Why are BRUSSELS SPROUTS so hard to grow?!
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- Опубліковано 19 лют 2021
- It's been incredibly wet around here with 3" or more of rain every few days. The garden has taken quite a bit of damage, but it's time to see if we can salvage a Brussels sprout harvest.
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BTW I cook the leaves like cabbage. They are good. No need to waste all that growth.
He says he has more leaves than they AND the chickens can eat sometimes.
Hey Travis.. I've heard you say many times to take chances when gardening. So I did. I planted a few potatoes deep in some raised beds 8 weeks ago ( zone 8b ) and and they sprouted 2 weeks ago and they made it thru all this rain. Just wanted to say thanx for encouraging me to take chances. This time it worked out. Happy gardening.
I started in the fall planting some potatoes in my raised bed but now I have to wait to plant anything above them so I can harvest. I also planted them in buckets and on a hillside. So far they are all doing good but I’m a little upset that I lost that one planter box for this season. I’m in 10b San Diego.
@@raf62ss you can interplant some quick stuff like radishes and lettuce. I succession plant lettuce starts so if you have to pull up the potatoes, you can time to immediately plant new starts. Charles dowding does a lot of this.
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See his newer brussel sprout vids, seems he's cracked it. :D
I love Brussels sprouts. I split em in two, steam them for about 6-8 mins. Toss them in bacon grease, lay on a cookie sheet and broil them till they start to crisp up. They taste amazing like that. No boiled sprouts in this house. Cutting them in 2 allows the flavor to get to the middle... Some kinda taste.
Love how HONEST you are!!! Same issue with my brussel sprouts. Northwest Ga.
It's my belief that you should trim the leaves from the bottom of the plant to the top of it as it grows, and leave the top so that the plant will continue to grow and removing the leaves will let the nutrients and growth go into the sprouts
I've tried this and my sprouts opened up as they grew instead of staying tightly together.
Chloe at eight minutes is again the best!
8 minutes is the best!
Love your “positive attitude “. I am a newbie gardener in Central Florida. My Brussel sprouts are about 3 feet tall and just beginning to “sprout”. Summer rain has not started. Maybe crying later.
Your garlic in the background looks good!!! Gardening is like playing the lottery sometimes you hit the jackpot and sometimes you don't.....Thrive on....
Oh yes!
You do a great job. It's my fault about the rain. I wanted to stain my porch and it's rained ever since.
Dang it man!
Grew Jade Cross for the first time this year. I topped the plants about 6 weeks before harvest. The sprouts seemed to fill out after topping. I was fortunate to be able to harvest them before the rain moved through. Will definitely grow them again.
First experience growing sprouts was in a very large sorta window box in the front of the tongue of my big city Hill Billy trailer, in a trailer park. Built of old decking scrounged from father in law's newly decked deck... filled with 'swamp dirt' from behind his house wheelbarrowed to my car trunk... WOW! Never been able to repeat... Guarding the Garden: On the Deck... by the bucket. Delicious:
Thank you so sad from Ontario Canada.
Hi Travis we love the Jade cross Brussels. I plant one per 10 gal grow pot, full of compost, Water as needed, feed with 20-20-20, and don't forget generous applications of Micro Boost. I've never been successful with Brussels until that combo of feeding. We plant them in early spring(as soon as the compost thaws) and start to harvest in Oct. They were so productive we air fried several batches for dinner. They are fabulous! Love the little ones raw, my retriever agrees with me..lol.
Great to hear of your success!
I hilled my tomatoes last year, and used tailings from my gold panning hobby from the creek ,I guess the fish manure in it worked, I got over a thousand tomatoes with just 7 plants ,I'm gonna try brussel sprouts using same method!!!!!!!
LOL Talking about UGA. I remember brussel sprouts at Georgia Southern college, before it was a University. They served brussel sprouts every day.
I was a transfer student from Spartanburg where they served rice and sawmill gravy. I told the lunch lady to hold the gravy and just top the rice with butterbeans. She said, "you must be from Charleston".
I like the leaves, mix in with the collards and broccoli leaves. Taste great.
I'm in Ohio and only grow about a 25' row of Catskill and red bull varieties last year and had a nice harvest. I start mine indoors in late January or late February. Found out that brussel sprouts are very heavy feeders but I don't feed my plants in my garden during the season. I add manure to the garden rows and that's it.
🌶️🫑🌶️Words of advice...HILL your rows and that sir will eliminate them drowning. That's what I do and it stops all of your plants from getting too much water. Your plants will get enough water and the rest will run off or sink into the ground further eliminating your crops from drowning.
One year I tried not to hill on my rows and my garden paid dearly for it because we get a ton of rain in the early spring.
Used to be envious of this talk of 'too much' rain from here in N. Commifornia, not so much right now tho. 😀
Good for you for rescuing Cloe. 🙏❤🙏❤🐈
It has worked out great for both of us!
Regarding Brussels sprouts Mother used to take more of the lower leaves off than you have which might help with gaining plant height and productivity. I never knew her to top them. I do recall he aim up here in the North was to have them for Christmas Dinner. Deer usually get mine in the snow before that happens. Bacon wrapped roasted brussels sprouts slow roasted in the oven are a delicious snack.
I've got some of your Jade Cross sprouts growing, but mine are still young. The sprouts are so tiny and cute! I like to sauté mine in bacon, onions and add cranberries towards the end of cooking.😋
Oh my gosh! That sounds delicious!
Enjoyed your video. I have a friend in Apalachicola FL that owns a fish camp. He compost fish remains with wood chips then uses it to grow the biggest cabbage and brussel sprouts I’ve ever seen. I’ve been gardening for over 40 years and subscribed to your channel, I’ll be watching!
Thanks for subscribing Rick! I bet that is some good stuff!
old indian recipe...
This was my first time to plant Brussels sprouts here in 9b and mine look like yours.
Hi, zone 4 south central Alaska. I can't grow okra, but I can grow some tall brussels sprouts lol. When the plant reaches maturity, trim the bottom branches as the sprouts start to form. Cutting the branches will force the plant to focus energy on the sprouts and upward growth. About 4 weeks before harvest, you can top the growth point to further focus the plant on the sprouts.
Got Arapaho Cayenne Pepper beginning to germinate in six days. Initial success. Thanks for your knowledge Hoss Tools! The Black Gold seedling mix and 162 cell Proptek trays were a big help.
Good to hear! We hope you have a great garden this year!
the mrs here...I keep wondering how you knew just what a poot tasted like...hahahahaha!
Haha. I mean that it tasted like a poot smells. 😂
Cool video, very informative 👌👌
You can also ferment the carrots. They are so good fermented
In 6b I plant in hills due to the high volume of rain we get in spring. Variety of BS plays a big role here as well in 6b. Jade Cross is the boss here. Need 3 months to mature. We set out transplants in mid March here, will harvest in June. Try planting in hills if your weather in fall is consistently wet. They are challenging here as well. I’m sure where your at in 8b is even worse. You may play with planting times as well to try and get at least 80 days of fairly cool weather before it starts getting to hot. Other suggestions about pruning bottom leaves up works as well. Good luck and keep um coming!!
Thanks for the tips Mike!
We grow Catskills Brussel sprouts, I pick the bottom leaves off as the grow... I also leave them in the garden all winter and just go out and pick as I need them... we live in upstate NY so there could be a couple feet on them
The leaves are great eating!
Following for gardening tips… but mostly for Chloe 😋
Only country folks know what you mean by "a mess" lol
No us City slickers know it's a batch or a pot of something.
@@therealz360z7 tep even if you are in California by the coast we say that is a nice mess of fish in the same context. Didn't lose me!!!
In the NorthEast they are best harvested in November-sometimes December. Jade Cross is topped August 5 to September 5. Catskill about October 15. 20 to 30 days later they can be cut down. Topping removes the apical meristem's plant growth regulators (technically not hormones) which inhibit the axillary buds growing.
Thanks John!
@@gardeningwithhoss Hello , According to the Vegetable Crop Handbook for SouthEastern US, the recommended planting dates are 8/1-9/15.
Cripes man!! Look out for that bob cat behind you! He's sneakin' up on ya.
Try trimming the lower leaves. It will help to send the energy to the sprouts rather than the leaves
you made me laugh "everthing taste better with bacon grease". I do enjoy watching your videos. Lots of good intormation.
I think if you try it’s not a failure. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 I’m growing 3 of your onions but I think in Cali we are too warm planted Oct. just sprouting in feb. love y’all. Salinas California 👏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️❤️❤️
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One farm where I keep my bees grow brussels sprouts. They will let me harvest a few of them. Delicious. They are tall and full of spouts. I wait for after the first frost to pick a few of them.
We enjoy turnip roots in beef stew. Pioneer Woman has a great Sunday Beef Stew recipe served over mashed potatoes. The turnip roots take up the flavor of the stew and hold up well to being cooked for a few hours. They come out soft but don't fall apart or turn to mush like a potato does when in stew.
Might have to try that!
I got some of the Hoss pruners and they’re awesome. Much nicer than my Corona pruners.
Glad you like them Jared!
Sliced raw carrots in water in pint jars are super! The pressure canning process cooks the carrots. Just open a jar. Drain. Add to your dish. Heat and enjoy!
Trim all leaves accept some on the top of the plant 50-60 days before harvest. This will tell the plant to start the sprout making process.
In your climate, shade cloth could help your harvest
I'm here in southeast Texas. I had a producing fall/winter garden going and had begun planting the early spring selections according to the Montgomery County planting dates. I had transplants and direct seeds in the ground. We got 3 inches of snow and 4 nights of 12 to 15 temps and several more nights in the low 20's. I protected the larger seedlings with 5 gallon buckets and the emerging seeds and small seedlings with a layer of leaves. I removed the buckets and leaves today. Everything looks no worse for the ware. Not sure they will continue to grow but I expected a complete kill on everything. I also had some mature Brussels and cabbage I didn't cover. They were not killed. The Brussels were producing very nicely when this hit so will be interesting if they can go on. I wish I knew the variety. They came from Bonnies nursery and just said Brussels?
No clue what variety they're using. They tend to do that with all brassicas. Their plants just say "broccoli" or "cauliflower" without mention of the specific variety.
From everything I've read or seen keeping the leaves off the bottom of the plant is the best way to trim them. By cutting the tops out you will cut your production.
Need the cold pick after a Frosts it sweetens them
You must be related to Hollis from Hollis and Nancy's Homestead. You have almost the same voice and facial expressions. I've never had any success yet with brussel sprouts, but I'll keep trying.
Brussel sprouts in honey and sriracha you will love them
Never tried that one, but that does sound pretty good!
My advice is leave them in longer and just pluck off the sprouts as needed. Trim the leaves to keep them off the ground. I'm from zone 7b and mine grew most of the summer being mulched and it was got hot last summer.
Thanks for the tips Donna
I'm in Arizona and I sure don't have a lot of good luck with brussel sprouts I do use the leaves and make what would be a stuffed cabbage rolls it actually comes out really good I've also put the leaves in fried rice so not all goes to waste
I know this video is old but if you do read it, try pulling off all the lower leaves after the sprouts form up good on the stalks. Leave a nice bushy top of leaves on the top for sun absorption. Hope this will help you.
Thanks for the tip!
🤣 13:22 " see if I can find nurdern " thats the beat way to say.
As the plants grow, take off some of them low leaves. Helps with preventing mold and stimulates upward growth. I wouldn't worry about cropping the top. Just take off nurdern one from the bottom. 👍🏻
In GA
I think you need to try a couple new varieties every year until you find the varieties that work best in your climate. We can't overwinter them here, but we do get harvest from short-season sprouts.
Have you ever thought about setting up a green house for your winter crops?
I haven't. It usually doesn't get cold enough here to worry about it.
The overwhelming amount of rain for 6 months made my carrots amazingly giant, I’m definitely in a different area, but in Oregon the rain usually slows down in April and May, but it’s almost July and the rain just now finally stopped, and my carrots are huge, usually they never even grow but this year every single seed provided a full size carrot. As for my onions, well I’m in a long day zone so they’re supposed to start bulbing today, and they’re all looking real sad from all that rain
BRUSSEL SPROUT ARE GOOD TO PLANT THEM IN CLOSE TO WINTER THEY GROW BETTER I'M FROM PHILADELPHIA AND I GET BEAUTIFUL ONES I HAD NEVER TRY THE LEAVES
Brussel sprouts are one of our favorites
Would you consider making a higher row hill and adding a bunch of perlite to improve the aeration?
Maybe a higher row hill, but drainage is usually not an issue. We just had a crazy wet winter this year.
You could ferment some of your carrots. I have never tried it but heard there are really good.
We've done some of that and they're really good!
I grew Brussels for the first time this summer. ,,,hides face.....I threw them in the compost pile because they froze and I thought they were ruined. Shhhh. I'm new. 🤭
Listening to the video and reading the comments I saw no mention of what I found to be the keys to success.
They don't like heat. Wait till the days are getting progressively cooler in late summer to plant. Wait till the first or second frost to start harvesting. (Same with kale or collards by the way).
Pick the spot in your garden that has the worst hard packed soil. Loosen just enough to plant the seedlings and tamp down to repack the soil. Don't add compost. Don't use raised beds. Tight soil-tight sprouts. Slow release fertilizer is ok.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Carrie!
You have to trim the bottom leaves off about once a week then stake the plant. It looks like you aren’t trimming them up. Don’t cut the top. Make it look like a palm tree. I’m in Texas, zone 8.
Thanks for the tips!
Hi Travis. Do you think it would be a good idea to side dress or add some Fert thru the drip system to supplement the nutrition rinsed thru the soil with all rain we get especially in lighter soil ? John S.
We do try to do that when we can, but certainly don't want to water when it's already waterlogged.
You have to trim the leaves off the bottom and you will get more and bigger
Hey Travis have you considered covering one of your plots in the fall with a couple of caterpillar tunnels?
We would love to see what a difference it would make. John S.
I have, but just have never done it.
Carrots are the only thing that grew for me this winter. It was so much colder than normal here in mid-to-north Georgia that everything else just got stuck at an inch high, and then a lot of it died. Some stuff is growing now, like my Top Bunch Collards 2.0.
Tough winter for growing even in Georgia -- that's for sure.
Grow them in a raised beds from now on. You can bet on colder winters for years now.
Brussel Sprouts want moist, firm and fertile beds so have found them doing best in well draining havy clay soil, ive found that it is also best preping your beds a good 6 to 8 months before planting to ensure the ground stays firm enough. I like to dig in a good amount of well rotted manure as well as compost during prep and then a few weekls before planting i very lightly rake in some fish blood and bone. If your getting poor growth it could be that your soils not fertile enough, also how many sprouts you get is dependant on how many leaves your plant has so you want lots and lots of leaf growth. Take care to leave enough space bewteen plants too, i grow tall varities and they seem to do best with about a metre between each one, i find i have to stake mine as the beds are wind exposed and they are very top heavy plants. They really don't taste good if we get a mild winter in the UK so im thinking that depending on your weather then you might find in the warmer parts of the USA you have better luck planting them June to July rather than planting in April to May like we do here with our climate.
Anyhow good luck with your next crop, hope some of my shared experience helps some of you guys out.
Thanks for the tips!
Just reordered pepper seeds. Here in East Texas, my last batch germinated then froze in my garage while under grow lights and on heat mats. I’ve never seen it this cold for this long. I suppose I’ll be replanting onions once all this snow melts.
Well that stinks!
What do you fertilize brussel sprouts with and when. Thanks jim80
We recommend the below. We use this and have had really good results
hosstools.com/product/tomato-vegetable-bubble-fertilizer/
Chloe is the best!
First year I tried growing Brussels Sprouts I got very thick stems but little sprouts. Trying to avoid a complete failure , I extracted the marrow from the stalks with much effort. They cooked up very tender and mild tasting but very good. Bet someone could make a fortune if they could figure out an easy way to get rid of the tough outer coating.
Interesting.
A sharp knife won't do .. I have to cut mine with lopping shears or a bush hook.
Awww love Chloe! 🥰 You need a freeze dryer. 😁 Do you think I could plant brussels sprouts in a big pot?
yes
Thank you 🥰
Heat will impact Brussel density so not likely anything you did. Up north we had a short and cool season and we could get those amazing plants. Best tip would be to try and find the shortest growing variety.
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I’ve read you can eat the leaves like other greens
Try them in raised beds with acidic soil. They are also very heavy nitrogen feeders. Trim the leaves off the bottom so they look like an alien plant.
Thanks for the tip!
Hey from the Valdosta area! I love your jacket Travis. Where did you get it?
Don't remember where I got it, but it's a Patagonia fleece pullover.
@@gardeningwithhoss Thanks so much for getting back to me! Just planted my hibiscus for the first time! Excited! I'll have to do some sleuthing and figure out which one it is!
Travis, where'd you get that basket?
We have them on our website right here: hosstools.com/product/tubtrug-colander/
Tried to grow Brussels this past year but didn't do well. Didn't know you could/should harvest a little at a time. Gonna try that this year though. Do you know of any types that may be better than others for that?
I don't. Seems like from all the comments on this video, that technique would work with any variety.
Question 🙋♀️
Is the red ink you use on your strapping tape on boxes safe to compost in my garden ? Along with the shredded cardboard .
Good question. I'm actually not sure. That tape is made by a printing company. With composting though ... If you get it hot enough, it should be fine.
You could shred your carrots and freeze them in Ziplocs.........fantastic for baking.
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That’s why I don’t fool with brussels sprouts down here in Northeast Florida anymore
Leaving sprouts on stalk makes them last 10X longer if you need to store for week or three.
As more a fruit n nut tree grower, novice if not new vegi gardener-- *diversity* is also crucial, some yrs get a ton of some fruits but never all types produce every yr. (peaches apples, grapes, citrus most reliable)
This is the first year my brussel sprouts grew right, they’re almost 4 foot tall
Congrads, love good Brussel sprouts
I live in zone 7. ( in Maryland ) You said that brussel sprouts need a good shot of cold to produce well. I am wondering if I would be wasting garden space to plant them in spring rather than fall?
I would go for fall, as they are very cold tolerant.
First time I've ever even seen them and I've got them growing great, then BOOM! The worms destroyed them in a day.
Oh no, hate that for you.
Do you always grow at such wide spacing or will you intercrop later?
It just depends on the bed and what else we are planting. Brussel sprouts tend to be very large plants and need more space.
I grew Brussels sprouts 2 years ago and nothing came of it. They got to be lil twigs growing out if the ground. Last year I tried again and got some sprouts! But my plants are also lso no taller than yours. I see people with plants just about a yard tall, I have no idea what they are doing to get that. I was talking with a local master gardener and she has similar luck to me as well so who knows.
Eat the tops!!!
We trim leaves as they grow up. U get more than one harvest
I tried and tried to grow them then I read to break the leaves off as they form the sprout and bam that was the ticket.
@@robertbarlow6715 how many leaves do you leave at the top please and thank you.
@@donnaz1961 I don't pull the leaf off till sprout about dime to nickel size. This plant will get waist high.
@@robertbarlow6715 Waist high really. What variety are you growing, thank you!
@@donnaz1961 long island this year also have 24 in greenhouse this year. My children bought me a 32 rack house this year to give me something to do. I got burnt left leg an foot healing good but still hard to go. My garden is a 50 x100 yard 3 types of tillers and one 140 hi clear farmall. Can't run none of it now but hop back an forth to greenhouses. Have fun and enjoy the dirt and your rewards.
With the hard freeze we just got, l had a nice double row of fall/winter carrots and been enjoying. my question is with the top all brown do i trim off the tops and hope it will come back or just harvest it all ? (Texas 8b )
They will be fine, Joe. The tops will regrow
I'd just leave them undisturbed and hope they come back.
When do you plant carrots
Down here in south GA, we plant them in mid-October. We can plant another round this time of year, but don't always.
Do you plant in a new area every year, or just build up with new soil? I heard brussel sprouts take all the nitrogen out of soil and the dirt needs to be left for a couple of years before planting brassicas again.
We try to not plant the same family of crops in the same spot in 2-3 years.
Do you tip ur brussel sprout plants. This is my 1st yr growing sprouts & I removed a lot of leaves, thinking more energy would be put in the fruit, but that didn't work. My sprouts are mostly growing leaves with very small sprouts forming after 100 days. Someone told me to stop them.
no we do not
We have trouble growing brussels but only because they get too buggy to eat. We grow organic and have had no luck spraying the bugs off or using neem. Any ideas?
We use spinosad, which is also organic.
Should I start sowing peas outside? I’m zone 7a
English peas? Yes!
@@gardeningwithhoss it is a pea variety called progress #9 there known for there big large seeds and they do not require a trellis has they are a bush variety!
Do you guys sell 50 pound bags of seed potatoes and if you don’t is there anywhere you recommend getting large quantities from? Up north here they’re saying places won’t be getting seed potatoes until March or April which is potato planting time if the weather permits
Yes we do right here: hosstools.com/product-category/premium-garden-seeds/potatoes/
Not all varieties are still in stock, but we have some varieties left in those quantities.
I'm in knox tn and ive tried to grow them 2 years in a row and mine always just produce those little cluster of leaves instead of the little balls
We have years with good success and years that we have same issue. Make sure you fertilize well. We have found that to break off the top when it first appears and the sprouts will develop better.
@@gardeningwithhoss thank you
they grow like weeds here!