I have a 13 yr old row of about 2 dozen Larac. They are a great tender variety. But with good care the ferns do get over 5 feet tall and will shade out other plants. IMHO gus are plants that do well without companion. The female plants seeds are fertile and these can become your worst weed problem if not controlled. That's why when I went to a large bed I went with mainly male Jersey Knights. I started the Larac in Jiffy Pellets, the type without the netting. They take lots of attention so they don't dry out but make the actual transplanting the least traumatic to the seedlings. With my Jersey Knights I get about .4 to .6 pounds per crown when planted 12" apart in rows that are 5 feet apart. Tom

Just as with animals, a plant is either male, XY chromosomes, or female, XX chromosomes. You won't be able to tell the difference until at least the 2nd summer, possibly the 3rd, when the plants bloom. Female plants bear round, pea-like berries which turn bright reddish-orange when ripe. My personal opinion of this "all-male" asparagus business is that it's a bunch of bunk. While the marginially higher yield of all-male plants probably does make a difference for a commercial grower, who probably operates on a pretty slim profit margin anyway, it doesn't make much difference in a home garden situation. IF asparagus self-sowed as vigorously as something like amarath or Sweet Annie, I could understand not wanting to fight a lot of volunteers. But, in my garden, from 100 mature plants, I will find maybe 6 or 8 little seedling volunteers each year. These I just dig up with one scoop of a small hand trowel, and relocate back into the main bed. I consider them a delightful bonus, not a problem to be "dealt with." Asparagus is perfectly happy at one foot spacing. Any more is just wasting valuable planting space, IMO.

I agree Ali, last year was the first year on my first bed. I planted 2 year old crowns and in the Fall it was really hard leaving all those spears to become ferns. I confess I sneaked 6 of them into the house and boy were they yummy! I chewed as slow as possible to savor ever spear. LOL This is my first full harvest, I go out every day looking for little tips that might be poking through. I don't get enough leaves in my yard to mulch with so I use straw, it worked great against weeds, i like using it, just was not sure if it should come off. I am taking Ed's advice and getting bagged manure tomorrow and putting it in the bed. Today I planted my third gus bed, so now I have 35 crowns planted. Thanks for responding to my question. Susan

I actually soaked them overnight as I didn't get them in the ground the day I planned to, but had to finish digging the area the next day. So they were soaked well and I've kept them watered - when it hasn't been raining! The only thing is, I didn't put them in a trench and backfill as they grew (obviously, since they're not growing yet!) I planted them according to the Ohio State instructions - dug a wide trench, spread out the roots for each crown, then just filled the whole thing in in one go. I was wondering the same thing edible - can I plant something else there for now as I'm waiting for the asparagus to grow? I don't want to do anything that will hurt or set them back tho. Lisa