brussel sprout basics

[Dixana]

I've always cheated and had brussel sprouts from everyone else's garden. This year I'm growing my own....or maybe?

I have seeds for catskill brussel sprouts which are a 100 day variety. Can they be started in the house? Is it too late now? Our average first frost date is mid-late september but usually holds off until early october.
Thoughts? Also, when planting do they work like maters, peppers etc a couple seeds per container?

[TWC015]

You might not like want I'm about to say, but I would throw those catskill sprouts out and buy some hybrid seed. Jade Cross/Jade Cross E are my favorite so far. The open pollinated sprouts have never worked for me even though they are planted during my cool season. The hybrids work fine. I only get loose tufts of leaves with Catskill/Long Island Improved.

I live in a much different climate, so I grow them in the fall, although I do have some I am trying for a spring crop. I think you can plant the seeds now and have a good crop around August and continue through September and October and possibly November. Just make sure they are kept moist and free of caterpillars throughout the summer and you should have some good sprouts. If you have a good snowcover when those subzero temperatures come, the plants will probably live throughout the winter and you can harvest sprouts in the snow.

They work like peppers and tomatoes in planting seeds. They transplant easily.

If this crop does not work, you may also try planting seeds in June. I just looked at your cooperative extension publication on cole crops and they suggest starting Brussels Sprouts in June for a fall crop. I think this may be a tad too late though. I think planting right now will be more successful.

[Bobberman]

I agree that a shorter season variety is better! They are easy to grow just like cabbage. Seeds will germinate at much lower temp that Tomatoes, I would start them in a box with any kind of mix will work. They usually germinate within 7 days at 50 or above! They will live though a mild winter usually!

[gumbo2176]

I grew my sprouts in the early fall and they are long gone from my garden but I would like to pass on something I tried with the sprouts this past fall. I had a lot of them and, naturally, the ones growing closer to the root grew the largest. I steamed the larger ones and ate them like I normally would. What I did was take the smaller ones near the top and pickled them in a "Bread and Butter" pickling brine---------------talk about good!!!

I've let several folks try them and they are a hit, even with folks that don't particularly care for brussel sprouts I can't wait till the fall to put in more plants than I did last season.

[Bobberman]

I don't like store tomatoes but when you get them right from the garden they are great! How you fix them also makes a difference. The green giant frozen ones in cheddar sauce are very good with no bitter taste!

[Canadian Farmer Guy]

I just started my brussels sprouts a few days ago.
I'm growing a variety called Oliver, supposed to be a good choice for my climate.

CFG

[BrianSkilton]

I'm trying Evesham special, its a england variety. It is ready in about 80 to 110 days or so. First time I will be growing brussels, I'll let you know how it goes.

[WinglessAngel]

I actually sprouted mine indoors and they sprouted in 3 days! they grew up great and healthy but then most were killed by the wind storm we just had, but they were healthy and not a prob, germ rate on package said 85% but out of 70 seeds planted in my box indoors, long island improved, I sprouted 64, I knew how many I had put in and only had to count the empty spaces so it was easy to figure out my germ rate....something about the 76 deg temp indoors my plants seem to like, my kohlerabi sprouted in 2 days as well, all my veggie and fruit plants had way sped up germ times indoors versus any I have ever done outside...just a thought is all and figured id chime in also

[applestar]

I'm still trying to figure it out. I'm SUPPOSED to plant transplants counting back from approximately a week or so after first frost plus a couple of weeks for slower fall growth. That should put me at about mid-June.

Been trying for last two years without success. First year, I started them too late, they didn't get chance to grow enough to form sprouts, overwintered then make tiny sprouts that almost immediately bolted. Last year, I had a horrible infestation of harlequin bugs, though because I started them with cabbages and broccoli, they were too early and the bugs munched on the sprouts in mid-summer.

This year, my plan is to start them when I plant out my tomatoes (I like having some kind of a milestone marker) -- so next week. But since most spring-sown seeds sprout in two weeks or so, but grow faster than trasnplanted ones, I've sown some brussels sprout seeds out in the garden as well (when the peas and fava beans came up -- 4/9)

This year, I'm trying an heirloom variety Catskill.

[TZ -OH6]

I have waited until mid summer and bought flats (six packs) of overgrown plants from the sale table at the nursery. They transplant well and produce if you get them in early enough. Last year I waited and didn't get them in until ?mid August (frost in mid October) and they didn't get very large so I let them over winter hoping for some added spring growth (not sure if that happened but maybe they got a little bigger). I just picked the last of them yesterday because they were starting to bolt.

So there is no huge rush to get them in early for a fall crop, and they do start well indoors and transplant.

Watch out for the white cabbage butterflys. The green worms will eat your seedlings to stumps when you are not looking. Collards are supposedly a good trap/sacrificial crop prefered by the cabbage butterflies. Keep the BT spray handy.

I second the preference for Jade Cross type hybrids, but the seeds are hard to find. The local racks only have Catskill and Long Island Improved.

[WinglessAngel]

Re: Jade cross seeds being hard to find....I saw a bunch on EBay when looking for my brussel sprout seeds, just a thought, but they might still be there, there were a ton of sellers selling seeds and brussel sprout varieties

[applestar]

The B. Sprouts seeds I sowed in the ground (4/9) are up and have two pairs of true leaves. The seeds I sowed indoors (4/25) have 1 pair of true leaves, so the ones in the ground are about 1 week ahead.

[gixxerific]

Good luck I'm with Applestar my success about mirrors hers which was no success. I tried last Have tried both spring and fall harvest for the past 2 years they never got big at all and if the did they bolted. Meaning they never got big enough to produce the sprouts.

I got my seeds here as a reminder to try yet again. Though space is at a minimum this year. My garden is already filling up and I have some much more to plant some things are going to have to wait or I am going to have get creative. Probably the latter.

I have Catskill seeds as well, I will see if I can find some Jade cross and maybe get some from the nursery later this year as well.

[TWC015]

I'm trying Gustus Brussels Sprouts this year from Fedco. The tasters at Fedco rated this variety as their best tasting, so I decided to try them. My plants are about a foot tall. The three largest plants have about 50 leaves on them now.

The sprouts are beginning to grow rapidly on my plants. I will probably begin harvesting them in 1-2 weeks. We've had plenty of days with highs in the 80s, and one day of 90. The sprouts are still growing fine.

I only find Catskill/Long Island Improved Sprouts seeds in the store. I don't recommend these. They haven't worked for me. Last fall, I planted 'Bubbles' plants and these were too bitter.

I will let everyone know how 'Gustus' sprouts perform.

[applestar]

Hmmm.. We'll see. Let's all report back our progress and compare notes.

I tried a hybrid variety call Diablo one year, but that was one of my first tries and before I started systematic trials to discover best technique for my garden.

I'm hoping though, that Catskill/Long Isl. improved heirloom would be more adapted to conditions in my NJ garden....

...have a good crop around August and continue through September and October and possibly November. Just make sure they are kept moist and free of caterpillars throughout the summer and you should have some good sprouts.

So assuming mine is the same Catskill 100 days variety, the 4/9 seeded sprouts should mature around late July, which would line up with the timeline you described above. Last year, the harlequin bugs decimated the B. Sprouts, but I'll be on the lookout for them this year, so hopefully, things will go better.

[WinglessAngel]

first let me say WOW twc! my plants only have 2 prs of leaves on them LOL, but I am in NE Ohio, and applestar deff look on ebay thats where I got my seeds from and lots of sellers were selling jade cross, I might try a diff variety along wit my long isl's next year as I hvae so many seeds now (3000 seed lot I purchased off EBay lol)

as far as reporting progress here goes for me...


rains killed most of my originaly planted seedlings but the ones that made it through are tough little guys and now have at least 2 sets of leaves on them if not more (no where near twc, I'm jealous!) I reseeded more via direct seed and some already have a set of true leaves on them and bunches of the seeds have sprouted, hoping theyll produce in time before winter comes....but they seem to be doing alright, but on the other hand we are getting drowned in so much rain (my basement is seaping) that I'm afraid they are going to get washed away (the new seedlings that is) to give u an idea of how bad it is, there was about 10 gallons of water on my 2 day old lawn gazebos we put up on the pool deck and we actually had to punch holes in the tops for drainage! (my brand new tops too!) I have to go out and do damage control when I can in between rains, but I take heart the ones that survive ought to be hearty lil suckers I guess right? LOL----->

If anyone is interested in renting yardage for rice paddy growing I'm ur gal! my front yard will do ya just fine and my back yard, oh hell the whole 2 acres will do ya just fine LOL.....(sorry I couldnt resist, I have to find humour in it somehow, the rains are getting me and my fiance down with my garden lately and I'm getting constant headaches from the storms, they come and go with them, ick)

[TWC015]

I hope the Catskill/Long Island Improved sprouts will grow well for those of you who are using them. I grew mine in the fall and winter when our temperatures are cool and they still didn't do well.

I also have a few of my own hybrid seeds I may try in the fall. Last spring, I let Jade Cross E plants and Long Island Improved plants flower and I harvested the seed. One plant made about 10,000 seeds. I probably have about 15,000 to 20,000 seeds total. If anyone wanted to experiment with these, I will give some of these seeds away.

[WinglessAngel]

I'm not so sure mine are going to do well now......heres a pic of what they look like now in one of my beds

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=447777&l=206f0198c0&id=100001136622200

link to the actual picture above.

[altsciguy]

I am new here so I am not sure if this has been addressed yet. Harvest time for Brussle sprouts.... I leave mine out into winter. I harvest when I want to eat them. I have gone out dug through snow cut off a plant and brought it into the house. cleaned the stalk off and ate the sprounts. They are better, less bitter after being frozen. I plant them at the back of my garden and forget about them (ok some weeding and I remove lower leaves and leave just the newest top leaves on but..) I do not harvest, can, freeze or anything. I have gone out in Jan. and Feb. to pick my sprouts. NOW after reading about the pickling, mmmmmm I gotta try that!!!!

[Dixana]

@ wingless angel- facebook is not a good way to post photos as not everyone can see them.

[WinglessAngel]

apologies but ive tried photobucket and other sites and I can never get them to work!

[TWC015]

Here is an update on how my spring crop of Brussels Sprouts are doing. These pictures were taken just before harvesting the lower (larger) sprouts. These were taken this morning so I haven't had a chance to cook and eat them to see how these taste. I harvested nearly 1 pound of sprouts from three plants.

Some more background information: These plants are "Gustus" variety from Fedco Co-op in Maine. This is my first time growing this variety; it is a hybrid. I started the seeds for these on January 15 and planted them in the garden around February 15. It has been almost 4 months since I planted these and I am just now beginning to harvest them.

We've had highs in the upper 90s the past week and lower 90s before that and the plants are still making nice, closed sprouts. I think they have some type of disease (probably black rot) which is causing the lower leaves to brown and fall off; it has been very dry lately which is slowing its progression and the plants are growing new leaves faster, so they should hang on for a while.

[img]https://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx309/TWC015/IMG_8085.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx309/TWC015/IMG_8083.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i766.photobucket.com/albums/xx309/TWC015/IMG_8080.jpg[/img]

[WinglessAngel]

twc, most people just cut the leaves off at the bases of them anyway when the plants start forming the sprouts on them, so that the plants will devote more energy to the sprouts and not making new leaves, if ur leaves are dying anyway, might be a good idea. Also the top tender leaves are edible as well, and lots of people cut them off, same principle on plant energy, but they also use them in place of greens in recipes etc. Just a thought is all

[TWC015]

I don't usually remove the leaves from the plants; I like to go against conventional wisdom. On my fall plants, I leave all of the leaves and the plants perform well. The cool weather helps keep the diseases down.

[slyguy]

let us know how they taste! I'm about to order some seed and have my first go at growin' brussels this fall. I'm thinkin one of the 90ish day jade varieties or similar, plant out mid august. sound right? I'm in arkansas zone 7

[TheWaterbug]

apologies but ive tried photobucket and other sites and I can never get them to work!

I use DropBox for photo hosting, and it's flawless. Just put the JPGs in the public folder on your PC, right-click the file, and choose Copy Public Link. The file gets synced to your public DropBox folder, and the link just works every time. Free, too.

[TheWaterbug]

Hmmm. How hot is too hot for Brussels sprouts? My wife demands Brussels sprouts!

But it's already June, I haven't planted any, and I'm in Los Angeles (Sunset Zone 23, I think).

We don't get any frost here, ever, but it can get into the low 90s in the peak of summer.

What happens to these guys if it's too hot? Do they die? Or do they just bolt?

[TWC015]

Hmmm. How hot is too hot for Brussels sprouts? My wife demands Brussels sprouts!

But it's already June, I haven't planted any, and I'm in Los Angeles (Sunset Zone 23, I think).

We don't get any frost here, ever, but it can get into the low 90s in the peak of summer.

What happens to these guys if it's too hot? Do they die? Or do they just bolt?

Brussels Sprouts don't bolt in the heat; they are biennials and need to be exposed to cold for them to flower. The heat doesn't kill them.

Planting Brussels Sprouts for a fall crop would probably work well.

[WinglessAngel]

Thanks waterbug, but the links I use for my facebook are the public links, so anyone can actually view them, doesn't matter if u belong to facebook or not, it's just a lot easier for me is all, I just copy and paste, as can e1 else

[gardenvt]

I started Diablo F1 on May 3 inside and planted out June 6. They are healthy looking plants with a great root system. They didn't flinch with the 90 degree temps yesterday or the high winds and rain we've had. I had put them out to harden for about 10 days so pretty much got all the unsettled late spring weather we have had.

The B sprouts should be ready to begin harvesting in October but am planning to keep them out as long as possible to let them have a frost or two to improve the flavor. They say to pinch off the head at some point so the upper sprouts will grow larger.

I am hoping for success as I LOVE brussel sprouts. Roast the leaves/or halves and serve them with roasted hazelnuts - YUM!!!

[SPierce]

I'm in MA and thinking of trying for a fall/winter crop of Brussells sprouts... what would be a good time to start the plants, then finally get them in the ground? I kind of have to wait for my current plants in my garden to start dying off before I can plant anything else, since room is lacking.

[TWC015]

I'm in MA and thinking of trying for a fall/winter crop of Brussells sprouts... what would be a good time to start the plants, then finally get them in the ground? I kind of have to wait for my current plants in my garden to start dying off before I can plant anything else, since room is lacking.

You should probably be starting your seeds now and planting them out in July whenever you have room. They take at least 3 months to get harvestable sprouts from transplanting. They will also slow down once you get into October and November, depending on your temperatures. The temperatures in October and November here are perfect for Brussels Sprouts, but in the northeast they may be too cool.

I'll be starting my seeds around July 1; If I start much later than this, I won't have big enough plants for a fall crop and will have to wait until February to harvest.

[Bobberman]

I put a row of Brussel seeds in yesterday and will thin when they come up!

[SPierce]

I'm in MA and thinking of trying for a fall/winter crop of Brussells sprouts... what would be a good time to start the plants, then finally get them in the ground? I kind of have to wait for my current plants in my garden to start dying off before I can plant anything else, since room is lacking.

You should probably be starting your seeds now and planting them out in July whenever you have room. They take at least 3 months to get harvestable sprouts from transplanting. They will also slow down once you get into October and November, depending on your temperatures. The temperatures in October and November here are perfect for Brussels Sprouts, but in the northeast they may be too cool.

I'll be starting my seeds around July 1; If I start much later than this, I won't have big enough plants for a fall crop and will have to wait until February to harvest.

wow, this early? Ut oh..maybe I can't grow them this year. I literally don't have much room in my garden right now at all. Can I plant them between other plants without hurting the other plants? I really want to give a fall crop a try this year