Posted: 4/9/2013 5:59:37 PM EDT
| My uncle says he used to put salt in the rows of his asparagus. He says it killed all the other weeds but the asparagus was fine. I am hesitant to try it. Has anyone done this? |
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My uncle says he used to put salt in the rows of his asparagus. He says it killed all the other weeds but the asparagus was fine. I am hesitant to try it. Has anyone done this? Heard that once or twice, but I never have. I sprayed Roundup on any grass that was coming up in the spring before the asparagus started. Then again in the late fall, when the grass was still green but after I had mowed over the canes. I kept a thick straw covering on the patch year round. 6 inches or so, which really helped keep the weeds down. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Yes I've seen it done. There used to be a TV show called Backyard America that was sponsored by Osmose Lumber. The "star" of the show lived nearby and did a 3 month weekly garden growing class through our vo-tech. I took his class and he was awesome.
We did a field-trip to his film location/home. It's hard to grow aspargus in GA with our heat and red clay but he had a great patch. He kept about 6 inches of wheat straw on the bed and used copious quanities of salt to control weeds. The aspargus wasn't bothered by the salt at all and he had NO WEEDS. It did bleach/leech out about 2-3 feet around the bed and keep weeds down there too. He said he didn't know of any other garden plant that could stand the salt. He said it is common in Maine? to use "salt hay" to mulch asparagus and it works the same way. I think salt hay is washed up seaweed that's gathered and feed to livestock to supplement their feed. It's loaded with salt. |
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got any idea what type salt? Iodized, plain, rock salt, pool salt? What is the rate of application? Not trying to be a smart ass, I would like to try it.. Sounds like table salt would work. My asparagus is in my flowerbed, so I am not sure if this salt method is going to work well for me. TRG |
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got any idea what type salt? Iodized, plain, rock salt, pool salt? What is the rate of application? Not trying to be a smart ass, I would like to try it.. Best buy would be pool salt or plain rock salt. I don't know if there is enough iodine in table salt to be an issue but it would cost a good bit more to use it. |
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I have heard that a little epsom salt is good too. I have used it successfully with Tomato and Pepper plants. It gives your soil a boost of magnesium which increases chlorophyll production and strengthens cellular walls in plants.  I've heard of it as a spray, but not as a soil application, on peppers. TRG |
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I have heard that a little epsom salt is good too. I have used it successfully with Tomato and Pepper plants. It gives your soil a boost of magnesium which increases chlorophyll production and strengthens cellular walls in plants. Wife did this last year. I told her it was crazy talk, but she did it anyway. No positive effects that I could tell, but no negative either. Her response? "See? You would have seen bad things happen if I didn't!" 
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