Patience is required. Gus has a very low germination rate even with ideal conditions and it is a slow-to-germinate seed too. Depending on the variety 8-10 weeks is common but it can take longer. Did you pre-soak the seeds? Is 75 the soil temp? If so it is too high and can cook the seeds. Target for 65 degree soil and no higher than 70.

That is why most don't mess with seeds but buy crowns instead so that it is possible to harvest some in a reasonable time rather than waiting 3-5 years to harvest.

Dave

I can germinate darn near anything, but I can't germinate Asparagus. I've tried four different lots of seed from different vendors, different conditions, different potting mix. Nothing.

To make it worse, the dried-out crowns that they sell at nurseries won't grow either. My old garden encyclopedia confirms this. You have to buy them as soon as they come in, before they've been overheated and dried out.

Yeah, asparagus is frustrating.

Last year I decided to test my own newly-acquired patience and start gus from seed. The only seed I could find at local sources was Mary Washington and a lot of folks turn up their noses at her (they say she doesn't produce enough males), but that's what Adams Fairacre here in the Hudson Valley had, so I went with it.

Almost everything I start from seed begins on top of a radiator in front of a sunny window in my home office. The guys with the fabulous light set-ups will doubt me, but I've had reasonably good luck over the years doing this. I use individual cell kits with the clear plastic tops, bottom-water only, remove plastic lids once sprouts appear. Completely low-tech. Some veggies need to be shaded from the light before they emerge; I can't recall whether gus was one of them.

They took between 20 and 35 days to emerge. I ended up with 18 plants, which was about a two-thirds germination rate.

And as to what lilydude says, yes, crowns are frustrating, too. A couple years before the seed project, I had purchased six crowns of one of the Jersey boys. Only four survived a year, and the survivors still needed a couple more years before decent edible production.

So, all in all, if i have to wait a few years for yummy spears anyway, I'd rather have it on my terms and under my control. Hopefully, last years seedlings will have survived this winter and will live long and prosper.

The only time I tried germinating asparagus seeds, my patience ran out and I gave up on them. I stopped looking at them for weeks and, you guessed it, at some point they all popped up. When I first noticed them I wasn't sure what was going on. It took me a minute to remember what the heck was in those particular pots.
Side note, when thinning the seedlings, you can't just snip them at ground level like most seedlings. They can and will grow another shoot from the seed.

It took me 2-4 weeks for Asparagus seeds. If you aren't up for waiting that long, buying the crowns is the best way to go!

I sowed them at around 60F, close to digdirt's recommended temp. Tom's temperature was probably a lot higher. I've heard that you need high temps for these seeds. Maybe that's why I failed. Or maybe I just had bad batches of seed.

Out of 8 crowns that I've purchased in the last 8 years, one has grown. I think it's because I always buy them towards the end of Spring when they are already dry and dead. I would prefer if they were sold as green plants in pots. It wouldn't be such a gamble.

From the "New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening":
"If the asparagus roots are exposed for a long time and allowed to become dry, they will start into growth slowly--if, indeed, they start at all."

I planted 20 seeds of Viking n 2013; in small seedling tray. It was sitting on top of gas FP - so I am not sure if any extra warmth was generated. It took about 3-4 weeks, but 18 germinated (actually, 19 but one seedling damped off).
I wasn't able to plant them in ground that year, so they were kept in pots (square 5", 6" deep). Surprisingly, all survived & I planted them in bed outside in 2014. Looks like there were 2 females, as 2 plants had red seed capsules.
Will see in spring if/how well they survived winter after being transplanted - but they should be OK after surviving 1st winter in pots kept outside - just a year (hopefully no longer!) behind in harvesting.
Maybe I was just lucky with such good germination. I bought seeds in store.
Hope it works out for you this time.

Rina

This post was edited by rina_ on Sun, Jan 18, 15 at 9:53

In my experience I gave up on them, but left the tray in full sun in July, kept it watered, and started some winter veggies in the same pots. The asparagus promptly came up.

The type I planted are mary washington. Im going to try another 12 plantings with about 24 seeds.

So I have had them on a shelf with the rest of my seedlings sitting at about 70-75 degrees. I water them when they dry out. I planted these about january 5th or so. I contacted the seed guy and he said to give it more time. From what I gather I guess they are frustrating but I'm not giving up.

Guys, for me its not about instant gratification, I have other crops for that. It's about growing something different. I'm really not into buying cuttings or roots as I can wait. Although I did buy several strawberry roots this year from gurneys on a sale .

Just wanted to give an update I have one germination so far! so it took about 20 days. I also took some new seeds for an experiment and file the outside a bit down on half, and the other half I cut part of the outside shell off and planted them back into the remaining cubes. I'll update if anymore germinate.

The asparagus is the single one in the front of the pic.

I tried some asparagus seeds outside over the summer as an experiment. I didn't see anything for about 3 weeks, but after those 3 weeks, nearly all of them sprouted. I nearly gave up on them, but they did eventually all sprout.

I would add my voice to the "needs warm soil" folks. I've never tried to deliberately grow asparagus from seed, but I do get volunteers in the garden each year. They always sprout mid-later summer when the soil is good and warm.