Planting distance for Brussels Sprouts

[littlemoney]

I am growing brussels sprouts for the first time, Evesham Special variety. I don't have a lot of space and don't know how many plants will be too many or too little for one person so I may have too many plants as currently have 12 seedlings. The planting distance is listed as 2 feet apart. Can I grow closer than 2 feet and if so, how close.

The soil has not been improved with any organic matter, as suggested in the growing guide, but I have growmore which I could add to the planting hole and sprinkle around.

[peanut]

I plant mine about a foot apart and they do just fine. I don't tend to feed mine.

[Jungle Jane]

I grow between four & six plants,you can freeze the sprouts if you put them into boiling water for about thirty seconds then straight into ice cold water. I give about a foot & a half between plants,one plant is over a foot wide in its mature size. When planting put them in deep as you can & firmed into the ground as much as you can,they’re shallow rooted & can rock in the wind. Growmore will be fine sprinkled around,also have you got cabbage collars to go round the base of the stem,I started using a circle of compost bag with one cut to the centre so it can wrap around the base of the plant,then put a little bit of soil to hold it there (a tip from Jimmy years ago on here) to stop cabbage maggots.

[littlemoney]

I have at least 12 young plants so I many have too many. Good to know how wide a mature plant will be. I think I can get two rows of 3 plants in a block about 18 inches apart and elsewhere I hope to plant some more but the row will only be 14"-15" apart. I assume more plants are beter than less to allow for losses which sounds ot can happen with cabage maggots.

[peanut]

A lovely thing about Sprouts, Purple Sprouting etc is all parts can be eaten and are delicious, so as the plants grow you can pinch off some of the largest leaves and eat them like you would Spring Greens. Have a google of Square Foot Gardening.

[peanut]

Make some brassica collars from cardboard or buy some, these will prevent the female Cabbage Root Fly laying eggs next to the plant stems. Then there is the ongoing fight with the Cabbage White Butterfly, you can use netting to stop them or check daily for eggs and caterpillars and squish or put out for the birds.
It's a war zone out there!

[Jungle Jane]

I’ve never had cabbage maggots using the collars. More plants is better than less if you have the space,are you netting them from moth & butterflies? Cabbage whites are already searching my garden,I haven’t even planted brassicas yet.

[littlemoney]

Looks like I should be prepared to accept that I many not get much to eat from them. I have no net with a small enough mesh to keep the cabbage white and nothing to support it even if I did. I too have the butterflies in my garden.

[Jungle Jane]

I’ve used nets unsuccessfully a few times,last time I didn’t even bother putting nets on,you can pick the yellow eggs off the undersides of the leaves or pick off the caterpillars,they like living in the brussel tops too. They make a mess of the leaves with the holes but the sprouts that form are fine,they don’t seem to hide in amongst the sprout at all. I peel the outer leaf to check & I've never found any in them,it should be fine.