Brussels Sprouts

[Mike Vogel]

Sorry - mine are Darkmar this year. The previous 2 years I grew Falstaff and these were disappointing in terms of yield, but this may have been due to lack of consistent care. This year's have gone in where I had broad beans earlier in the year.

[Binky]

I am trying Bosworth this year. I used to grow Braveheart and they did very well but seemed to get "discontinued". But when Glallotments, who gardens at the other end of the country to me, describes the sorry state of hers, she could be standing on my plot, looking at mine! And I started mine off in pots, planted them out when they were quite sturdy little plants with a good root system, covered them with enviromesh and generally made a fuss of them.

[mrs l]

My sprouts have nearly all blown(look like flowers) which I thought was caused by not firming them in enough but I did stamp them in. So next year I think I'll have to get hubby and his 18st to firm them in!

[glallotments]

But when Glallotments, who gardens at the other end of the country to me, describes the sorry state of hers, she could be standing on my plot, looking at mine! And I started mine off in pots, planted them out when they were quite sturdy little plants with a good root system, covered them with enviromesh and generally made a fuss of them.

I did all that but wondered if I should have fed and watered them more!

[The Mouse]

My sprouts have nearly all blown(look like flowers) which I thought was caused by not firming them in enough but I did stamp them in. So next year I think I'll have to get hubby and his 18st to firm them in!

One year, I had a bed of sprouts (can't remember now what variety) that formed sprouts very eary - August- which were all blown. As an experiment, I removed all these blown sprouts but left the plants in the soil and they went on to produce another crop of good tight sprouts!

I have also had years when plants have been barely visible for whitefly, but even though the plants have looked (and smelled) horrible, the crop has been good.

It just shows - sometimes it's worth waiting to see what happens, even if you don't think there's much chance of success!

[glallotments]

I have also had years when plants have been barely visible for whitefly, but even though the plants have looked (and smelled) horrible, the crop has been good.

It just shows - sometimes it's worth waiting to see what happens, even if you don't think there's much chance of success!

I really thinks ours were a lost cause.

Not a good photo as it was clipped from a much larger view but then again not very good sprouts!

[The Mouse]

Hmm, I admit, there doesn't look to be much hope for them. Glallotments.
But you'll never know, now.

[John]

Hello glallotments
Your sprouts look to me as though they have been suffering from a serious shortage of nutrients. To get the young plants off to a good start a handful of growmore is ideal. They do require a soil which has been well limed and in their earlier stages of growth they will need plenty of nitrogen as they have to make a considerable amount of growth through the summer. Chempak Calcium is good quick fix for this as it is calcium nitrate. Another excellent early feed is nitrochalk but this is not so easy to get hold of in small quantities. As the plants mature use a feed which is lower in nitrogen to encourage them to form sprouts.
The also do best when planted fairly deeply in very very firm soil. You have to be careful to balance your feeding with the size of the plants though as excessive amounts of nitrogen can lead to very leafy plants (caterpillar and whitefly magnets) and blown sprouts.
As others have said I think your crop is a lost cause for this year but better luck next year.

John

[glallotments]

Thanks for this John,
I had sort of come to the conclusion that we maybe needed to feed them more but now I know what to feed them with!

They were planted deep and in firm soil - I'd walked up and down on it too like MrsL

[Geoff]

I trust they haven't got clubroot - knackered root system can starve them whatever the fertility. I put 15 lbs of Growmore on a 10'x25' greens bed, "Know and Grow" suggests 10 ozs per sq yard. I'm not that happy with my sprouts but mainly because they are all coming early and together despite being several varieties - I'll take a photo if it ever stops raining.

[Johnboy]

Hi Glallotments,
I was pondering on why your Sprouts have gone awry this year and thought a PH test might help. Now I read Johns posting and he is suggesting a Lime treatment. Very much what I was building up to.
Is your soil naturally acidic or alkali?
All brassicas are very hungry but they much prefer things on the Alkali side which also helps to ward off club root.
Looking at your photo they are very distressed.
It's an absolute bummer when you get a failure like this!
My sympathies,
JB.