Last edited on 2 Nov 2026. View history

sweet purple asparagus Sweet Purple Asparagus

Asparagus officinalis

A variety of asparagus

How to sow sweet purple asparagus: Transplant crowns outside, or start seeds indoors

Sun requirement for sweet purple asparagus: Plant in Full Sun

A highly productive purple asparagus with sweet, less fibrous spears that are larger in diameter and better shaped. Grow it like Mary Washington: slow germination, leave the ferns to feed the roots, light cutting in year two and full production by year three.

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Sweet purple asparagus facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less

Growing sweet purple asparagus

  1. Dig a trench and fill it with compost 2 weeks before planting out
  2. Water regularly at planting out every week
  3. Mulch the bed 4 weeks after planting out
  4. Cut down the yellow ferns 9 months after planting out
  5. Pick the spears at first harvest every week
  6. Stop picking and let the ferns grow 8 weeks after first harvest

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Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Asparagus officinalis L.

Family / Taxonomy Liliopsida
Liliidae
Asparagales
Asparagaceae
Optimal temperature 15 - 30 °C
Absolute temperature 6 - 38 °C
Killing temperature growth: -1 °C, rest: -5 °C
Optimal rainfall 800 - 1200 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 500 - 4000 mm/year
Optimal soil pH 6.0 - 6.7
Absolute soil pH 4.5 - 8.2
Crop cycle 210 - 270 days
Max altitude 2600 m
Life form herb
Life span perennial
Habit erect
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture medium, organic
Optimal soil fertility high
Optimal soil drainage well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)
Photoperiod short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours)
Optimal light very bright

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

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