How asparagus grows: features of growing different types

Tell us how asparagus grows. Everyone in our family loves her very much, and I often boil juicy shoots. This culture had never been grown before, but due to the simply gigantic volumes of consumption, they dared to try it. Last year they sowed seeds, almost everything sprouted. We thought that already this season we will eat juicy plump shoots. However, our bushes are somehow frail and thin. There is nothing to cut, we remained hungry. Maybe the plant is missing something? Or did we go too early to harvest?

Many growers are familiar with a plant like asparagus. Its lush twigs with soft needles are often used to create bouquets. Did you know that asparagus and asparagus are the same culture? That's right, there are just many varieties of this amazing plant. Some of them even have their own characteristics of vegetative development and cultivation. Juicy asparagus shoots have a high gastronomic value. They are low in calories, tasty, and also very healthy. Not surprisingly, asparagus has been increasingly seen in garden beds recently. If you decide to plant this crop on the site, it will be useful for you to know how asparagus grows. Also today we will answer one more question that interests gardeners: when can you harvest.

What does asparagus look like?

Asparagus is inherently a fairly tall grass, although it looks most like a bush. Its height can reach 1.5 m, and it consists of many thin and highly branched stems. The lower part of the shoots is bare, but from above the bush forms a lush and pleasant to the touch crown. And all thanks to the small needle-like leaves, which are not at all prickly.

But the main value of asparagus is hidden underground. The above-ground part of the bush (the one with a lush head of leaves) is of no nutritional value. Florists will be more interested in it. But the root system is a real storehouse of vitamins. It consists of two components:

• a thick horizontal root that feeds the plant;
• upright shoots.

It is the latter that are a godsend for a gourmet. Their upper part, which tends to come out of the soil, is the very asparagus.

Asparagus - a very profitable crop for gardeners, as it is a long-liver. Having planted it in the country, it will be possible to feast on young asparagus for two decades. It also grows rapidly - daily growth ranges from 5 to 10 cm.

How does asparagus grow?

As we have already found out, asparagus grows in the form of a herbaceous bush with a developed rhizome. But its cultivation may have some features, depending on the variety. The most common and commonly used types of asparagus are:

1. Green. One of the most affordable varieties in terms of cost. Grown by conventional technology. The stems are cut after they "come out" of the ground and turn green under the sun.
2. White. More expensive asparagus, since caring for it is laborious. The bushes are constantly spud so that the stems are not under the sun. Without it, they grow white.
3. Purple. The rarest variety of culture. Requires constant care. To get the original color, dark and light alternate. The plantings are not only spud, but also covered with black film.

When to Harvest?

The most interesting thing is that the herbaceous shrub does not immediately produce edible thick shoots. You will have to admire the beautiful bushes for 3-4 years until vertical shoots form on their central root. And they are cut off at the stage of "buds" - that is, preventing the overgrowth and blooming of the heads. Harvesting occurs in the month of May. In the southern regions with early spring, it can be in April.

Cutting must be completed within a month, carefully raking the bushes with earth. Then the asparagus will begin to grow edible stems again in the middle of summer.

Video about the features of growing asparagus