I have had asparagus growing in my garden for a number of years, but this year it has really taken off. I have not had time to enjoy eating my spears, so I let them all develop fern. I have many plants now that no longer carry the red seeds and I am hoping to cut the spears at the soil to start making early adjustments to my garden. Please let me know if it will be ok to do this. Thanks! :)
Hi Kmzmc: If all of your Asparagus have headed out and are not producing any seeds you may want for reseeding, then I would go ahead and cut the spikes off at the soil line. Once you do that, give your Asparagus a 0-10-10 fertilizer and water them well if the fertilizer is a granular fertilizer. I always had some liquid 0-10-10 around and applied it soon after I cut the spears. Where you are do not use any Nitrogen until the Spring. You must realize that every time you let an Asparagus head out you are depleting nutrients in the crown. We always planted our crowns just above the soil level so we would know exactly where they were when cutting the spears to eliminate cutting into the crowns. Jim