Brussels sprouts experiment

[kathycam]

My boyfriend likes to put the veg waste directly into the veg beds, and yesterday I spotted a couple of carrots growing. Will the carrot regrow or will it go to seed or just die?

[chris]

It'll run to seed, no doubt..

[Aberdeenplotter]

spot on Chris

[Paulieb]

I'd seen it in their catalogue but was wondering what was the difference between this and a sprout plant that has just 'blown'....I'd be interested to hear how it grows when you have tried it. I find the sprout shoots in the spring really tasty at a time when there's little else, and you can go on harvesting them for ages.

I grew these petit posy Brukale last year, and they are just coming into being ready to harvest now. I haven't tasted any yet, but they do just look like purple blown sprouts. They have however grown pretty well, and compared to the Evesham sprouts that have grown alongside, they are stronger plants and slightly taller.

I'll try to remember to come back for another comment when I've tasted them.

[veggiechicken]

Look what I've found 16 Foods That
They don't mention sprouts though

[alldigging]

Twitpic - Share photos and videos on Twitter
That's the cabbage
and thats the sprouts Sprout trimmings growing on Twitpic

[veggiechicken]

Fantastic AD, I hope this proves to all the initial doubters that he who laughs last, laughs last

[alldigging]

This is the cabbage .. the sprouts have gone into a pot in the greenhouse as they were a bit smell...

[veggiechicken]

Looking good AD My sprouts have been planted for a couple of weeks and, although they look like yellowed old sprouts, there is a definite hint of green around the base. No photos - they're in another place

[veggiechicken]

New cabbage experiment!!

I know alldigging has already done this - now its my turn
I've removed the outside leaves of a cabbage (? January King), then sliced the core into 5, approx half inch slices. When you look at the slices closely, at the base of each leaf, there is a tiny little leaflet - about 3 to each slice. These, I think, should form new leaves or mini cabbages. They're all going to be stood in water and let's see what happens

Sorry about the photo, but I had to turn the flash off to get any definition

[scorpius]

Mm, interesting, keep us updated - I must be a nutter too keeping up on this thread

Hows the sprouts going?

[BertieFox]

Sorry to be a pessimist, but most of these brassicas are biennial or annuals, so although they may produce clumps of leaves which will produce roots (which they often do naturally in contact with the soil when a plant falls over), the shoot will still act like the main plant and go to seed at the same time. Of course, the wild parent of many brassicas is a perennnial, as are a few rare types of kales, but even things like Daubentons kale aren't really 'perennial', as the main plant flowers (usually sterile flowers) in the second year, and the new growth comes from where the spreading stems touch the soil and a 'new' plant starts growing. The older parts of the plant die back. I think the real experiments should be done in crossing the semi perennial types with the biennials and hoping this might give rise to cabbage or sprout shoots that really would not only root but grow into 'new' plants. That way, a genetically superior sprout plant, for example, could be 'cloned' to produce a really good crop on all the plants.

[veggiechicken]

That's a job for the professionals Bertie and I have neither the skill, knowledge, nor time for that. I'm just playing around for my own satisfaction - for the fun of it, just to see what happens.

[BertieFox]

"That's a job for the professionals..... actually, it's very easy to achieve a simple cross, and lots of people are playing around doing it if you look at various forums on line. I think I mentioned a very good American book for amateurs about doing this. What's difficult is creating a stable new variety you can grow on and keep pure once you get it!
I'm all in favour of 'playing around' as that's how most discoveries have been made in the past.
Last year I experimented with peppers and aubergines trying to see if I could root and grow on new plants made from sideshoots as we do with tomatoes. It worked, but the shoots took ages to root, and when they did, the plants were very weak and feeble!

Lots of the so-called conventional wisdom in the books isn't necessarily true. We were always told to top and tail leaves and roots on leeks when transplanting; now they say don't touch the roots. And the latest wisdom to avoid leek moth is to cut them down to ground level and let them grow again.

Good luck with all your experiments.

[alldigging]

an update - the sprouts went into soil in the greenhouse cos they were a bit whiffy on the windowsill.
Cabbage and celery doing well indoors!