Brussels Sprouts

[Durgan]

Originally Posted by Redbaron

What do you do with the pulp?

Pulp (indigestible) is placed in the garbage. There is so little from all my processes that it is inconsequential in the big picture. My process is not just juice, but almost the whole fruit body. The Champion Juicer extracts much material that is discarded in conventional juicing, which is basically a strainer.

[FILMNET]

Nice work, let them grow higher now, because this fruits can be left on the plants for 1-2 months if they get sun. The longer left in ground the best to eat, these are early. They love the cold nights and days, do you have any coming soon? or heat?

[b54red]

It looks like the cold nights are gone now. It is supposed to be in the 80s next week and the nights are already into the 50s so it won't be long til the 90s get here. The flavor of the sprouts right now is fantastic but as soon as it starts getting a bit too hot the flavor becomes stronger. They lose that nice mild sweet flavor that they have right now.

The period when you can get good sprouts off the plants down here is incredibly short; but I really look forward to that two or three week period every year. We eat them about every other day til we can't stand the sight of them and then just wait til next year to have some again. Very few people even bother with them this far south because it is a great deal of trouble and a lot of luck is involved in whether you even get any sprouts at all. It took me a lot of years to figure out the tricks which allow me to have a usually successful harvest. But even with nearly 40 years of trying to grow them I still have the occasional disastrous season where I don't get a single sprout.

[Farmette]

Hope you can access this link for another recipe....Brussel Sprouts with Shallots and Wild Mushrooms.
http://www.jsonline.com/features/recipes/179319681.html

[b54red]

My Brussels spouts are producing bigger sprouts than I have ever had despite the plants being a bit smaller than the last few years. Maybe all this rain and changing weather is really helping them. We are going back into the 30s tonight and for most of the week. Good news for the sprouts; not so good for my tomatoes that are already out in the garden.

Bill

[RebelRidin]

I never tried fall brussels sprouts, probably because my folks never did in central MO. I figured it was just too hot when they needed to go out.

However, University AG recommends fall cropping for central MD . They show transplant into the garden between July 1 and July 15. I have two flats of Long Island Improved ready to go and hardened off to about 6 hours morning sun. I have the beds ready with about 3 inches of straw mulch.

I am concerned about transplanting these into the garden with 93 to 95 daytime highs. Any secrets or tips that anyone can give for getting these transplants through to the cooler conditions that start to show up in late August would be very much appreciate. MY DW is counting on me to grow her some sprouts. She's as fixated on them as I am tomatoes.

[Redbaron]

Brussels sprouts are pretty hit or miss here in OK. BUT when they do work out it has been when they were planted in august and over wintered....and made awesome sprouts in the spring.

[RebelRidin]

Hi Scott. Thanks for the feedback. I am going to set them out this weekend. Amazingly next weeks forecast if for highs <85 so that might help get them started. I think I am also going to start more seed this week. Then if these I set out don't make it (or even if they do) I can set some more out later to try and over winter.

[b54red]

You have done one thing that will help and that is putting down a heavy mulch to keep the ground cooler. I use cypress mulch because it keeps the ground cooler than any thing I have tried and it holds the moisture at a more even level.

I think you should put up some kind of shade to take them through the next month and a half. If you could keep the sun filtered for a couple of hours it might help a lot.

I will be starting seed this week and then again in two weeks inside my air conditioned little greenhouse. I like to set them out down here as soon as we start getting cooler nights but sometimes that isn't til early November. Last year I should have started my seed sooner because we got some cooler weather in early October. That is why I'm going to start seed at least at two different times this year. If I miss planting at the earliest opportunity it greatly reduces my chances of being successful.

Good luck. Bill

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by b54red

You have done one thing that will help and that is putting down a heavy mulch to keep the ground cooler. I use cypress mulch because it keeps the ground cooler than any thing I have tried and it holds the moisture at a more even level.

I think you should put up some kind of shade to take them through the next month and a half. If you could keep the sun filtered for a couple of hours it might help a lot.

I will be starting seed this week and then again in two weeks inside my air conditioned little greenhouse. I like to set them out down here as soon as we start getting cooler nights but sometimes that isn't til early November. Last year I should have started my seed sooner because we got some cooler weather in early October. That is why I'm going to start seed at least at two different times this year. If I miss planting at the earliest opportunity it greatly reduces my chances of being successful.

Good luck. Bill

Thanks for the input Bill. I will set them out this weekend and see what I can do to add to what shade my fence and pole beans might provide. I put the beans where I did with the sprouts in mind. I am mostly concerned about the hours from 1 to 4. That afternoon sun can really cook.

[Stvrob]

I have never grown brussels sprouts, I assumed they were about the same as brocolli. I just set them in the garden here in North Fl (zone 8b)(var bubbles), but the weather is still kind of hot (hi 80's) though it should cool down soon. I'm worried, will the seedlings (4-5" high) be OK with a few more weeks of hot weather?

[b54red]

Originally Posted by Stvrob

I have never grown brussels sprouts, I assumed they were about the same as brocolli. I just set them in the garden here in North Fl (zone 8b)(var bubbles), but the weather is still kind of hot (hi 80's) though it should cool down soon. I'm worried, will the seedlings (4-5" high) be OK with a few more weeks of hot weather?

If they survive the next few weeks you should be okay. I like to wait til it is cooler than it is now before transplanting into the garden because of the late heat waves we can experience down here. I will not be setting any sprouts or any other fall plants out before October at the earliest.

Bill

[beeman]

I have grown BS for a number of years, and the only thing I can add is BS prefer 'firm' soil. I will normally stomp the ground down, dig a hole in the middle and plant out the transplants.
I remember my Father telling me to 'firm' the ground. This year for some strange reason I omitted this step, and while the BS grew well over 3 feet the sprouts are all open and scruffy looking.
So I might suggest you stomp the ground before planting out, it will help produce firmer sprouts.

[Tormato]

My few plants were all stalks and leaves, no sprouts.
There was no space between leaf stems for any sprouts to form.

Trmat

[beeman]

Originally Posted by Tormato

My few plants were all stalks and leaves, no sprouts.
There was no space between leaf stems for any sprouts to form. Trmat

Leave them in, as they grow they'll force space between for sprouts, especially if you pinch out the tops.