| Light: | HIGH LIGHT | | Plant Care: | | | These ornamental asparagus species do best in bright indirect or curtain-filtered sunlight; if only artificial light is available, provide at least 400 foot-candles. Night temperatures of 50° to 55° and day temperatures of 68° or higher are ideal. Keep the soil barely moist at all times.
Feed established plants at three to four month intervals with a standard house-plant fertilizer, but wait two months before feeding newly purchased or newly potted plants.
Repot overcrowded plants at any season using packaged general-purpose potting soil. Propagate at any season by dividing the thick fleshy roots of old plants; several good-sized plants can be started from one old plant. When dividing old clumps, cut the stems to soil level and discard them to make room for the fresh ones that will rise from the roots. Watch for spider mites. | | Facts: | | | The Asparagus genus represents about 300 species of evergreen and deciduous perennials, climbers, and sub-shrubs from sandy and coastal sites in Europe, Asia and Africa. The variety Asparagus fern is grown for its foliage, but it is not of the fern species and its 'leaves' are really needle-like branches. Asparagus is an easy house plant to grow, especially as a trailer in hanging baskets. All have filmy “needles,” which are actually flattened stems, called phylloclades, which serve the purpose of leaves.
Asparagus has deeply arching 18 to 24 inch stems that are covered with loose billows of bright green inch-long flat needles. If a bushy plant is desired, the ends of long stems can be pinched off. Florists often include cut stems of the Asparagus fern in bunches of roses. |
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