Brussels Sprouts
(Brassica oleracea gemmifera)
Sponsored links:
Cultivars
A vegetable unjustly disdained by those who know only the tough, bitter, overgrown junk available in the supermarkets (well, arguably it is just for such folk to disdain it),
it should thrive in our locale, though we've had problems with it--timing is crucial, for the species likes a fairly long growing season that is cool when the sprouts themselves
start to develop, and ours was probably off. Our guess, which we will try to implement this coming season, is that planting out in late July or early August should work best. (The plant
withstands cold excellently, and can stand until temperatures start to regularly fall below 10 degrees.) Also: whatever you do, don't prepare them by boiling them; roast them, stir-fry
them, braise them--just don't go all English-cooking ("boil 'em till they surrender") with them.
This is another item with a fairly large number of variants, each--as always--being "the best," none with reliable taste information available. And most of the touted kinds are
hybrids.
We have previously tried a red kind, in that some find them a trifle better-tasting, but owing to mediocre success we're backing off to a tried-and-true old variety. We had planned to
go with the very old standard Long Island Improved, but sources we tend to trust report that the Groninger performs even better. We note one source that
claims that red types produce, we quote, "only about 30% of the yield of the green ones"; never saw that anywhere else, but there it is (and it matches our experience).
Planting
First, and always with any brassica crop: Remember to rotate your crops! Planting brassicas, of any kinds, in the same ground more often than once every four
years runs the risk of clubroot infestation--and once you get that, the ground is useless for up to a decade. Don't take needless chances, even with "catch crops" of
radishes.
Timing
Timing is the paramount consideration in planting Brussels sprouts. They can be an extraordinarily finicky-seeming plant, but almost all problems relating to them arise from
planting at the wrong time. Virtually all sources agree that, as one succinctly put it: "The secret to a good sprout harvest is a proper planting date." They can tolerate cold, even
frost and snow, but--even more than most brassicas--they dislike heat. (One university says "In general, Brussels sprouts will produce best when daytime temperatures average about 65°
F. or less.") Moreover, to develop any decent sort of flavor, the sprouts have to have experienced frost--summer-picked sprouts are bitter (the frost causes some starches to
convert to sugars).
Brussels sprouts are, like most other brassicas, normally and best started as indoors seedlings, then transplanted. Our best bet in calculating a target transplant date is to work
backwards: they typically take perhaps 90 days from transplant, and can be picked as late as early to middle December (or possibly right through the winter in a mild year here). We
reckon that a mid-September planting-out date, when daily highs are down to the mid-70s, is about right; that means sowing seed around August 1st.
Starting Seedlings
These are much like broccoli--get your seeds started timely, because you want to transplant them when they're vigorous, but while still young: plants that remain too long in seed flats
do not do well. A good compromise is to allow about 6 weeks for indoors growth.
Plant seed ¼ to ½ inch deep. Sprouts germinate best at a soil temperature of about 80° F., so keep your seed trays warm (there are pad-like electrical warmers that
can keep nice, even temperatures in your seedling flats)--but keep the air temperature around seedlings, once they have germinated, mild, say 60° or so. Give them as much
light as possible--use artificial light (plant-growth fluorescent tubes suspended about 2 inches above the seedlings' tops) if necessary--else they'll be leggy and weak. Provide for good
air circulation around them, too. Keep developing seedlings at least an inch apart if using trays, or give them each a 2-inch pot.
The Bed
Brussels sprouts are generally treated like broccoli or cauliflower and suchlike brassicas. They are largely indifferent to soil type (from sand to clay), though they do need
well-drained soil. But: Several sources suggest planting in soil that has not been enriched with any nitrogen source (apparently, sprouts in high-nitrogen soils
grow gangbusters, but are too busy leafing and stemming to bother setting sprouts).
Transplanting Out
Brussels sprouts require even more space than broccoli--set them about 18 inches apart in a deep-dug or raised bed.
Growing
They want regular and generous watering (brassicas in general like having wet leaves, so water freely).
Again: Keep firmly in mind that sprouts that have not been exposed to one or more pretty solid freezes are nearly tasteless. This is most definitely a late fall crop! Keep
it going as long as you can--it might surprise you and continue bearing right through the winter, snows and all.
If any of the lower leaves of the plant show any yellowing, at once strip them off. (By the way: the younger, tender leaves can be cooked up much like collards or turnip greens, if
that's your idea of a good time.)
Commercial gardeners remove all leaves to accelerate harvest, but that practice is not essential in the home garden. Some gardeners believe that the sprouts develop better if the
lowermost six to eight leaves are removed from the sides of the stalk as the sprouts develop. Two or three additional leaves can be removed each week, but several of the largest,
healthiest, fully expanded upper leaves should always be left intact on top to continue feeding the plant. About 3 weeks before harvest, the plants can be topped (the growing point
removed) to speed the completion of sprout development on the lower-stem area.
Another commercial practice is "topping"--pinching off the growing tip of the plant when the sprouts are present but immature. That is neither necessary nor even desireable for the
home gardeners, for all it does is narrow the time window when the sprouts mature so they can be harvested all at once. We're better off harvesting them as they individually mature, so we
can pick them at the size we want.
Once plants begin to set sprouts, they can become a bit top-heavy and could be prone to wind damage (or even be blown over). Many suggest staking the plants or hilling up soil around
the stems to support them; we, who get very high winds at times, have never had any problem with unstaked plants, but there it is.
As the sprouts come ready, harvest them from the bottom up, which is how they mature (the all-at-once harvesting of agribusiness is one reason store-bought samples taste so bad). Keep
them picked--they'll grow more.
More
Relevant Links
Besides any links presented above on this page, the following ought to be especially helpful.
Odds and Ends
Biology
It is a brassica, a member of the Cruciferae, closely related to cabbages, and nearly as closely to broccoli and cauliflower.
History
Though sprouts were cultivated in Italy in Roman times, and in some form by possibly as early as the 1200s in Belgium. Brussels sprouts in the form that we are familiar with today were
first cultivated in large quantities in Belgium (hence the name "Brussels" sprouts) starting somewhere around 1587.
Brussels sprouts were introduced into the U.S. in the 1800s. By the 1900s, they were being grown commercially in California.
Envoi
Brussels sprouts are the 23rd most-popular vegetable in New Zealand. On the other hand, they kill and eat sheep.
Return to the top of this page.
--Site Directory--
Search this site, or the web
-
Background Information
about the purposes and design of this site
-
Recommended Crops for a home garden, by variety
-
Gardening information and aids
-
Miscellaneous Information of interest to the home
gardener
-
Books on "Vegetables" and vegetable gardening,
both new and used
In reality, we have six bookshops, one for each of the six national divisions of Amazon books; the links farther below are to the U.S.-based shop, but you can
visit any of the six:
In our U.S.A. Bookshop:
(What do you know about OmniKnow?)
Since you're growing your own vegetables and fruits, shouldn't you be cooking them in the best way possible?
Visit The Induction Site to find out what that best way is!
|
|
This site is one of The Owlcroft Company family of web sites. Please click on the link (or the owl)
to see a menu of our other diverse user-friendly, helpful sites.
|
|
Like all our sites, this one is hosted at the highly regarded Pair
Networks,
whom we strongly recommend. We invite you to click on the Pair link (or their logo) for more information on getting your site or sites hosted on a first-class
service.
|
Click here to send us email.
And why not look in at Is it a blog yet?
So that you need not be a victim of the "Browser Wars," we have taken the trouble to assure that
this web page is 100% compliant with the World Wide Web Consortium's
XHTML Protocol v1.0 (Transitional).
You can click on the logo below to test this page!
Not every browser renders proper HTML correctly (Internet Explorer famously does not);
so, if your browser experiences any difficulties with this page (or, really, even if it doesn't),
(It's free!)
You loaded this page on
Tuesday, 8 July 2008, at 23:51 EDT.;
it was last modified on Tuesday, 3 April 2007, at 02:12 EDT.
All content copyright ©1999 - 2008 by
The Owlcroft Company
