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Re: Brussels sprouts

Hi Marlynn

B.Sprouts tend not to do well unless they are very firmly in the soil. One
of the symptoms of poor support  is that the sprouts are small and tend to
blow (i.e.. go like little cabbages).
You need to dig the ground (if you dig) in the autumn and then leave it to
compact and consolidate over winter. Transplant the sprouts into the soil
and make sure they are really well heeled in. Use the heel of your boot.
They will love you for it. :)

Steve Neason has already pointed out the necessity for high organic content
in the soil.

The problems of blowing early also occurs if you are using some older
varieties of Sprout which are not so reliable.
Although there is a trend to go back to older tastier varieties of
vegetable, B.Sprouts are more reliable if you grow from a modern F1 hybrid.
The flavour of modern F1's is very good. Personally, I always grow F1's and
get a good crop.

Depending on the variety you may well find that they have an improved
flavour after frost, but this is only the case with frost hardy varieties.
Not all varieties stand up to hard frost. So chose your variety carefully.
Check what time of year it is supposed to produce sprouts. If you chose
more than one variety with different "sprouting time" you can have a
continuity of sprouts from about late September to late March. At least
that is the case in the UK. I guess it depends on your particular climate.
It's no good my giving examples as the varieties in the  USA will be
different to here in the UK.

I don't know why you want golf ball size sprouts. Frankly I find them
tasteless. I much prefer to grow sprouts about the size of a large marble.
Maybe 1 to 1.5 cm diameter. They cook very quickly in a steamer and stay
slightly crunchy.

Regards
Stephen

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Stephen Griffiths, 
34 Fernwood Crescent, London, N20 0RN. UK.
e-mail:- stephen.griffiths@dial.pipex.com
URL:- http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/close/xpz05
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>I have a bunch of Brussel sprout plants I started from seed and they are
>doing well--growing by leaps and bounds, actually.  My querry is, what
>do I do to make decent sized sprouts.  I see golf ball sized ones in the
>markets, but last year I had them the size of large peas or beans.  And
>the top ones turned into little open cabbages.  I pinched out the top
>when it was turnng cool like hte books said and harvested the little
>things after a few light frosts and they tasted great.  But I'd like to
>have larger ones this year.
>Marlynn
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