So I got 10 foot asparagus here. So the choice is you can either use roots or seeds. You do not want to use seeds because that’ll take you two more years to get the same thing that I have right now. So that means that you won’t get any asparagus for four years. So you want to make sure you buy roots. The older root you can buy, three year roots, the better off you are. I just got these in because I wanted to show you this. And guess what? Let’s take a look at what the asparagus looks like.
See those dried up roots there that have got mold on them? We’re going to cut all of those off so we have a clean cut root. Why do I do that? Because that’s where it’s going to break and start new roots. So we’re just going to take and clip these off if my clippers will work right. So see these? These aren’t healthy roots. They won’t live. You don’t want them in the ground. So I’m going to cut all these off so that I get down to the good root. How long they were to start with and how far I cut them back to get good healthy roots. Because these will just rot in the ground so they won’t do you any good. So this is what they’re going to look like when I’m through. These roots have been sitting in storage for probably three months, four months. By putting them in water for at least 30 minutes. So everything’s timing. You have to do everything the right way the first time.
So I’ve dug this 8 inch deep hole and I’m going to plant them. As you notice I put stakes out so I know exactly where I’m going to plant all of my plants. And everybody says 12 inches. I plant mine 18. I want to give them a little more room. And it’s pretty simple. All you have to do is spread them out and put them down like this. That’s all you’re doing. Nothing more. And you have to put the eyes up. You notice I spread out the roots. And I’m only going to cover them about 2 inches. That’s it. No more than that. So it’s going to be 2 inches of dirt. And the reason is as the eyes come up or the spears come up I’m going to keep covering them up all the way through.
My number one secret for good roots is Epsom salts. Enough gardeners don’t use it. I use it on everything to promote roots. And I’m going to use about an eighth of a cup on each one. I’m just going to put it on there like that. Put in all these stakes so I know exactly where the root is. So that when I water I can make sure that I get that really watered hard. And why are you watering hard? It’s that you don’t want any of those roots exposed to air. They shrivel up and die when they’re exposed to air. So I’m going to make sure that I got lots of water on them. If we don’t get any rain I’ll probably water these every other day until I see the asparagus starting to shoot up the spears coming up.
It’s going to be next year you can’t pick any. You’ve got to let all the energy go to the root. So it’ll be two years before I’ll be able to eat anything off this crop. Asparagus is a perennial so it comes back up every year. That’s why you have to next year you have to automatically not pick it. You cannot pick the first year. You’ve got to let all that energy store into the root. So you’ll have several spears and you can start picking.
