Cool-Season Vegetables: How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
If you love 'em (you know who you are), fall and spring are the right times for planting these veggies in your edible garden
Either you love Brussels sprouts or you hate them; there seems to be no in between. If you love them, then they’re an interesting addition to a cool-season garden, with their 2- to 3-foot-long stalks covered with miniature cabbage-like heads. Brussels cabbage is another name for these plants.
They’re one of the cool-season crops that taste best after a bit of frost and don't handle warm summers. They seem to like extremes, doing well under a cover of deep snow or in mild-winter areas. Brussels sprouts are members of the cabbage family and subject to some of the same issues and requirements.
More: How to grow cool-season vegetables
They’re one of the cool-season crops that taste best after a bit of frost and don't handle warm summers. They seem to like extremes, doing well under a cover of deep snow or in mild-winter areas. Brussels sprouts are members of the cabbage family and subject to some of the same issues and requirements.
More: How to grow cool-season vegetables
Days to maturity: 80 to 100 or longer
Light requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Regular
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Planting and care: Either sow seeds or set out plants in fertile soil that drains well. Don’t plant where you’ve planted cabbage crops in the past two years.
Sow seeds 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep and an inch apart about 90 to 100 days before the first frost. Thin to 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart. Set transplants 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart. Provide steady water but don’t let them stand in water. Keep the area weeded, taking care not to damage shallow roots. Feed when the plants reach about 12 inches high; you may get another crop.
Like other cabbage crops, Brussels sprouts are prone to problems, including aphids, cabage loopers, cabbage root maggots, cabbage worms, flea beetles, harlequin bugs, black rot, clubroot, damping off, downy mildew and fusarium wilt. You probably won’t get all of these, but keep an eye out for problems as the plants grow. Crop rotation and a soil pH of 6.5 or above will help prevent diseases.
Harvest: Harvest once the large leaves start to turn yellow and before the heads open. Start from the bottom of the stem and snap off sprouts that are firm and almost the size of a golf ball. Remove any leaves below where you’ve harvested.