place is chosen on a sunny slope or a high ridge is made. The earth is dug deeply, adding manure. You can add superphosphate (50 g per 1 sq. M) or phosphate rock. If the soil is acidic, add chalk (500 g per 1 sq. M). All weeds are removed, especially perennial ones.

In the spring of the second year, in the first half of May, asparagus seedlings are planted in a permanent place. The earth is dug up again with the addition of compost. Ammonium nitrate (15 - 20 g per 1 sq. M) and potassium sulfate (20 - 25 g per 1 sq. M) or 50 - 60 g of wood ash per 1 sq. M. m.Digging trenches with a distance of 0.5 - 1 m.The depth of the trenches is 35 - 40 cm, the width is 25 - 30 cm. 15 - 20 cm of humus is poured at the bottom of the trench, and the earth taken is poured into a long mound in the middle of the trench. out of the trench.

Saplings are dug out of the nursery with a pitchfork. Choose the most best bushes with 5 - 7 shoots and a powerful root system. Place the rhizomes on mounds at a distance of 40-50 cm from each other. Spread the roots. All sprouts and rhizomes are covered with earth from the trench. Watering is done. The ground level will initially be slightly below the edge of the trench for easier watering. As the shoots grow, the soil is poured until the trench is filled to ground level. After that, mulch around the plants (10 - 20 cm). Mulch is needed for moisture retention and against weeds.

It is imperative to note the arrangement of the rows with stakes so that in next year prepare for the collection of shoots (harvest).

Planting of rhizomes can be done in the second half of August. Then it is easier to choose female plants, remove them from plantings, and leave only male plants for planting. Then the ground level above the rhizomes is immediately made equal to the edge of the trench.

If you have to plant purchased seedlings, then before planting they must be soaked in warm water or in compost slurry for 15 - 20 minutes.

If they want to propagate by dividing the bush, the rhizome is cut with a knife into divisions. They are planted as well as seedlings. Better to do this in the spring.

In the summer of the second year, the plants are watered so that the earth does not dry out, but they should not be poured. Weeding is done, be sure to loosen the soil. Top dressing is done 3-4 times with slurry - mullein (1: 6), bird droppings (1: 10) or ammonium nitrate (30 g per 1 sq. M), in the fall - with complex mineral fertilizer.

In the second year, shoots appear on the asparagus, but you should not cut them off so as not to weaken the plants.

After the growing season for the winter, all stems are cut off at ground level and covered with a layer of humus or compost of 5-10 cm.

In the third year after the snow melts, rows of asparagus are spud up to a height of 25 - 30 cm if they want to get white stems. The top of the ridge is compacted. Shoots breaking through on the ridge can be seen from cracks in the ground. Then the shoot is dug out to its full length and cut off at the base. The earth is again poured and compacted. New shoots are harvested after 1 - 2 days. The first year, the collection of shoots is done within 20 days, no more than 5 shoots from the bush. In subsequent years, the collection will be 1 - 1.5 months, from a bush 10 - 15 shoots. But every year a few shoots should be left without cutting. They do this to create normal growth of the bush, when there is a stock on the rhizome. nutrients for wintering and forming the next year's harvest. If you collect too much, then next year there will be thin shoots. When the collection of shoots is finished, the comb is destroyed. The surface of the ridge is leveled.

You don't have to make a comb out of the ground, but use a covering material and get white shoots.

If you want to get green asparagus, do not hilling rows. Shoots are collected when they reach 15 - 18 cm in length and their heads are closed, not yet blooming. The collection is done regularly. Do not overexpose, because then the shoots become tough and bitter. The rest is the same.

At the end of the harvest, fertilizers are applied: potassium sulfate - 30 g, ammonium nitrate and superphosphate, 60 g per 1 sq. M. Every three years, liming should be done.

In the future, the care is repeated, making amendments to the fertilization rates.

Asparagus is considered a disease-resistant vegetable. This is facilitated by the fact that in the fall all the asparagus shoots are cut and burned. But there are diseases in asparagus. It can be affected by a fungus. Then the root collar dies off at the shoots and all branches crumble. The foundation is used against the fungus strictly according to the instructions. There may be purple root rot. The roots are covered with purple mold. The leaves turn yellow and fall off. In this case, you will have to land in another place. On the contaminated site, the land is treated with Bordeaux liquid and for 3 years root crops are not grown in this place. If rust affects, the shoots are burned. Anti-slug granules are laid out against slugs. There are black beetles - asparagus leaf beetles. Their larvae eat the foliage. To destroy them, insecticides are used - actelik, fitoverm, fufanon.

Despite the slight difficulties, let your asparagus delight you with a rich harvest for many years!

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