Bursting brussells

[JudithM]

Can anyone tell me why my brussells are bursting instead of being nice tight little balls?  Had loads of caterpillars but managed to get rid of them, don't know if that had anything to do with it.

[JudithM]

[manicscousers]

Hiya, Judith, welcome to the site  ;D
we found our brussels 'blew' if the ground wasn't firm enough, we now stamp around them or stake them , plus we take off the blown ones to encourage the others to get bigger, hope that helps  :)

[JudithM]

Had staked mine, but not stamped around.  Thanks for the suggestions. ;)

[manicscousers]

meant blown,as in your description,bursting  :)

[JudithM]

Realised once posted.  My mistake with not reading correctly.  Thank you.

[kt.]

You can still use blown sprouts as small cabbage leaves or in stir-fries.

[asbean]

You can still use blown sprouts as small cabbage leaves or in stir-fries.

Oh yes  :) :) :)

[cacran]

Best to leave your ground compacted after the winter, where you want to plant your sprouts. Make a hole with an iron rod, of something like it and plant the seedling into the hole which makes it really firm.

[Tee Gee]

Can anyone tell me why my brussells are bursting

Having grown many varieties over the years I have found that some varieties are worse at this than others. Then if you fetch the early/late variety into the calculation this can also worsen the problem.

As I have said many times before I don't believe in consolidating the ground as I think this affects the root system i.e. it makes it smaller and is more prone to drying out.  This in turn can check the plants which in turn causes splitting.

My root balls generally end up the size of dinner plates which also helps to anchor the plants without the need for compaction.

Then of couse there is the quality of the soil and its preparation, I'm lucky I have now got mine to a nice loamy texture.

In fact; I was doing a bit of winter digging this morning and found that I could push my spade into the soil a full spit depth without the aid of my foot.

So I say the secret is in the soil!

[JudithM]

Which varieties would you recommend Tee Gee?

[kt.]

Which varieties would you recommend

I would recommend Maximus F1 for sprouts from Sep-Jan,  Trafalgar or Wellington F1 for sprouts from Jan-Apr

[Flighty]

JudithM the F1 hybrid varieties are quoted as generally holding their mature buttons for many weeks without blowing!
As to which variety to grow I don't grow them myself, and everyone I know who does seems to grow different ones!

[Ninnyscrops.]

Trafalgar do well if grown under debris netting, put some outside as I ran out of room and they have blown!

Ninny

[JudithM]

Thanks everyone.  Feel well armed ready for next year. Will try suggestions for soil plus decent seeds.

[Digeroo]

I am hopeless at brussel sprouts.  In the past I have always put it down to the soil, but the folks two allotments over have brilliant sprouts and mine are poor. 

Seems maybe the problem is my star sign apparently Leos have the right vibes for fruit. ;D ;D ;D ;D

[powerspade]

Maximus I find very good

[Tee Gee]

Which varieties would you recommend

My banker is Maximus and I am trying Revenge this year as a back up and as a comparison to Maximus.

The signs are promising with Revenge, they look plentiful but not as large as Maximus the last time I looked.

Here is how my Maximus looked three or four weeks ago;



I have noticed on this particular plant that the sprouts are not as close together as they normally are but the quality seems OK

I am not adverse to change and I like to keep up with the newer varieties! but at the end of the day I tend to grow what grows well on my plot until I find better.

Finding better is done by trial and error!

The way I do this is to grow 66% of my banker and 34% of my new variety.

In this way I don't get total failure, and it also ensures that both varieties get the same treatment so the results are comparable.

I agree with Flighty ............go for F1's and may I suggest you try some where you compact the ground at planting out time and some where you don't. In this way you can compare what different soil conditions have on your results!

I am convinced that the root system is key and to get a good root system! soil conditions have to be perfect!

[cornykev]

They look great TG, mine are Tiny, by the looks of yours I'm supposed to take the leaves off in between the sprouts, can you tell it's my first time with sprouts.  :-[        :(      ;D ;D ;D

[JudithM]

Yours look great TG.  If only one of mine were anywhere near I'd be pleased. Thanks for the comparison tip.

[shirlton]

I grew maximus this year after seeing TeeGees last year and they are great. Wilkies own seed Brilliant f1 are good as well