asparagus qurstion

[Deleted]

I know right now is not the optimal time to plant asparagus, but I just bought some crowns this week.
TSC had a clearance sale on all their remaining gardening plants this week. I bought 4 or 5 packages (4 per pack) of purple Passion asparagus and the last pack of jersey knight asparagus for $1 a pkg.
At that price, it was hard to pass them up.

These are all bare root crowns, and being how long they have been in plastic bags on a store shelf, I'm not expecting them all to grow, but I am hopeful.
Is there anything I should do before planting them, like soak them in water or something? And, by planting them now, will they put up any growth at all this year? Or am I wasting my time and they probably won't ever grow?

I live in zone 5b - 6a, west central Indiana.

Also, the packaging says they are two year old crowns, but, even so, if they do grow, they probably won't produce anything harvestable next year will they?

[paquebot]

Sounds like you're on the right track. Soak the roots in warm water for several hours. Dig trench about 8" deep and maybe a foot wide. Lay in a couple inches of compost or well-aged manure and work that into the 4" or so at the bottom of the trench. (You will then have worked it 12" deep.) Spread the roots out on that and cover them with several inches of soil without covering the crown. Then backfill as the plants grow.

That's the way it's done in the spring and should apply for early-summer as well. No reason to think that there would be no growth since they won't know what month it is. They'll only know that they have now had a good drink and it is time to wake up.

Martin

[Deleted]

Thank you, Martin. I was hoping you would see this thread and reply.

Along with the asparagus, I also got 5 or 6 thornless blackberries and two red raspberry plants for $1.29 each, and several pkgs of strawberries, everbearing and June bearing varieties for $1.49 pkg of 10.

And several pkgs of large garlic gloves for 3/$1.00

[paquebot]

I suspect that you checked the garlic to see if the cloves were solid. If they are a little soft, use them for cooking. If solid, and against official information, store them in your refrigerator crisper drawer. Don't look at them until late-September. They will either be shriveled away to nothing or sprouting. If the first, you only lost a buck. If the second, come back and ask how to plant them.

Martin