This is my first year growing sprouts, so I have no idea what to expect. I've just noticed that some of the first sprouts are very loose and seem to have no core. Is this just how they develop or is it something to be worried about? Some advice from a brassica old hand would be appreciated!
(http://jonesthenews.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/sprout1.jpg)
Looks like they may of "blown". This happens if the surrounding soil is too loose when they were planted. Its needs to be firm. Can always cook them as small cabbage leaves.
Thanks - didn't know about the soil thing. I'm quite surprised because the soil on my allotment is a heavy clay. I have been improving the soil over the years, and dug some more manure in during the autumn. I had been planning to cook them for christmas dinner. looks like I'll have to get them from the greengrocer...
A lot of people round our site have blown sprouts. Last year one person grew Amoroso and they were brilliant while mine were a very sorry sight. So this year I followed suit and they are brilliant - lots of nice tight little sprouts. I also have some Bitesize they are nice and tight too.
I have become convinced that this is a case where the F1s are worth the extra money. Yes there are only a limited number in the packet but how many plant do you need? For me it is better to have a dozen great plants than 100 failures and I still have enough left for another dozen next year and maybe the year after.
My experience is quite different to Digeroo's.
I think it's in part my light, dry soil that makes them blow, but what I find is that where I dig in manure the autumn before they mainly blow and where I plant them after peas or broad beans (no manure) they don't. I'm growing quite a few varieties, some F1, some open pollinated. Next year they'll all go in after legumes.
p.s. I find blown ones quite tasty anyhow once they've been frosted a while so all is not lost.
I am also on light gravelly soil so they blow very easily here, very interested in the manure connection thanks early pea will give that a try. Sounds also as if they perhaps like the extra nitrogen from the legumes.
More specifically Digeroo - where I get my most successful heading up on cabbages and sprouts it's where it's been very intensely legumed and recently not the year before - they blew planting the year following tall peas but those are widely spaced.
So far, greatest success 2 years running has been after my spring peas, sown late Feb/early March and chucked in tightly, the whole packet, small area with no attention to spacing. This means loads don't get enough light to get to the pod stage so there's a lot of nitrogenated roots left in the earth and I think with my earth being so dry it takes a long time for it to break down so the subsequent crop are getting constant drip feeding. Brassicas follow on in June/July.
My biggest ever success was following on from broad beans which I'd sown far too thickly and were so badly infested with blackfly early on that most were binned before more than a few pods set.
I would like to sow some winter peas instead and then sow, my sprouts in particular, earlier - but I always seem to be packed out with crops still in the autumn and can't find the space :-\
Quote from: earlypea on September 19, 2010, 08:17:19
what I find is that where I dig in manure the autumn before they mainly blow
On our site, many gardeners dig in manure the autumn before and have huge sprouts 3/4 - full golf ball size. These large sprouts are varieties Maximus, Wellington and Bedfords Fillbasket
I know that is also true KT, but I think it's an earth-type thing. Some of my fillbasket and maximus are even now 'blowing' in my extremely well manured bed.
Digeroo and myself seem to have the same problems and same successful crop varieties down to very free draining soil so it may work for them in their situation. I agree, not applicable to everyone though.
I've read a few books about this now and they all mention firm soil. How far do you go with this? The biggest problem I have on my allotment is the soil --- more than 2ft down it is solid red potters' clay. So I have been working really hard over the years to loosen and improve it. My best beds now have a recognisable tilth, rather than just being large rocks nestling against one another.
Is it a case of actually doing the reverse and attempting to compact it by stamping it down etc?
Contrarywise, & no help - at my age, I can't pick & choose sites & I often plant straight after rotovating.
Sprouts are not huge, but they don't 'blow'.