My asparagus bed is 7 years old. I add a layer of compost both spring and fall. I have never added any fertilizers other than compost. I started with 25, 2 year old crown of Jersey Supreme and now I am harvesting about 30 nice thick spears every other day.
Even though the Jersey hybrids are all male they will still produce a small amount of flowers that are hermaphroditic. In other words they have both male and female parts and they will produce seeds.
The seeds that fall into the bed will germinate in the spring and I always pull these seedlings as well as any other weeds that pop up. After I finish harvesting, I mulch the bed with a thick layer of grass clippings which will feed it with nitrogen for good fern growth, maintains moisture in the bed and keeps any more weeds smothered.
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