How to grow them
Sow early, plant out by early June and firm the soil very hard. They need a long season and rich ground. Stake each plant in autumn and remove yellowing leaves.
Cabbage family
Brussels sprouts
A long wait and a lot of space, for sprouts that taste nothing like the boiled ones of memory.
- Buy as
- Seed
- Space
- 60cm between plants, 75cm between rows
- Position
- Full sun
- Rotation
- Cabbage family
- Difficulty
- A challenge
The year
Sow indoors
Sow outdoors
Plant out
Harvest
When to pick
Pick from the bottom of the stem upwards, when the sprouts are firm and the size of a walnut. They are best after a frost.
What goes wrong
Problems, and what to do
Blown sprouts
Loose, open sprouts come from loose soil or too much nitrogen. Firm the ground hard at planting.
Pigeons and caterpillars
Net all year.
Clubroot
Lime and rotate.
Good neighbours: Nasturtiums.
Same family
More from cabbage family
CabbagesWith the right varieties you can cut a cabbage in every month of the year.
KaleThe toughest green on the plot. It stands through snow and feeds you in the hungry gap.
Broccoli (calabrese)The green broccoli of the supermarket, ready in about twelve weeks.
Purple sprouting broccoliIt takes nearly a year, and repays you with fresh greens when the plot has little else.
CauliflowersThe hardest of the family to grow well, and the most satisfying when you do.
SwedesA winter root that looks after itself. It is a brassica, so it goes in the cabbage bed.
TurnipsFast, and far better small. Pulled at golf-ball size they are sweet enough to eat raw.
RadishesSeed to plate in four weeks. The crop to sow with children, or between slower rows.