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"Male" and supermale asparagus crowns are a rip off. All will (and as your photo so eloquently shows) do set seed some years. I'm told they are not particularly fertile. Tho I'll take the end of the wager some ARE fertile.
IMO no male produces enough to justify their expence.
Just cut the fern off that has seeds on before they turn red if you do not want any volunteers in your garden.
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quote: IMO no male produces enough to justify their expence.
If *I* snickered at that line, I can just imagine the fairer sexed members here  On a serious note, what is the problem with volunteer asparagus? |
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I'm growing Mary Washington, which is just a plain old heterosexual asparagus. I move volunteer asparagus as needed. *I* don't particularly have a problem with them.
The claim to greater productivity for alla these "all male" asparagus cultivars is that they waste no energy on producing seed.
Buzzer sound goes off Not!
And they don't clutter up feild with volunteers
Buzzer sound goes off again. Not!
A commercial grower can make more money with them.
Small chime sound. Maybe...
The only guy I'm sure of who makes good money off of supermale cultivars is the nursery. Maybe, just maybe if you have acres of asparagus in your feild, you might make a bit more over a ten year span *if* you buy your crowns cheaply enough.
Inasmuch as Mary Washington is growing ferral in ditches all over the united states. I expect you can forage seed and manage your crowns to reduce the number of female plants with a net result of a whole lot closer to what supermale crowns can actually produce.
And herbicides are good for the environment too.
Sorry that just my take of this sorta snake oil being sold as great truths from your nursery man.
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