how to grow sprouts
How To Grow Brussels Sprouts
Did you know that we eat 40,000 tonnes of Brussels Sprouts a year? Eating this many means there is no wonder that we want to know how to grow Brussels Sprouts ourselves - it's always better to grow your own that rely totally on the supermarket or greengrocer for all our vegetables.
Even more Sprout facts : In the UK we eat more sprouts then any other nation and although they are only the 37th most popular vegetable in the UK, at Christmas one in five of us will have Brussels Sprouts on our Christmas dinner plate.
So, with these Sprouty facts in our minds, let's learn how to grow Brussels Sprouts.
selecting the brussels sprout seeds
Did you know that there are over 110 different varieties of brussels sprouts available to choose from? With this many sprout varieties, you could be eating freshly grown brussels sprouts for at least six months of the year. So lets take a look at how we can narrow the choice down - starting from the timing of the sprout types which can be divided into three types:
- Early Season Sprouts
- Mid Season Sprouts
- Late Season Sprouts
Early Season Brussels Sprouts
One of the most popular varieties of Brussels Sprouts in the UK is an early variety Brigitte F1, so this may be the wisest choice if you are growing sprouts for the first time.
Brigitte F1 Brussels Sprouts
Let’s take a look at this popular variety and it will show us lots of the characteristics of a good brussels sprout.
The first thing to know about Brigitte F1 is that it has high quality buttons. ‘Button’ is another name for the sprout itself, with the ‘buttons’ forming along the upright stem of the brussels sprout plant.
Brigitte is also an F1 hybrid variety. The RHS recommends choosing F1 hybrids as they produce consistently large crops of tasty, high quality sprouts. The reason for this is that F1 hybrids have been created by plant breeders by crossing selected plants to get the most desirable features of both into one new variety, the F1 hybrid. So watch out for F1 when selecting your seeds.
recommended brussels sprout varieties
Brussels Sprout 'Maximus' F1
Brussels Sprout 'Maximus' F1
Brussels Sprout 'Maximus' F1
One of the most reliable and easy to grow sprout varieties, producing big, handsome, sturdy plants which shrug off disease and winter weather to produce a heavy crop every time.
The medium-sized, smooth buttons have an excellent flavour and are quick to develop, giving you an early harvest from September until Christmas.
Brussels Sprout 'Red Bull'
Brussels Sprout 'Maximus' F1
Brussels Sprout 'Maximus' F1
A wonderful heirloom variety which not only tastes great, but looks good too. Too handsome to be confined just to the vegetable garden or allotment, it can be an unusual addition to the flower border.
An early cropping sprout with purplish-red sprouts that have a rich, nutty taste, and will keep their colour quite well after cooking.
Brussels Sprout Brodie F1
Brussels Sprout 'Maximus' F1
Brussels Sprout Brodie F1
With a milder and sweeter flavour other types of Brussels sprout. 'Brodie F1' are easy to grow and will provide you with a reliable harvest.
They will thrive in a sunny or semi-shaded position in well-cultivated, fertile, moist, well-draining soil. Sow indoors between February to April to harvest from November to January.
recommended soil improvers
Vitax Q4 Fertiliser
Vitax Q4 Fertiliser
Vitax Q4 Fertiliser
If you haven't had time to prepare the ground where you''ll be planting you sprouts then before planting rake in a high potassium general fertiliser, such as Vitax Q4, at a rate of three handfuls per square metre.
Vitax Q4 is a general purpose fertiliser developed for professional growers. It contains all the essential nutrients and trace elements needed for vigorous growth, abundant flowering and ripening of fruit.
NPK 5.3-7.5-10.0+TE
Fish, Blood and Bone
Vitax Q4 Fertiliser
Vitax Q4 Fertiliser
Brussels Sprouts are large plants with lots of greenery so need to be fed regularly. Monthly applications of Fish, Blood and Bone, using a good handful per square metre will feed them well.
Fish, Blood and Bone is a great all-purpose organic fertiliser ideal for enriching soil.
It provides a rich source of all three major nutrients - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – to encourage strong root growth and promote heavier cropping.
NPK 3-9-3
Growmore
Vitax Q4 Fertiliser
Growmore
To help encourage good sprout formation and strong plants apply a additional nitrogen rich feed, such as Growmore, or in mid August.
Growmore is a multi-purpose plant food used to encourage healthy growth, abundant fruiting and flowering.
It contains a blend of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, it is perfectly balanced to improve fertility of depleted soil, as well as nourishing new and established plants.
NPK 7-7-7