Wellington Brussels Sprouts

[Colin Miles]

This may need to go in the technical section, but I am posting here first. Both my early Brussels - Brilliant - and 'late' - Wellington, have grown very well and been able to withstand the ravishes of the caterpillars. However, a lot of the Wellington Sprouts are blown, and really far too early in forming, whereas Brilliant are, as usual, brilliant - nice and firm and tasty.

Anyone else any experience of this variety? Maybe the extreme dullness of the weather has had something to do with it (our roses are just starting to bloom!).

[old codger]

Hello Colin, i have grown some Brilliant brussel sprouts, we have been eating them for the last three weeks , they are very firm and tasty, but as you say the caterpillars have had all the tops.

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
Wellington should be sown in the last week of April whereas Brilliant can be sown as early as the first week of February. May I enquire when the Wellington were sown and when were they planted out. At this time mine would not be anywhere near a stage where they could blow.
I have never had your experience with them but I have only grown them a couple of times and not this year. I have Montgomery which is almost Wellingtons stable mate. I have a few Evesham Specials that are getting near picking and these are somewhat late this year.
JB.

[Colin Miles]

Hi Johnboy,

Both sown April 8th which is a little early for me. Montgomery and Brilliant sown last year May 21st and April 20th previous year. Decided to try Wellington this year as the 'late' one. I suppose I could always go back to Maximus or simply sow another batch of Brilliant in late May.

[Colin Miles]

Sorry - forgot to say when planted out - May 15th.

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
I mainly grow open pollinated varieties and they are all target as follow-on crops.
Evesham Special early, Bedford Darkmar 21, Montgomery F1, (my only F1) Rubine and finally Seven Hills, which start cropping in February and finish late April. These all have sowing times to suit the final goal of Sprouts from September to almost May.
The Montgomery, Darkmar 21 and the Rubine are all cropping simultaneously and this is to reinforce the Montgomery although the Darkmar 21 has probably the best taste but is somewhat erratic in it's production. I grow 12 plants of each variety and are protected by netting cages, slug pellets and Brassica anti Cabbage Root Fly pads.
They are all sown strictly to date and planting is sometimes delayed if they are too advance for the date.
JB.

[Colin Miles]

Thanks Johnboy. What dates do you sow?

[Johnboy]

Hi Colin,
The sowning times are as follows;
Evesham Special. 1st March and depending on ambient temperatures up to 15C heat may be used but no higher.
Darkmar 21. 2nd week in March
Rubine. 2nd week in March.
Montgomery/Wellington. Last days of April /first few days of May.
Seven Hills. 2nd week in May.

Apart from Evesham Special all others are propagated on the bench in one of the tunnels without any applied heat.

Although planting out can commence when 4 true leaves have appeared I leave them for 6-8 weeks normally. This depends on the amount of top growth.
What I am really after before planting out is bottom growth. The sturdier the root structure the better the plant you get later on.
Nowadays I use 40 module cavity inserts and sow one seed per station. I plant out the 12 sturdiest and give most of the others away keeping a few in case of accidents. It is amazing how long these plants will live in a module without deteriorating.
For those who are not sure what cavity insert are.
They are plastic module inserts into a standard seed tray of varying numbers of cells which makes handling very easy.
JB.

[Colin Miles]

Many thanks Johnboy. May I suggest that posting is moved to Best Practices under the heading 'Brussels Sprouts sowing times".