Where do asparagus seeds come from?

Where do asparagus seeds come from?

Asparagus is mainly a plant with dioecious flowers and females. Generally, the male and female plants are roughly equal, growing in the leaf axils of female and male plants respectively. After pollination and fertilization, the female flowers develop into fruits.

What do asparagus seeds look like?

Asparagus seeds are very similar to peas, smaller, and dark green when unripe. They then turn into light green, orange-green, and orange-red. When ripe, they turn scarlet. The fruit has three ventricles and six black seeds.

Asparagus Seed Dispersal

Most of the original cultivated varieties of asparagus are bred using the group selection method, that is, male and female plants with traits that meet the breeding requirements are selected from a group, and then naturally pollinated. Although the seeds bred in this way have significantly improved species quality, their offspring are highly separated and require large-scale planting and observation. At this stage, conventional breeding, single-cross method, and double-cross method are commonly used.

How to get asparagus seeds

Male asparagus seedlings need to be obtained using tissue culture methods, but current instruments and equipment have high technical requirements. According to actual conditions, the "hermaphroditic method" can be adopted in production to harvest fully masculinized asparagus seedlings.

Asparagus Seed Planting

1. After asparagus is sown, it will sprout, the radicle will grow downward, and more secondary lateral roots will grow, then the first above-ground stem will be produced, and then the above-ground stem will be produced, and fleshy roots will grow downward. More roots will grow on the fleshy roots, and branches will continue to grow as they age.

2. Asparagus prefers warm seasons and is suitable for planting in March and April in spring. Asparagus sprouts new stems 2-3 times a year, or even more.

3. When planting asparagus at home, first soak the seeds in warm water for 12-24 hours, then take out and wrap them in wet cloth to germinate. Prepare a breathable flowerpot, fill eight-tenths of its space with a mixture of leaf mold and river sand in equal proportions, then sow the seeds into the soil, cover with soil and water, control the temperature at around 25°C, and they will germinate in 1-2 weeks.