sprouts blowing

[SarzWix]

I grew Falstaff for 3 years and they did really well, nice tight little red sprouts. The OH says that they are slightly 'nuttier' and less bitter than green ones.
Personally, I don't really like either, and usually eat them disguised in a forkful of mash...

[pdblake]

open ground and in fairly heavy clay soil.

Ditto, and same trouble

I'm going to have another go next season (already got the seeds), then I won;t bother again if they blow this time around. I'll use the space for something I can grow properly.

[Alison]

Mine haven't blown but haven't grown much either and definitely won't be ready for Christmas

[chris]

Love the thread title

[Shadylane]

Bottom to half way up have blown, the top ones are better but are still full of white fly poo. Not good. Not good at all. A bloke down t'lotments says he whacks the soil with a plank of wood beforehand - but then it did give him a hernia so....

[Incy]

I thought mine weren't great as the bottom half has blown on all the plants even though the top halves are full of nice tight plump sprouts.
However I am now glowing with pride as zazen cam round this morning and she reckoned I'd done pretty well
Considering it's my first attempt and I made LOADS of mistakes, (such as planting them in lovely soft new topsoil), I'm really very impressed at such praise.

[Florence Fennel]

My plants are short, squat, very green and healthy looking, but of course have no sprouts! I remember asking for advice on here in the Spring when I discovered that the plants I had bought from a nursery were pot bound so I had been told not to expect much. Suppose I can eat the tops as a green and another good lesson learned. They really shouldn't have sold these woody specimens, but I will not be falling for that again, I'm a bit more experienced now! Congrats to anyone who's managed them for Christmas dinner.

[Snadger]

...................... Congrats to anyone who's managed them for Christmas dinner.

Smug trug time! For Christmas dinner I shall have, sprouts, new potatoes, parsnips,carrots, swede and even some fresh sage and stored onion for the stuffing.................all from the allotment!

For some reason this year my plantings and croppings have went to plan and I haven't needed to buy any veg in months!

I love it when a plan comes together!

(And yes, I am a smug git!)

[Llamas]

It's smugness well earned!

[dogsbody]

Coming late to this thread and skipping to the end, I have to say I have been pleasently surprised this year, normally mine all blow too, but this year given plenty of neglect and no lime added to the raised bed I have half a dozen plants that are worthy of Xmas lunch.

Maybe I just tried too hard before......

[womble]

I saw the news yesterday about a farmer in Lincolnshire that grows sprouts, he had a field full of perfect sprouts, not one blown.
So..... tell me how he does it then?

Probably about half mine have blown, or were knocked about by the aphid/whitefly swarms we had in late summer. A good result by my standards.

[sarraceniac]

I remembered that my late Father who was a head gardener on a private estate used to keep notes in his books and diaries on how he had grown things. I never remember seeing more than a handful of blown sprouts in all my childhood years so I spent yesterday evening going through his old notes to see if I could find anything on sprouts, and a very enjoyable evening it was too, much better than endless repeats on TV.

The gist of his sprouts notes (as interpreted by me over a bottle of red) are I am sure now old fashioned and simplistic and most grapes will be fully aware of them so I ask them to forgive me, but I put them on here to help newer gardeners. If just one person picks up one thing they didn't know then it will be worth it.

1. Don't plant seed in final position. Start them in a seperate bed or seed tray, depending on how much room you have. Transplant them during the evening to minimise stress.

2. Try to plant them in rotation with legumes (beans or peas). The soil will have been manured for these the previous season so do not re-manure although packing compost round them is fine especially in a light sandy soil.

3. Spacing is very important. Don't plant them less than 24" apart in every direction.

4. When transplanting, firm the soil down very hard. Loose soil means loose sprouts. If you have a soil that is naturally sandy then incorporate as much organic matter as you can as long before putting sprouts in as you can. If you can earth up the stalk as it grows, firming down as you go.

5. When weeding, particularly with a hoe, don't go too deep. just chop the heads off weeds.

6. Feeding with a foliar feed not a root feed is very acceptable to the sprout.

7. Part shade is better than full sun (or full shade).

He also advocates nipping out the tops to encourage maturing but I understand that this is now frowned upon.

I'm sure there must be other things either in or missing from the rather disjointed notes I found but other grapes may be able to add them. One of my own is that f1 hybrids are less prone to blowing. They also in MHO don't usually taste so good as the old fashioned varieties.

[greasyfire]

Yuck i hate sprouts there one of my most hated vegetable

[ladylottie]

Ow bin yer Baggyman? (I was born in Old Hill in the Black Country).
Well, I grew sprouts for the first time this year on the lottie and I didn't firm the soil enough when I planted them out. They have been growing at a 45 degree angle to the ground (forgot to stake them as well until it was too late), but apart from 2 plants which blew, the rest have been fine. I have eaten all the blown sprouts and their tops already and they were very tasty.
D'you reckon it was beginners luck? I'm going to grow lots more next year and will try and follow all the advice given here by other grapes.
Don't give up trying though - you're bound to succeed in the end and it will be worth it