How to Grow Shatavari Over the Winter

Shatavari is the common name of Asparagus racemosus, a tuberous plant from the East Indies, tropical Africa and Australia. The herbaceous plant develops with a twining, climbing habit, growing 6 ½ feet long. The plant has needles for foliage. Shatavari also produces small white flowers and thorny branches. You have two options for keeping a shatavari plant's roots alive in the winter: Grow it in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zone 9 and higher, or dig the tubers and store them until spring.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup water
• Thermometer
• Heatproof bowl
• Flat with drainage holes
• Seed-starter mix
• Clear plastic bag, as needed
• Seed-propagation mat, as needed
• 4-inch planters with drainage holes
• Potting soil
• Spade
• Shears

Instructions

1. Heat up 1 cup of water to 120 degrees F in spring. Place the asparagus seeds in a heatproof bowl. Pour the warm water into it. Soak the seeds for 12 hours.

2. Fill a flat with seed-starter mix to ¼ inch from the rim. Moisten it.

3. Plant the shatavari seeds to a depth twice their diameter. Water the soil. Keep the seeds moistened throughout germination.

4. Maintain the seeds at 77 degrees F. Seal the flat inside a clear plastic bag to raise the temperature if necessary. Alternatively, place the container on an electric seed-propagation mat with the thermostat set to 77 degrees F. Germination takes three to six weeks. Remove the flat from the plastic bag, if you use it, as soon as a seed sprouts.

5. Fill 4-inch planters with potting soil. Transplant one shatavari seedling per pot after it develops its first set of leaves. Take a few days to gradually expose the plants to full sun. Grow the shatavari indoors in bright light until the following spring.

6. Plant the year-old asparagus outdoors in late spring. Sandy loam is the best environment to provide quick drainage and fertility. Place the shatavari in holes as deep and wide as the planters.

7. Dig around the base of the shatavari plants in the fall before the ground freezes. Lift the plant after the spade reaches under the roots. Cut the tops and shake the soil off the clump of tubers. Store them in a cool room above 32 degrees F. Replant the tubers after the last spring frost. Do this step if you planted the shatavari in a USDA hardiness zone below 9, where average winter temperatures kill the plant's roots.

References

• Plans for a Future: Asparagus racemosus - Willd.
• Oregon State University; Asparagus racemosus, Racemose Asparagus; U.P. Hendrick; 1919
• Forestry Nepal; Cultivation and Marketing of Asparagus (Asparagus racemosus) in Sarlahi District; Bechu Kumar Vinwar Yadav; November 2008
• Our Ohio: Sowing Seeds Indoors