You could grow your own Brussels sprouts next year
Expert Guy Barter offers the basics if you want to have at the festive veg.
Love them or hate them, Brussels sprouts are a mainstay of the Christmas table.
Whether perked up with crispy lardons and chestnuts, or sizzled with pistachios and pomegranate, there’s a plethora of recipes out there to make sprouts a tasty side.
So, save a spot in your veggie plot next year to grow your own – they’ll taste sweeter than any shop bought packet.
Here, RHS chief horticulturist Guy Barter offers tips and tricks on how to go about it.
What types are the best for growing?
“It’s better to use the hybrid kinds because the open-pollinated ones which are a lot cheaper no longer make good crops. If possible, go for F1 hybrids, which are more vigorous and productive and make crops of large sprouts,” Guy says.
“You can get away with one packet of seeds – either an early or a maincrop – because they crop for quite a long time. Good varieties include ‘Crispus’, which is resistant to a wide range of diseases including club root, which is rife on allotments. For people who like big sprouts, ‘Marte’ is a good one, which can be picked from October to January.”
When should you sow seeds?
Start early, Guy advises. “In the south you can start in February, but March is the usual time. You can sow them indoors or outside, but as the seed is quite expensive, my preference is to germinate them indoors in a small pot and when the seedlings have come up, put them in the greenhouse or a coldframe, or a sheltered place outside under some horticultural fleece.
“When they are big enough after a few weeks, transplant them to individual 9cm pots. They will grow in those pots for another four weeks, before you can plant them out in May. Brussels sprouts are extremely resilient – they are not tender like a tomato or a courgette.”
Can you sow the seeds outside?
“Many people are more interested in sustainability and rather than using potting media and pots, which tend to be plastic, they prefer to plant them outside,” Guy says.
“To do that, you need to plant them in soil which hasn’t got club root in it – some allotments would be unsuitable. Sow them in a sunny spot, in a 12-15mm deep drill, with the seed barely covered. They should come up within two weeks and cover them with a cloche, or a coldframe, or some fleece.”
When the plant has got seven leaves, which is usually some time in May, they can be planted out as bare root transplants and will cope well with being carefully forked out of the seedbed and moved.
Alternatively, sow three seeds at 60cm intervals and thin them down to one seed once they’ve germinated, but you’ll need to protect them from birds and insects at the seedling stage.
Sprout maintenance
Make sure they are watered well and put a small cardboard collar around the base of the plant to stop cabbage root fly in its tracks. he advises. Once they have established, you usually find there’s enough water in the soil and they grow like mad during June.
When will the sprouts be ready for picking?
“The sprouts become usable some time in late September and are at their best in October and November, still coming through in December and January,” Guy says.
“Remember that they taste best when we’ve had really cold weather because the plant armours itself against freezing by building up sugars in its vulnerable parts like its buds, which are the Brussels sprouts. They will taste a lot sweeter after cold weather than the ones you pick in September.”
The best way to harvest is to cut them at the base, where they are biggest.