i have been experimenting with asparagus in conjunction with aquaponics. i was unable to get one sprout from any of twenty bare root 2yr old plants over a period of one month in a lava medium with a bell siphon.

i transfered them to a grow bed that is made up of coir and perlite. so far after about 3 weeks i have 13 plants that have sprouted. however, until i added phosphate and other organic nutrients nothing sprouted. these are irrigated from the biopond.

i have 5 pots that have a total of 20-1 yr old bare root plants in them, they were immediately planted in coir and perlite; 19 of them sprouted and they also had to be fertilized prior to sprouting. they are part of the backyard garden and irrigated with water from the biopond, which has about 200-3" goldfish in it.

would appreciate feedback from others that have attempted to raise asparagus. i have read tons of info on asparagus. am looking for responses from those that have actually worked with asparagus.

i have raised quite a bit of asparagus in the ground. in fact it was the best crop out of about 30 different types of veggies, including chiles at my home in the high desert of new mexico. it is considered too fragile to commercially farm asparagus there, even though it certainly outperforms the local commercial crops.