Asparagus at home plant care

What does Sprenger's asparagus look like, which family does it belong to?

According to the generally accepted classification, asparagus belongs to the Asparagus plant family. It is an evergreen perennial and is represented by a large number of species - there are about 300 of them in total. Among the most popular varieties that are well suited for indoor keeping, Sprenger's asparagus is called. Other names for this flower are asparagus densiflora, or densely flowered.

Asparagus dense-flowered sprengeri

The plant consists of several long flexible stems that form a bush. In length, the stems can reach 1.5 m. They are thin, so they tend to the ground. Due to this feature, densiflora is often used as an ampelous cascade plant.

Asparagus sprengeri has branches covered with small cladodia, the size of which does not exceed 2.5 cm. Claudia are small narrow leaves resembling pine needles in appearance, which gives the plant an openwork airy look.

During flowering, the branches are covered with abundant small flowers, in place of which red berries are then formed. One seed ripens in each.

Important! Berries contain toxic substances, so they absolutely should not be tasted.

Asparagus Sprenger (berries)

Common varieties

In addition to the dense-flowered asparagus, there are several more representatives of this species:

1. Pinnate. It is characterized by stems up to 1 m long. The branches are covered with small needle-shaped leaves, which makes them look like spruce leaves.
2. Mayer. A large shrub that can grow several meters wide. The branches are covered with a lot of cladonias, so they seem fluffy. For its appearance, the plant is often called the fox's tail.
3. Crescent. A small shrub with branches that, with good care, can reach 4 m in length. The sickle-shaped asparagus has large, oblong leaves that resemble a sickle.

Healing properties

Several types of asparagus are used in traditional medicine. They affect the body in several ways:

• relieve pain;
• purify the blood;
• have a mild diuretic effect;
• dilate blood vessels;
• calm down.

Description

Asparagus officinalis is a perennial plant of the Liliaceae family that has medicinal properties.

It has a powerful rhizome and erect stems up to one and a half meters high.

The stems are widely covered with small leaves, in the axils of which the so-called cladodia are formed - an accumulation of filamentous twigs.

Asparagus blooms at the end of spring. Flowering continues until the end of summer.

Asparagus flowers grow in pairs, held together in the axils of the pedicels. They have a pale greenish color.

Fruits are spherical berries that acquire a red color when ripe. Asparagus ripens in September.

You can look at the photo of Asparagus officinalis below:

Other common types of Asparagus on our website: Sprenger, Crescent, Feathery, Meyer.

Breeding methods of asparagus

There are three ways of propagating asparagus: dividing the bush, propagating by apical cuttings, and germinating seeds. At home, the first two methods are usually used.

Growing from seeds

Under indoor conditions, asparagus seeds can be obtained by waiting for flowering and dusting individual flowers. Sowing should be started immediately after fruit ripening and seed collection. This usually happens in winter or early spring. The seeds can also be purchased in stores.

The sowing tank is filled with light sandy-peat soil. Seeds are sown on moist soil at a shallow depth, the container is covered with glass or foil and placed in a lighted place.Condensation from the film is periodically removed by opening the container for ventilation. If necessary, the soil is re-moistened with a spray bottle. At a temperature of about +23, the seeds begin to germinate in a month. When the seedlings grow up to 10 cm, they are dived into seedling cups. Young asparagus are distributed in full-fledged individual pots at the beginning of summer, transplanting them into soil from leafy soil, turf, humus, peat, and sand. From this time on, caring for them no longer differs from caring for adult plants.

Cuttings

The beginning of spring is suitable for propagation of asparagus by cuttings. For these purposes, healthy adult stalks about 10-15 cm in size are cut from the bush. In order for them to take root, they are planted in a container with wet sand. The seedlings are covered with foil or jars and set to light. The room temperature must be at least +21. Periodically planting is aired and watered. If all conditions are met, rooting should occur within 1-1.5 months. The grown seedlings can be distributed in separate pots. The soil for them will no longer differ from the mixture for adult asparagus.

Dividing the bush

Overgrown asparagus bushes during transplantation can be divided into several parts. Each must have enough roots and at least one growth point

The root ball is carefully cut or torn, be sure to process the cut points. Roots that are too long can also be trimmed a little

Delenki are distributed in individual pots filled with soil suitable for adult specimens. Due to the fact that division is considered a painful procedure for a flower, it may hurt for some time after it. Until complete recovery, such plants are not fed so that the nutrient solution does not burn the roots.

How to plant and grow Asparagus from seeds correctly? / houseplant asparagus

Basic recommendations for flower care

Painstaking care for tropical representatives of the asparagus genus is not required. However, some plant requirements should be observed at the time of their cultivation. This allows them to provide them with the most favorable conditions for growth and flowering.

Lighting and temperature control

Therefore, it must be protected from direct sunlight. The south side of the premises is not suitable for growing asparagus. An excellent option is partial shade, which is typical for east and west windows.

The heat-loving houseplant Asparagus retains a bright color of foliage and stems for a long time at a temperature of + 22-25 ° С in the spring-summer period, and at + 15 ° С in winter. At too low or high temperatures, asparagus sheds foliage, its stems dry out.

Humidity and watering

Asparagus is a moisture-loving plant. The lack of moisture in the air can be compensated for by installing an aquarium in the room, flowerpots with water, trays with moistened expanded clay crumbs. Also, the flower plant must be sprayed with a spray bottle. The procedure should be carried out early in the morning or in the evening.

Asparagus loves watering in moderation. An abundance of moisture can lead to the development of diseases of the root system - rot. For Asparagus, the lower type of irrigation is used - settled clean water at room temperature is poured into the pan of a flower pot, after half an hour it is poured out. In spring and summer, watering is performed daily, in autumn and winter it is reduced to two times a week.

Fertilizing and pruning

Proper care of asparagus requires the timely feeding of the houseplant with the necessary nutrients. Fertilize the plant with mineral complex compounds intended for indoor flowers. Their introduction can be combined with watering asparagus with weakly concentrated liquid organic mixtures.

Throughout the year, the flower requires regular fertilization:

• in spring and summer, nutrient mixtures are applied to the soil once a week;
• in the fall, the intensity of feeding is reduced to two times a month;
• in winter, fertilizers are applied no more than once a month.

In order for Asparagus to form a lush green crown, old shoots are pruned every spring. Removing dried stems allows the plant to direct all its forces towards the formation of young branches and future inflorescences. When pruning, you can not only remove unnecessary shoots, but also shorten the length of viable branches, which have partially lost their foliage, giving the plant the desired shape.

general description

For the first time, asparagus was introduced to Europe more than 2 centuries ago. The plant is native to Asian and African countries.

In its natural habitat, this culture grows in a dry climatic zone. The plant is saved from drought thanks to the moisture accumulated by the tubers of the rhizome. Despite this, today asparagus can be found absolutely on any continent.

Outwardly, the culture is very similar to the fern, which is why the people call it that.

However, you should pay attention to the fact that asparagus belongs to the asparagus family, so it has nothing to do with ferns. Science knows about 300 species of plants, including poisonous

Some species are also food, such as asparagus, which can be found on store shelves. There are also herbaceous medicinal varieties.

The root system of a perennial plant is a powerful root with tubers extending from it. The stem of asparagus is rather flexible, branched. It contains a large number of small leaf shoots. Outwardly, lush cladodia resemble spruce branches. However, to the touch, the shoots are quite soft, delicate, the finest. Asparagus has unusual leaves - brown and tiny scales that can hardly be seen.

The indoor flower asparagus blooms, a photo of which can be found in the article, with the arrival of spring. However, the culture must reach the age of six.

Small flowers are white in color and have a slightly perceptible smell. They can bloom as whole inflorescences or singly. Depending on the species, asparagus blooms with pink, beige or greenish flowers with the finest petals.

At the end of the flowering period, small red berries are formed, which give the culture a special uniqueness.

Each fruit contains a seed, which is covered with a black shell. In some berries, several of them can be found at once.

An unpretentious specimen to care for will feel great not only in indoor conditions, but also outdoors in the open air. However, not all varieties can withstand the outdoor temperature. After winter frosts, young shoots are born in the place of fallen stems.

Asparagus

Common varieties are:

1. Sickle (Asparagus falcatus). The sickle-shaped asparagus is a perennial bright green vine. The main difference of the falcatus lies in the elongated leaves located on a strong and long shoot. Sickle-shaped asparagus grows up to 15 m in length
2. Sprenger (Asparagus sprengeri). Another name is the dense-flowered Sprenger. Outwardly, it is a fluffy bush that resembles a Christmas tree. The stems look like feathers. However, the stem of the dense-flowered asparagus has delicate leaves. This type of plant can grow up to 1 m in height.
3. Asparagus (Asparagus asparagoides). Climbing perennial crop with stems that grow up to 3 m in length.They are covered with bunches of cladodes up to 3 cm
4. Racemose (Asparagus Racemosus). The racemose asparagus can grow up to two meters in length. The inflorescences have fragrant flowers
5. Feathery (Asparagus plumosus). Also known as bristle asparagus (Asparagus setaceus). An ornamental plant with lace shoots. Strongly branched dwarf shrub with soft central branches that have a slight bend and delicate phylloclades
6. Meyer (Asparagus meyeri). A variety with a gorgeous crown and many lateral shoots, similar to a spindle. The culture grows in height up to 50 cm, and in width it grows up to 6 m
7. Medeoloides (Asparagus medeoloides). Branched tall plant. Due to its size, this variety is hardly ever grown indoors.
8. Eucharis. A bulbous plant that also attracts with its delicate white flowers. it is distinguished by a delicate delicate aroma during flowering

Katarantus - a tropical guest: features of care, planting, reproduction and its health benefits (50 Photos & Videos) + Reviews

Photo instructions for growing asparagus from seeds at home. Personal experience…

We proceed to the direct planting and germination of asparagus seeds at home. Landing took place on March 3, 2017. I enjoyed the first shoots in a month.

Step 1. Opening the bag, I found that the seeds are large enough. Fine!!! It will be easier to plant. Also, the dense shell on the grains did not hide from my attention. So that's what you need to soak from !!! Being in water, the shell will soften a little and it will be easier for the seed embryo to break through it.

Step 2. Directly soaking. I took a regular plastic cup. I put the seed there and poured settled water at room temperature. You cannot fill the grains with water completely, but only up to half. This ensures a regular supply of air to the seed embryo and it does not suffocate. The seeds were periodically mixed. Soaking lasted a day.

Step 3. Landing in the ground. Pour soil for decorative deciduous plants into a pre-prepared greenhouse from a plastic bottle. Even a young asparagus has a sufficiently developed root system, and therefore there should be a lot of soil in the greenhouse, which contributes to the full development of seedlings. Moisten the soil and spread the asparagus seeds over. We cover the greenhouse.

My observations, mistakes and success

So, I put the asparagus seed greenhouse on the shelf. It is located on the kitchen window. At that time, it was the only place where the average daily temperature was kept within +21 degrees. I was sure that for the successful germination of seeds, it was enough just to ventilate the greenhouse twice a day and maintain a constant level of soil moisture.

However, the problems started after 1 week. The seeds began to grow moldy. And this is not surprising. Indeed, for its development in the greenhouse there were more than favorable conditions: high temperature and humidity, the presence of sunlight. But the main thing is asparagus seeds uncovered with soil.

On various forums, they advised:

1. Spill the soil with a manganese solution. It will kill the mold. My thoughts on this: a manganese solution can harm future seedlings.

2. Growing asparagus from seeds should take place in the dark. My thoughts: it was possible, of course, to make a greenhouse from a dark, plastic bottle, for example, a dark brown kvass bottle. But the greenhouse was already there and it was transparent. I didn't want to make a new one and transfer the seeds there. I didn't have a dark place in an apartment with a constantly high temperature (+ 21 ... + 23 degrees), and therefore I decided to just cover the seeds with soil.

So, I covered the seeds with a 1 cm layer of soil, moistened the latter with water from a spray bottle, covered the greenhouse with a lid and returned it to its original place, hoping for the best. After 2 days, I dug up one grain, although this cannot be done, and I was pleasantly surprised. There was no mold, and the seeds were already swollen.

The first asparagus made its way 18 days after landing, which made me really happy. I open the greenhouse in the morning for the next airing, and there above the ground can be seen a small, then confident, sprout of asparagus. 1 month after planting the seeds, I already had three asparagus, but there were 11 seeds initially. I did not dare to dig out the seeds remaining in the soil.This could damage both existing seedlings and sprouts that have not yet made their way from under the ground to the sun. I just kept looking after the plants.

Soon I got a phytolamp. I put the greenhouse on a shelf with artificial lighting. Taking this factor into account, my asparagus grew under artificial illumination for 12 hours, at a temperature of +23 degrees, with regular watering. I did not add top dressing. I did not clean the greenhouse until the moment when my very first asparagus rested against its vault and began to bend a little. At that time, out of 11 seeds, I had 7 asparagus.

Signs of impaired development of asparagus

Every plant possesses signals that signal unhappiness. For this, the general condition of the plant serves. An experienced florist will be able to notice the signal in time and quickly take action:

• the needles crumble and turn yellow, which means that the water balance is disturbed;
• the needles darken and turn brown from the bright color and dry earth;
• light spots appeared - they were not protected from the sun's rays;
• the greens turned pale - add light, you can artificial;
• the bush drooped, look for the reason in the roots;
• the berries are dressed in a gray bloom, gray rot has settled.

Knowing the disease, it is easy to eliminate it. Therefore, you need to monitor your pets constantly, and they themselves will ask for help. It is impossible to miss the moment of insect pests settling on asparagus. Everyone is scary, but the most dangerous is the spider mite, which is difficult to remove with home remedies, and asparagus do not like it when their delicate needles are exposed to chemistry.

Description of the appearance of asparagus and its origin

Asparagus is a gentle and elegant plant well known from the Soviet past. Then they decorated many institutions, massively visited by the people, and asparagus was popular in indoor floriculture. But with the arrival of the Dutch variety on our flower market, the plant was gradually forgotten. But the flower deserves to be again interested not only by sophisticated flower growers, but also by beginners.

Asparagus - a classic home floriculture

Asparagus has a powerful underground root made up of many tubers.

Root part of asparagus

Stems are flexible and branched. Asparagus does not have leaves as such. Instead of them, numerous branches or cladodia are located on the branches, collected in bunches. They are very needle-like and appear to be prickly in appearance, but are actually very soft and delicate.

Asparagus stems are flexible and have many branches.

Flowers are small - single or collected in inflorescences. Painted white, less often pink or beige.

The fruits are similar to red berries. The inside of the fruit contains one or more seeds, covered with a black, thick skin.

The berries are poisonous, so if you have children or animals in your home, you should take precautions!

After pollination of asparagus flowers, fruits ripen - berries

Asparagus belongs to the Asparagus family, which unites not only decorative, but also medicinal and edible species. The plant is distributed almost all over the world - on the African continent, Asia, America and Europe. But mostly he prefers places with a dry climate.

Growing asparagus in your home environment is easy. The plant is undemanding to the conditions of maintenance. Is that watering and lighting should be approached with special responsibility. And one more nuance should be taken into account - some types of asparagus can grow strongly and you need to allocate more space for them.

Asparagus is often used as a component of landscape design. The plant is a wonderful element of decoration and landscaping of cozy courtyards and terraces. Florists decorate bouquets and flower arrangements with asparagus sprigs. The plant looks very impressive in hanging baskets or pots.

Asparaguste is very easy to care for, in addition, the plant is a wonderful decorative element.

Types and varieties

The asparagus family is very numerous and has more than 300 dissimilar plants. But in home floriculture, this list can be called small. African representatives of the family feel great in the room. And on the street, Asian and European views take root better.

Asparagus sprenger: home care for the most popular asparagus

Asparagus Sprenger is one of the favorite plants of many flower growers and designers.

A lush asparagus bush adorns apartments and offices, and its fluffy twigs are a must-have for bouquet arrangements.

Florists will be pleased that Sprenger's asparagus is very hardy and able to adapt to any conditions of detention.

Sprenger's luxurious asparagus

Asparagus Sprenger or in Latin Asparagus densiflorus Sprengeri belongs to the asparagus family and is the most popular species of the asparagus genus. In indoor culture, it is grown as an ampelous plant in hanging pots or baskets.

The main decoration of asparagus is its cascading shoots with soft “needles” (cladodia) leaves, which give the plant a graceful and delicate airiness.

In summer, asparagus blooms with small white-pink flowers with a very pleasant aroma. After flowering, small red berries are tied on the bush.

Site selection and lighting

Asparagus prefers bright and diffused light. However, a windowsill is not a very suitable place for a plant. Asparagus grows very quickly in breadth, and soon it will be cramped on the window.

You can place the bush on a dais next to the window or hang it in a basket closer to the light. The plant grows well at room temperature, but not below 10 ° C.

Watering and humidity

Water the asparagus abundantly, keeping the soil moist, but not overmoistening it. If the plant is kept in a cool room, watering should be done after the soil is completely dry.

Transfer

Asparagus prefers loose and nutritious soil. A ready-made universal soil for decorative deciduous plants with the addition of vermiculite or perlite is well suited.

You can prepare the mixture yourself from the following components:

• 1 piece of leafy land;
• 1 part of sod land;
• 1 part of peat land;
• 0.5 parts of coarse sand.

Read about the ways of using succinic acid in floriculture in our material.

How you can propagate ehmeya at home - our article will tell you.

Young asparagus are transplanted annually, and adults only after the root system fills the entire container. During transplanting, it is recommended to remove one third of the roots and nodules of the plant.

Top dressing and pruning

You need to feed asparagus twice a month with mineral fertilizer for indoor plants. Asparagus will not skip an organic horn shavings supplement once a month.

The plant needs pruning, with which you can achieve more bushiness of asparagus and get rid of diseased and bald shoots

At the same time, it is important to know that the trimmed branches stop growing.

Reproduction

Asparagus reproduces:

• Seeds. At the beginning of spring, you need to soak the seeds for a day in a solution of potassium permanganate and sow them in a peat-sand mixture, lightly sprinkling with earth. The container with seeds should be placed in a "greenhouse", remembering to water and ventilate moderately. Within 3 to 6 weeks, the first shoots of asparagus appear. After the seedlings reach 8 cm in height, you can dive them into separate containers.
• Cuttings. In the spring, you can cut the cuttings and root them in the wet sand.
• By dividing a bush or rhizome. During transplanting, it is necessary to separate a part of the plant with three adult shoots and a root system and plant it in a separate pot.

Pests and common problems

Asparagus pests:

• spider mite;
• mealybug.

You should be aware that asparagus does not respond well to insecticide treatment

Therefore, it is important to detect the pest as early as possible and remove it mechanically.

Frequent problems:

• Shoots stretch and thin out - lack of light.
• The leaves turn yellow and crumble - too dry air or direct sunlight.
• Roots and shoots rot - waterlogging.

Asparagus is an easy and pleasant plant to care for. Compliance with the minimum requirements - and the plant will delight you with lush cascades of openwork greenery.