sprout help needed...

[pongeroon]

My Fine Young Man and I are just finishing off the Christmas sprout stem. Its about the only veg we buy in, everything else is homegrown. He says we should eat more sprouts and I agree, they are lovely. We have never had much success growing them though.

I think we should have another go.

So to all you clever sprout growers, what are your top tips???

[Kleftiwallah]

Ensure the ground around the sprout stalks is ROCK 'ARD. Put your boots on and stamp around. Cheers, Tony.

[sally wright]

Dear Pongeroon,
plant as deep as you are able, almost up to the growing point on the seedling when you put out to their final spacing. Put the boot in as before. Feed with high potash feed (eg tomato or rose food). Spacing; for smaller sprouts put them closer together. When you have gathered all the sprouts that you can over several pickings leave the plants in. Reason being is that the undersized sprouts in the crown of the plant will turn into sprouting broccoli (or it's very near neighbour). You can also use the crown as spring greens. Might not be quite so nice as the plants that are grown specifically for these purposes but hey, everybody loves summat for nowt.
Regards Sally Wright.

[pongeroon]

Thanks Sally and Tony, I shall have another go, I feel a bit more optimistic now

[John]

I agree with the others and would just add a couple of points - you have to get the timing right and they appreciate a good handful of lime round their roots. They need to be growing for quite a long time to get to a good enough size so that they produce a worthwhile crop of sprouts.
This is the main reason that I don't grow them any more. They have to sown in the spring and grown on all through the summer when they are fair game for all the brassica pests for miles around. They also occupy a lot ground.

John

[Marigold]

Well, I was given a part packet of old seed and simply... dumped them in and have a fine crop ot sprouts; which I have never grown before..

They had no care and I did not know what they were until late in the year as I had several part packets and threw 'em all into one bed.

It was fascinating seeing how they started to... bud!

They were certainly late going in but even the huge slug population here has had little effect on them.

Interesting about leaving the plants in; thank you.

[Elaine]

In our crop rotation system, brassicas go in the previous years legume plot, so lots of nitrogen in the soil from the bean and pea roots left in there. We don't dig that plot either, just dibble the plants in and stamp them in well. All brassicas need to be very firmly planted in, especially the tall ones like sprouts or they just don't thrive and you end up with fluffy (or blown) sprouts.

We don't use potash feed, we use Sulphate of Ammonia when the buttons start forming.

We always grow Evesham special, which isn't an F1 variety, so the sprouts develop from the bottom of the stalk upwards instead of all being ready to pick at the same time on one plant. We then harvest sprouts from each plant as the sprouts become ready and get several pickings from each plant.

So far, we still have more to come, after weeks of picking. Yum!
Hope this helps a bit.
Cheers.

[Geoff]

My method is similar. Don't dig after the previous crop, usually Peas, just hand weed in the Autumn and the Spring. I tend to have clubroot on my acid soil with high rainfall so it gets a heavy dose of lime in the Winter.
I sow in modules in the first week of April, usually sow three varieties, and pot on into 3½" pots with a bit of added lime and superphosphate (see JB old postings). I grow them on in cold greenhouse then cold frame and plant out about first/second week in May after a heavy dose of Growmore (8 - 10 ozs/sq yard). I dig holes to take the root ball and dust the hole with more lime before firmly planting. I add a sturdy slate batten stake and tie them in with soft string, I find when they are establishing they can spin in the wind and snap off. When they are well grown they get a binder twine tie. The bed is surrounded with wind break netting, I am quite exposed.
This year they have been a bit odd, coming too early with one variety going to flower. I might adjust my timing a little later and I think you will need to be later than me anyway. They don't look very pretty after the recent battering.

[pongeroon]

They look great to me, Geoff!

Thanks everyone for your tips.

[Geoff]

PS : Meant to say I plant them on 2' centres rather than the 2½' it often says on the packets so 25 plants in a 10' square.

[glallotments]

If like us you do everything suggested and still fail then try a club root resistant variety as this has done the trick for us this year - even after an extremely dry season.