I've been a prolific planter of asparagus for years. Trouble is we have never stayed in one place long enough to reap the rewards of our efforts. This year we have many spears coming up but only about one quarter of them are edible. I believe the variety we planted was Jersey Knight which is supposed to be resistant to rust and wilt. The roots were three years old which we planted last spring. We didn't harvest any last year. They shared the bed with tomatoes last summer, which are mutually beneficial according to the companion panters guide. We fertilize with compost, rabbit manure, and a dose of fish fertilizer. Our days have been in the 60's, nites in the 40's. The spears that are no good are sort of soft and transparent, as if they had been frosted, but it hasn't been that cold. Any ideas would be appreciated. jz

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Answers

Hi jz, my husband said there is a name for it, some kind of rot and that we have something in one of our books on it. I will search it out and post tomorrow.

-- Anonymous, April 04, 2001

Well, we remembered wrong. We looked in every book we had and it only dealt with stuff that attacked it at fern stage, later in the season. Gary reminded me of one year when we had a really good warm spell and then a deep freeze just before stalks would have emerged. Everyone of them for over a week that came up were as you discribed. Later all was well. Sorry couldn't be of more help.

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2001

Hi jz! I'm taking Master Gardener classes from the county extension office and I"m pretty sure that I have a big handout on asparagus in my notes. I'll check when I get home tonight. My next class is on Monday so if you haven't figured it out by then I can ask the instructor for you.

-- Anonymous, April 05, 2001

jz, is your asparagus still messed up or is it OK now? I haven't been able to find any diseases that sound like what you described. My Master Gardener teacher says it sounds like frost. I told him that you didn't think the temperature had gotten that low, but he said that if the plants are in a low-lying area you could have a microclimate there that was colder than the surrounding air temp.

Sorry I couldn't be more help. Here's a link to the Purdue University guide on asparagus, you may want to check with your state's land- grant college and see what info they have. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/ext/Pubs/HO/HO_096.html

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

Well, things are about the same in the old asparagus patch. We'll wait and see what happens as the spring progresses. Let's just say that rather than eating asparagus we are 'savoring' the occasional spear that makes it.

-- Anonymous, April 10, 2001

jz, we had SIX asparagus spears today!! How are yours now??? I thought of you as I was eating ours and wondered if your problem has stopped.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2001

Things are looking up in the asparagus patch. We actually had enough that they made it past our grazing, and made it to the kitchen today. A few still look wierd but things are improving. We still don't know what the problem is but we are at least reminded how good the fresh stuff is.

-- Anonymous, April 26, 2001