‘Jersey Giant’, An All-male Asparagus Hybrid

Abstract

Abstract Male asparagus ( Asparagus officinalis L .) plants generally have higher yields and live longer than female plants; therefore, are preferred by growers. Another advantage of male plants is the lack of seeds, which, on female plants, produce volunteer seedlings regarded as a weed problem in commercial fields. Perhaps the most important long-term advantage of a male hybrid is that growers are unable to produce their own seed and thereby obliterate the original “cultivar.” The production of seed by growers already has led to the loss of excellent original strains of Martha and Mary Washington (2).