How to grow Brussels sprouts

The flavour of freshly picked Brussels sprouts cannot be equaled by any bought at the market, and a few well-cultivated home grown plants will provide a long harvest of these miniature cabbagelike heads. Brussels sprouts belong to the genus Brassica, which also includes broccoli and cabbage, and prefer cool weather. In fact, their flavour improves after a frost. Here are some tips on adding Brussels sprouts to your garden.

• Two weeks before sowing, dig a five- to 10-centimetre (two- to four-inch) layer of organic matter — compost, well-rotted manure, or leaf mould — into the soil, or simply add a shovelful to each planting hole that you dig.
• If the soil tends to be acid, add a sprinkling of lime.

• In most areas, Brussels sprouts seeds are sown outdoors in early June to be harvested beginning in late September or October.
• In cold climates the plants can be started indoors like broccoli for an early harvest; and a second crop can be sown outdoors at the usual time.
• Sow the seeds in groups of three or four, leaving 60 centimetres (25 inches) between clusters and 90 centimetres (35 inches) between rows.

• When the seedlings are about five centimetres (two inches) tall, clip out all but the strongest plant in each group. Immediately protect these seedlings against cutworms by slipping over each plant a paper cup with its bottom removed.
• Set the cutworm collars about three centimetres (one inch) into the soil.
• Given rich, well-prepared soil, Brussels sprouts grow splendidly with little more attention, providing the soil has been well firmed.
• Be sure the plants get plenty of water, especially when they are young.
• A thick mulch around them will help the soil to retain moisture and will also keep down weeds.

• When the first sprouts begin to form around the bottom of the stem (10 to 12 weeks after sowing), scatter a 15-centimetre (six inch) band of fish meal or alfalfa meal around each plant, and water it into the ground.
• Because Brussels sprouts grow slowly, their rows make excellent areas for intercropping. Plant radishes or lettuce between the Brussels sprouts plants.

• Brussels sprouts form all along the main stalk, growing in the spaces between the leafstalks. When the sprouts are hard and firm and at least one centimetre (half an inch) in diameter, they can be harvested.
• The best harvest size is from two to four centimetres (one to two inches).
• Properly harvested, one plant can produce for six to eight weeks. The sprouts at the bottom of the stalk will be ready first.
• To harvest, pull off the lower leaves by snapping them sharply downward. Remove the leaves gradually, from the bottom up, as you harvest the sprouts.
• Take off the leaves slightly in advance of sprout harvesting to give the sprouts more room to grow. Do not remove the top tuft of leaves; if this is removed, the stem will stop growing and sprouts will stop forming.If you want an early crop, pinch off the growing tip of the plant in September.
• The sprouts will mature three weeks ahead of schedule — and all at the same time — but the plant will not yield as much as when allowed to produce normally.

• Avoid clubroot and other soil-borne diseases by not planting Brussels sprouts where they or any Brassica relative had been growing the previous year.
• Treat the soil for clubroot by applying ground limestone.
• If green cabbage worms appear on your plants, spray with Bacillus thuringiensis.
• Kill cabbage maggots, which feed on the roots, by applying parasitic nematodes to the soil if this is a serious problem.