Select your climate zone Australia - cool/mountain Australia - temperate New Zealand - cool/mountain New Zealand - temperate United Kingdom - cool/temperate United Kingdom - warm/temperate What is my climate zone?

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		S	S	T	T

(Best months for planting Brussels sprouts in Australia - cool/mountain regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays. T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings.

• Easy to grow.
• Harvest in 12-13 weeks. Pick sprouts when small.
• Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 7°C and 30°C.
• Space plants: 45-60cm

Grown for its small (typically 2.5 cm diameter) leafy green buds, which resemble miniature cabbages.

BETTER IN COOLER AREAS.

Brussel Sprouts will not grow good "sprouts" in warm areas - they open and are floppy.

In warm areas they are likely to be infested with aphids Pick formed sprouts from the bottom of the stems leaving the plant growing.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Brussels sprouts

Remove any discoloured outer leaves.
Cut in half and steam with other vegetables.
Do not overcook as that produces the distinctive smell that puts people off eating Brussels sprouts!
They go well with a chopped tomato and onion mix.
Traditionally served with roasted chestnuts for Xmas dinner in UK.

Your comments and tips

24 Jun 10 (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

my brussels sprouts have grown beautifully and I couldn't stop from harvesting a few large green leaves and shreading them - lightly steaming and enjoying them as another 'vegie". No sign of sprouts on the stem yet and plants are about 30cm high and vigorously healthy--the centre seems to be loosely forming into a "little cabbageish head", should I pick this to promote sprouts forming on stem or would this be not a good idea----HELP---I havn't grown these before.

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30 Jun 10 Paul (Australia - temperate climate)

I'm in exactly the same boat except mine are half your size. mine are doing the same thing. I gently peeled it back and saw another yellow leaf forming. I'm pretty sure it's the start of a sprout. As this is my 1st attempt as well.....my theory is let it grow and see what happens (I'll still "stake" it for support) Then have a better understanding with my next batch

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28 Apr 10 mo power (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

In England we used to buy brussel tops,and spring greens whitch were yummy, never seen them here, any comments or suggestions are they the product of brussels as the name suggests? I'm trying to grow brussels but not game to eat tops in case toxic.would love to hear from someone who knows,or had them in uk

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28 Apr 10 Liz (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate)

Mo, Brussel tops are the leaves from the top of the B Sprout plants. In some places, the whole stem is cut and sold with sprouts and top. A google search shows recipes for using the tops. Spring greens are cabbages which are started just before winter and still small but usable in spring. You might have difficulty growing Brussel sprouts in a sub-tropical area as they prefer cold weather.

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09 Aug 09 Chris (Australia - temperate climate)

Alison, they do need a good winter chill, even frosts to form good sized sprouts. Force feeding won't help.

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26 Jun 09 (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

my favorite sprouts recipe is lightly steamed sprouts finished in the oven at about 180 for 20 minutes with cream, cooked bacon pieces and ground pepper. One of our plants has small firm sprouts but the others are just loose leaves- no heart- can't make sense of it

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15 Jun 09 dick ward (Australia - temperate climate)

when should i pick off the leaves on my sprouts

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31 May 09 Shane Paterson (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

My brussel sprouts have grown the leaves etc and to a reasonable height but no sign of "fruit" yet. Instead the heart of the flowering leaves is covered in soft substance, bit like insect poop. I also have bugs on them, I spray them with insect spray but they keep coming back (I think they're aphids). We've had a lot of rain so not sure if this is the problem? Can you help me.. thanks

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24 May 09 Alison (Australia - temperate climate)

My sprouts are pea-sized too. Have used Thrive every fortnight for 3 months and some plants don't even have "peas" yet. Easy to grow? Don't know about that - maybe its me. Any suggestions? Thanks

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02 Apr 09 Sally (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Thanks for the help. My Brussell Sprouts are all leaves and dont look like they are going to firm up, what might be the problem?

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