Quote:
Originally Posted by DonDuck
Tormato, If you had no interest in the seed, do the female plants have any other attributes you value over the male plants?
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My main breeding female (the only "UC72" plant of about a dozen to survive my winters), sends up about 8 stalks. I usually eat about 6 of them.
But no, there are likely no attributes that I value over male plants. The birds value the seed, at times, from the female plants.
Since asparagus is a long term investment, 20 years or more for productive plants, initial planning is wise. A very well draining location, soil amendments, plant spacing, etc...are recommended. As for varieties, maybe finding an asparagusville type web site would help in your selection. I've heard good things about Millenium, but have no idea if it's suitable for your area.
If I found "THE" variety that had everything I was looking for in taste, size, etc..., I would have no problem in growing 2X the number of plants I wanted, waiting for the sex to show, and then digging up the females and replacing them with males. It's a long term deal.