Blown Brussel Sprouts.

[tracie]

Hi All,

for the second year on the trot my Brussel Sprouts have blown and are totally useless. I have today pulled them all out and added them to the compost.

I Firmed the ground well prior to planting and I am now wondering of I should grow another variety. I Do not know which ones I grew this year because I have lost the label.

No home grown brussles for Christmas day again this year.

Any idea's anybody.

Thanks

Tracie

[Primrose]

Sorry have no idea why they've blown especially if they were well firmed in, but it's a pity you've pulled them all out because they are still perfectly edible in a blown state. They are great sliced up and stir fried or cooked and used in dishes like colcannon & Bubble & Squeak. Also the Brussel tops are delicious too when eaten as cooked greens.

[vegpatchmum]

Oh, I love Brussel sprout tops. Have never successfully grown sprouts but the tops have made up for it on the occasions I've tried

VPM
x

[farmer jon]

Hi tracie ,

what is your soil like ? is it light & sandy or medium /heavy? also how deep was it dug & how long prior to planting ? did you feed the young plants ?

I'm pretty sure that the variety has nothing to do with them blowing.

[FelixLeiter]

It might be because of too much water. Which cannot be helped, of course, given the weather we've been experiencing. I might also add that I do think that growing the right variety is important. It used to be when we mostly grew open-pollinated sprouts that they could be very inconsistent, which is why hybrid varieties are now so popular — although seed is expensive, a .lot of uncertainty is eliminated. Even so, with the "old fashioned" strains (and they could only be accurately described as strains), some individuals would always come good. In your case it sounds like the whole crop's consistently gone west.
If it was me I'd be cock-a-hoop to have a sprout-free Christmas. I enjoy my greens but sprouts are all wrong; sulphurous and soapy. Which is a pity because I enjoy growing them.

[oldherbaceous]

Evening Tracie, may i just ask if the Brussel plants were firm in the ground, before you removed them, or were they all leaning over at an angle?

[vegpatchmum]

If it was me I'd be cock-a-hoop to have a sprout-free Christmas. I enjoy my greens but sprouts are all wrong; sulphurous and soapy. Which is a pity because I enjoy growing them.

Tut! Tut! Tut!

Felix, you have obviously never tried par boiled sprouts, cut in half , mixed with chestnuts and crispy bacon bits and fried up in butter!!!! Now that is the only way to truly enjoy sprouts

VPM
x

[Bern]

^^^ Like ^^^

[FelixLeiter]

Felix, you have obviously never tried par boiled sprouts, cut in half , mixed with chestnuts and crispy bacon bits and fried up in butter!!!! Now that is the only way to truly enjoy sprouts

I have, and it isn't. I like bacon, and I'm fond of chestnuts. But it'd be like putting lipstick on a pig. I'm the same with strawberries and cream: I'll just have the cream, thank you.

[vegpatchmum]

Felix, you have obviously never tried par boiled sprouts, cut in half , mixed with chestnuts and crispy bacon bits and fried up in butter!!!! Now that is the only way to truly enjoy sprouts

I have, and it isn't. I like bacon, and I'm fond of chestnuts. But it'd be like putting lipstick on a pig. I'm the same with strawberries and cream: I'll just have the cream, thank you.

LOL

[Redfox]

All my family laugh at me because although I enjoy growing veggies I really dont like many of them and I hate sprouts . although out of the 6 plants I have grown this year only 1has any decent sprouts on, the rest have blown . they do like the sprout tops aswell. So the rest of the family will have home grown sprouts on their christmas dinner.
Jane

[glallotments]

Maybe Felix and RedFox may be supertasters!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/articles/senses/supertaster.shtml

Glad I'm not as I really like sprouts!

[Primrose]

I don't seem to be able to grow good sprouts and have just bought two stalks of sprouts (1 green, 1 purple) to eat over Christmas/New Year. I find that if you have to buy sprouts this is by far the most effective way of keeping them fresh. I just put the bottom of the stalks in a bucket with a little water and keep them outside the kitchen door. They keep in perfect condition like this and don't wilt or start to go yellow.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Primrose, if you are expecting guests round, you could always plant them in the garden, and take the praise for the fine brussels you have grown.

[glallotments]

I don't seem to be able to grow good sprouts and have just bought two stalks of sprouts.

We never could until we started to plant a club-root resistant variety. The other brassicas coped fine in our ground but not the sprouts. You haven't a club-root problem have you?