Thin asparagus stalks

by Jane
(Warren, Pa. USA)

My mother has had an asparagus bed for years. The stalks seem to be getting thinner and thinner. What could be causing this?
Thanks for your time. Sincerely, Jane Lefever

Comments for Thin asparagus stalks

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Jun 11, 2009
 Rules for growing asparagus and thick spears
by: Old Timer

No disrespect for your mom's age, but she might have had her asparagus bed in a long time. There are a few tried and true rules with growing asparagus, such as:

1. An asparagus plant, or crown last about 25 years then it grows old and it's time to replace it.
2. When first planting, don’t pick any spears the first year, pick one meal the second year, two meals the third year and from them on pick spears for 8 weeks each season. (This means the remaining asparagus stalks are left to go to the ferny leaf stage for photosynthesizing and providing energy for the next year’s growth).
3. Each asparagus plant should produce about 25 spears per season.
4. An asparagus bed should be deeply richly composted to begin with, and each year topped up with a thick layer of compost, plus fertilizer added, such as blood and bone or a good organic mix.
5. They must have plenty of water once the shoots appear in early spring. This keeps them growing fast with thin skin and delicate flavor.

They are my best all time vegetable to eat, I just can't get enough of that flavor!
Jun 08, 2010
 Asparagus
by: Maureen

I have had Asparagus for years and thaught that i couldn't eat it as it always goes to ferns. Is it now feasable to start feeding it more and picking and eating the spears? The plant is about 10 years old.It seems to produce quite a few spears before the ferns.
Jun 09, 2010
 Feeding asparagus plants
by: Megan

I don't understand why you would have asparagus growing if you don't eat it! By all means you can harvest the spears for several months if your plants are 10 years old.

That said, asparagus needs feeding and watering to produce quality spears, so pile on the compost and give plenty of water and enjoy. Any and all spears you don't pick will go to fern, so pick them before the spears start to shoot up and open up.
Jun 24, 2011
 thin asparagus stalk
by: Mike

I planted two year old crowns this spring (May 1). The plants that came up are very thin and ferny and are easily blown over in the wind. It is now late June, and the plants do not seem to get wider than a quarter inch, and are currently about 16-20 inches tall. Is this normal?
May 13, 2013
 Old asparagus bed, but skinny spears this year?? NEW
by: Terri

Hi there...

For some reason, my 12 year old asparagus bed is putting out only skinny spears this year.

It seems like weird things are happening with plants and weather lately..
May 22, 2013
 Thin and thick asparagus spears NEW
by: Anonymous

I have 3 beds of asparagus that came with our house. The house was empty for 3 year before we moved in, and this is our second spring in the house, so I'm assuming the plants are at least 5 years old. Last year the spears were pencil thin to finger thick. This year I have one bed of very thin spears, one bed of finger thick spears, and one bed of carrot thick spears. All of the beds were over grown with grass last year and I started pulling the grass out by hand. The thickest spears have the most grass coverage. Does the amount of grass have anything to do with the size of the spears?

Thanks for any feedback!
May 12, 2015
 2 spears came out from the crown NEW
by: Anonymous

I planted my asparagus plant last year, i thought it will never come back. But this morning I saw 2 little tiny thin fern spears. I hope it will be more next year. I planted 2 crowns fyi

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