Abstract
Outstanding asparagus crowns were identified in established Michigan asparagus fields, MSU germplasm, variety trials, or were provided by commercial sources. The single-crown selections were micropropagated to provide cloned plants for the trials. Field trials consisting of four replications of 12 plants each were established at two locations. Crowns were planted 8 inches deep and spaced 18 inches apart in rows 4.5 or 5 feet apart. Five, 37, and 25 selections were planted in 1998, 1989, and 1991, respectively. Plots were not harvested until 2 years after planting, when they had partial harvests of six pickings. In the third and following years, plots received full harvests of 20 to 25 pickings. In the third full harvest at the Hart location, clones Hart-2 and Hart-3 yielded 6989 and 6875 lb/A, respectively, and were significantly more productive than Syn4-56, which had 3720 lb/A. At Benton Harbor, Hart-4 produced 4184 lb/A, significantly higher than the Syn4-56 yield of 3088 lb/A at that location. These significant differences were not observed until the second full harvest.
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