I've never been able to grow good brussels sprouts and find the plants are always affected by anything and everything that is possible to go wrong. Whitefly, moulds, buttons that should be tight blowing (opening instead of forming recognisable compact sprouts), stunted growth and even worse they taste very bitter. I've followed all the usual advice trampling the soil down firmly and adhering to planting times strictly. This season as per usual was full of distractions and as a result, some of my brassicas were left in their trays for far too long before being pricked out and then left too long again in their module trays. They were planted late and had hardly grown so I expected nothing from them. The results have been surprising. Both the brussels and cauliflowers have settled in and grown better than any other previous year. The soil wasn't cultivated very thoroughly either just weeded, raked and covered in a thick mulch of leaves and a sprinkling of blood, fish and bone for each planting hole. This was all done in almost pitch blackness as an afterthought at the end of the day. yet here they are thriving the only concern now is to protect the sappy lush growth from the cold so a bit of fleece covering may be in order.
