Asparagus propagates from seeds that the asparagus flower of a female or hermaphrodite plant develops in the fall. On the large asparagus fields, however, mostly only male plants grow, the seeds of which do not germinate.

Where to get seeds from

There are several ways to get asparagus seeds:

  • Buy seeds from a specialist dealer
  • Harvest asparagus seeds from your own plants
  • Exchange with neighbors or hobby gardeners

Seeds from large asparagus fields are mostly useless

In order to plant a few spears of asparagus in the home garden, it is usually not worth buying large bags of seeds. That's why hobby gardeners like to collect a few grains from the large asparagus fields from commercial cultivation. However, only male plants are usually kept there.

However, male plants will not produce viable seeds. If you don't know if they're male or female plants, ask around or ask other home gardeners for a few seeds.

Buy seeds for the desired asparagus varieties from a specialist retailer yourself, making sure that you select female or hermaphrodite plant seeds and not male plants. Then you can collect seeds for propagation yourself from the second year of asparagus cultivation.

Get seeds from your own plants

After the asparagus season, the asparagus is no longer pricked or cut.

The asparagus plants then form long green stalks on which feathery leaves are attached. In summer, the asparagus bloom.

When the foliage of the asparagus plants is dark yellow, the seeds are ripe and can be collected. They are removed from the pulp and laid out to dry.

Why collecting the seed is necessary

Even if you do not need seeds for growing in the garden, you should carefully collect the grains. Leave them on the leaves and they will fall ripe to the ground. Next year, your garden will be littered with small asparagus plants.

Many hobby gardeners are happy when they receive asparagus seeds as a gift, especially if they are rare varieties. Simply exchange your seeds for other plants.

tips and tricks

Experienced hobby gardeners immediately plant the freshly harvested asparagus seeds in small pots and grow the asparagus plants indoors over the winter. You can then plant quite large plants outdoors in May.

Category:

Vegetable garden