Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Any update on asparagus?

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Think Outside the Box, Do your Thinking for Yourself!

I can't vouch for AP as I've only done short term trials but I did have a tomato plant that lived for two years- it didn't die back when the frost came and that thing took over the entire dirt bed- 3 ft by 8 or 10 feet but that is nothing compared to the tomato plant at Epcot and I can guarantee that it older than 2 years.
http://www.wdwnews.com/ViewPressRelease ... eID=100253
A world record harvest from a single tomato plant: Yong Huang, Epcot’s manager of agricultural science at The Land pavilion, is working with a “tomato tree” that is growing inside the theme park’s experimental greenhouses. The only one of its kind in the United States, the plant yields thousands of tomatoes from a single vine. Huang discovered the plant at a research facility while on vacation in Beijing, China. After meeting with scientists responsible for that plant, Huang brought its seeds to Epcot. The golf ball-sized tomatoes are harvested and served at Walt Disney World Resort.
The massive plant produced a world-record harvest of more than 32,194 tomatoes with a total weight of more than 1,151 pounds. Another “tomato tree” currently is growing and actively producing in The Land.

I've got asparagus growing, it's looking great. I bought a plant in a pot and put it straight in the growbed. It's summer here so I expect it to slow down soon, and I'll try harvesting next spring when the new growth comes.

asparagus goes nuts steem, the roots can grow 2 mtrs long
24 hrs for 250mm of spears growth in season still amazes me

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what season does the good growth rate tend to happen c1?
am I nearing the end of it?

cheers

In a word yes you missed it - Spring
but I found this...


Asparagus is a perennial vegetable arising from a root system of fleshy rhizomes known as the “crown” with long feeder roots that can grow to a depth of 1.5-2 metres. Since asparagus is a deep-rooted crop, soils need to be well drained. Alluvial loams, peaty soils and sandy loams are the most suitable soils for growing asparagus.

In Koo Wee Rup, asparagus seed is sown in nursery beds in early September and produce young plants, which develop a “crown” under the ground. The needle-like leaves are modified branches that function as leaves in the axils of the scale, which are reduced leaves. The “crowns” are harvested with a potato digger and replanted in single row beds with plants about 25-30 centimetres apart between May and September (see pictured).

In spring the crown sends up spears (shoots), which are the edible portion of the plant. Spears continually emerge from the soil and can reach their marketable length of 25cm in 24 hours if humid conditions prevail (see pictured).

In the first season following transplanting of the “crowns”, spears are only harvested for three to four weeks, with the main objective being to strengthen the plant through maximum fern development and maximum crown growth.

The fern stage is very important to the plant as the “leaves” photosynthesise and produce energy, which is then translocated back to the crown where it is stored for the following season’s growth. Prolonged harvesting or stress can impact on the following year’s yield potential if the plant is not allowed to progress to the fern stage

http://asparagus.com.au/

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Give me trout any day
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http://www.aspireuk.org/growthcycle/growthcycle.htm

This seems to me to be the cycle:

seed/bulb --> small plant/growing root system --> dormancy --> spear growth (using its stored energy) --> harvest or fern canopy growth to:
if still has fern canopy = more root growth --> dormancy --> spear growth --> harvest some spears --> cycle this line again.
if no fern canopy --> dormancy = death.

also seems that dormancy is during the low temperatures = winter. I got this feeling that this plant doesn't like frost. and that it would grow spears during spring and should be harvested at the beginning of summer... leave some spears so they can turn into ferns to take in more energy for next year's harvest.

appears that the spears will grow just before the harvest season depending on the amount of energy stored in its roots before it went into dormancy. That means that you need the massive root system to grow any edible asparagus.

so like EB said... we dont know whether the AP system will cause root rot or something related, that is if you keep the system running.
I wonder if you know when it becomes dormant you could slow down the cycling to a stop (withdrawing fish as well) and then when the growing period comes you could slowly cycle it back up (with adding fish)?

You know, most plants that succeed in the AP usually have the growth rate double of the norm in traditional gardening and most of the hydroponics(this varies though) well maybe this is the problem, maybe you need slower and less frequent cycles for the asparagus because they need the seasons to control their growth.

please correct me if I'm wrong as I'm planning to try this too...as a separate, single AP system solely for the asparagus

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"I shall either find a way or make one."

C1, my asparagus is still putting out new leaves at the moment, and I've had about two months of solid growth out of it so far, so hopefully the crown is getting stronger but yeah, I'm expecting it to slow down soon...

Jensi, my theory is that if asparagus can lie dormant in well drained soil over a wet winter, then it should be fine to lie dormant in a wet, but very well drained and aerated growbed over winter. I think they should be fine in a normal flood and drain system. But of course I'm ready to be wrong

However, I like your idea and it sort of goes with what I've been planning.
Sometimes a system could benefit from less water (eg when saving seeds, often the seeds will take ages to mature and dry if the plant is getting lots of water). My idea is to have a standpipe system a la Joel's with a single pump filling multiple beds simultaneously on a timer. Have a valve on each growbed and simply turn off any growbed that you want to dry out a bit for a day or a week or whatever you want. The remaining standpipes will fill more quickly and overflow their standpipes, so the standpipes need to be set so that the overflow doesn't flood the bed and the sump pump needs to be big enough to handle several beds overflowing at once.
Sorry to ramble!

heh... great minds think alike.... I've been wanting to say that!!

I already incorporate inline valves on each of my growbeds whenever I have a system coz I like to be able to add them when I have more fish or stop them when fish is taken out of the system. and because of the weird plumbing that I tend to use, I also use the valves to control the flowrate going into the beds.

am happy with this idea too... it's one of them that I've been dreaming about but with your idea that you could still connect the asparagus bed with the others and stop it whenever.. that kinda surprised me, so I'm gonna go change my ideas again... happiness!

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"I shall either find a way or make one."

Just be careful with the taps on the beds dont turn them off because the bacteria will die and the water in the bottom will become anerobic [spelling]

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If it/s free pick it up
If it isent broke dont fix it

I am in Tassy and we grow asparagus quite well here in dirt, when harvesting I have always been told to leave every second spear for strength of the plant, especially on the 1st harves, not sure I could justify filling a growbed with just a few plants of asparagus as the roots are extremely vigorous and big and fleshy, but good luck with it all.

Thankyou so much for this link, it is wonderful.
Dale

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Live each day like its your last - it could be!

I found some seedlings in the harware shop the otherday and I have put them in my AP, I live in the NW of Australia and also will give feed back on what happens, however this report will be some time later as it says it takes about 2 years to produce (sparrows guts).

any news guys?
so is it a good Idea to grow in aquaponic?

I planted in my system but Im afraid of clogging my system with roots

pretty sure they love good drainage too.

I got mine in the ground a few months back....... cant wait.

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its still all in my head.