Topic: How to grow the best Brussels

[Suru]

   Looking forward to next years Christmas lunch.Could I have your advice on how to grow good Brussels Sprouts.Also ,can you recommend any tried and trusted varieties?
           Many thanks and  all good wishes for Christmas!
             Sue :)

[cleo]

yep-soil as hard as iron. Don`t bother with expensive hybrid`s. As a long ago Bedfordshire lad I suggest anything with that name.

I love light soil but I do miss heavy clay when it comes to sprouts.

[Suru]

   Thank you for your reply Cleo.Its nice to know that our clay soil will be useful at last!I've just found a variety called Bedford Fillbasket in Tuckers,so I shall give that a try.
          Many thanks Sue :)

[Doris_Pinks]

Funny I was just chatting to a chap on our plot saying how I had finally managed to grow some on my clubroot infested soil by putting them in cut off waterbottles (Thanks Premtal!) Oh you must come and see mine he said....well, they are the best looking brussels I have] ever seen, and he too has clubroot. His secret......... He used Trafalger,from T&M.......http://seeds.thompson-morgan.com/uk/en/list/brussels-sprouts         he said he dug a big trench, filled it with compost from his bin, put a layer of lime and off they went! Might give it a go this year, I presume the compost got trampled on, he says he does this in February.  DP

[kenkew]

I love home grown brussels. Had a few portions already and looking forward to my last lot next week.
Took my dog for an intro to sheep yesterday. She did great. The farmer who's land and sheep it was gave me 30 kilos of brussels to bring home!

[Lady Cosmos]

I agree with Cleo. I do not buy the expensive F1 hybrids. The old varieties are bigger and I think they taste much better. f.i. the Bedford and the roodnerf.
I have a sandy soil and dig in autumn manure in the soil, than later I stamp on it to make the soil very hard. I get a sunny spot out of the wind. Even with my poor soil I do not need supports for the sprouts. I still have two rows to go ;D
What I have to do is fight against the sea-gulls. In winter they can eat the whole garden , filled with brocoli, boerenkool, kale, sprouts, in no time, so netting is important for me.

[redimp]

Also against Hybrids (not just Brussels but per se).  Most hybrid brussels are bred to matures at the same time so that you get good looking stalks.  Myself personally would prefer to avoid a glut as I do not want to harvest and entire field in one go.  It is much better to grow and old variety as they mature at different rates up the satlk and from plant to plant.  The true original pick and come again veg.

[terrace max]

Rubine is an old variety. The prettiest and tastiest too IMHO.

[the_snail]

Hey Folks Dont Forget the tops They are Right Trendy food at the moment  ::)

Words escape me

The_Snail