Do my Brussels look right?

[VJay]

I'm trying to grow brussel sprouts in tubs this year, some seem to be growing very tall. The small one on the right looks like starting to produce brussels, but they're not growing from the bottom of the plant as you would expect, but half-way up the stem. Is that normal or is it likely they will flower instead of producing good hardened brussels? Is there any way I can encourage the sprouts to grow on the lower part of the stem?

[Two_Sheds]

I don't want to be the one to say this but ... those tubs aren't big enough.

Sprouts are a really big plant, 3 foot tall and wide nearly. The stems can be as thick as your wrist.

I fear you won't get much crop off them as they are.
Sorry, I'm only trying to save you from disappointment

[VJay]

Should I bin them?

[pdblake]

You can eat the tops as spring greens if it's any consolation.

[Shadylane]

Hm yeah I was thinking the same about the pots - def a bit ickle for those beasts. I wouldn't bin them though - you've got nothing to lose now and you never know you might get some teeny sprouts.

[VJay]

They're a bit on the small side, LOL. I'll know for next year.

I suppose I could keep on feeding them and see what happens. Would repotting be a bad idea? and is it too late to plant new sprouts?

[maytreefrannie]

Mine are not nearly as tall as yours, but I've got them in plastic boxes which are deffo too small at this stage - I'm going to move them into bigger pots/boxes or else plant them out in the ground. I feel you've nothing to lose by doing that - and they may pick up and produce a good crop.

I'm definitely not an expert and if some others say differently, I'd say listen to them.

Good luck.

[VJay]

Are yours sprouting yet maytreefrannie? I planted mine mid april.

...another thing, If I take the tops off and eat them, would it encourage the stems to thicken up and sprout?

[piskieinboots]

rather than chucking them I would try transplanting them to bigger pots/open ground.

Get the ground ready first with some food, water sprouts well before taking them out of the pots, cover their eyes and transplant very quickly - hopefully they won't notice and will grow away to produce walking-stick-thickness stems

[gojiberry]

When selecting bigger pots try to get them as deep as possible and plant your plants as deep as possible. When I plant out I plant them up to the first leaves, which in your case looks to be at least 9" deeper. Also, sprouts need to be in really compacted soil, the firmer the soil the tighter the sprout produced.

Ian

[Snadger]

Don't bin em.........you may surprise everyone!

I have grown brassicas including cabbages and kales in pots and they grew well !!!!!(never tried sprouts though!)

Here's a present I brought home from the lottie for the OH!

This is a spring cabbage grown to maturity in a 7 inch square catering gravy pot with holes poked in the bottom!

They're a lot smaller than your pots and still the cabbages thrived in them!

Stick with it VJay!!!

[VJay]

Thanks for all your comments everyone, luckily I have another 10 growing so I think the best thing to do is some experimentation this year. I'll repot a few into bigger pots and bed them in deep, I'll keep a few in the small pots and keep feeding them well, and I'll trim the top leaves of a couple to see if it helps thicken the stem. I'll keep you updated to their progress. Thanks.

..just one more thing, do any of you trim off the bottom leaves when the sprouts are growing ?

[Two_Sheds]

do any of you trim off the bottom leaves when the sprouts are growing ?

No.
Just take off any that turn yellow

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi,

Brassicas are resiliant little blighters..

Transplant a couple what do you have to loose? Put some in a larger pot I did this this year with some calabrese I thought it would die, but had beautiful big heads about a 1lb in size..

Dave

[VJay]

Here's an update to my Brussel sprouts. I've re-potted some of them in larger pots and there was no sign of club root when re-potting, however since that time the stems in some of the plants have gone purple and the leaves have died off, and that's including the plants which I didn't re-pot into bigger contianers. Maybe there was club root in the soil which came with the brussels when I bought them as transplants





From the pic below you can see how the sprouts are coming along, but the discolouration of the plant is increasing.