Asperagus Fern Cuttings

A friend of mine recently asked me to help her with the aspaeragus fern she has at home. It has out grown the container which is easy to deal with but it has grown out and has lots hanging over. Can you just cut pieces off and add some rooting hormone before placing in the soil or do they root better in water? I've never grown one before so I'm not sure how easy it is to get this plant propagated from cuttings. I'd hate to kill her plant off by doing something wrong or ruin any of the cuttings for that matter. She does what to make another basket with the cuttings and then give some away to friends. She has plenty to go with as this plant is reaching over and touching the floor and then some.

I've always thought that asparagus fern could only be propagated by division or seed, so I searched Google and didn't find anything about being able to root cuttings. But maybe your friend could try putting a stem cutting into some willow water or water with a bit of alfalfa and experiment.

Aspargus can be divided. But get a sharp knife and use gloves as the roots have these little stickers.

ok sounds good, I guess this plant gets a hair cut and I'll just dump the cuttings. Thanks guys

There are little thorns on the stems as well......

I have some asparagus fern that has green berries all over it and that I've seen turn red on other plants. Are these the seeds? (You can tell I'm a real newbe). Do I wait for them to turn red and then gather? Do I need to dry them or plant immediately? Help!

I think the seeds are in the red berries but I've never seen them. I've also read that the seeds should be soaked for 24 hours before planting.

Inside the red berry, you will find a little black ball type seed. My next door neighbor always just poked them back in the dirt.

As far as making more plants, I have grown them from seed started indoors in the winter and also but just cutting the root mass with a large serrated knife. It makes quite a mess!

I'll second that Chele, cutting the root mass does make quite a mess.

Thanks Everyone; guess I'll just keep an eye on these green berries and when they turn red.... poke them in some soil and see what happens. I love these garden mysteries!

Wait until the seeds are very ripe. They will drop if you tuch them. Then remove the flesh, clean and let dry.

Soak in water for 24h and for most of the asparagus species a stratification will give more rapid and uniform germination.

Stratification: Put the seeds between wet kitchenpaper in a box and let stand in the fridge for 3-4 weeks.

Then clean with running water and sow in a sandy mixture. At moderate temps (room temperature) the seeds will sprout within 2-3 weeks.

Peter

Thanks Peter, that was the best info on growing from seed. I am looking forward to this next propagation adventure.

The fastest way to propagate asparagus ferns to dump the pot and divide. First cut all the fronds off. Dump the pot and with a sharp shovel cut the root ball in half from top to bottom. Then split each half in the same way. Whack a few inches off the bottom and repot each chunk in the same size pot the mother plant was in. Plant in good planter mix and water well. In about a month, give them some fertilizer. In 2 or 3 months you will have a thriving new asparagus fern. (four to be exact)
George

This message was edited Jul 15, 2005 2:37 PM