Brussel Sprout tips

[Rena]

Ok for years I was told they would not grow here. I have "heard" this is not true. I ordered from Johnnys some seed. Any experts?

[feldon30]

I grew them here in Houston with *ok* success. The key is to start them early and pray for frost and as much cold weather as possible. Up North, they are planted in late spring and harvested after a few hard frosts in December. Down here, they are planted in late summer and harvested in April-June (right before they bolt).

According to Bob Randall's book, transplants should be planted towards the end of August which sounds early to me. Travis County (Austin, TX) says to plant out transplants October 25th.

One tip, once the plants reach a certain height (there's some conjecture), cut off the top of the plants to force the sprouts to size up. Another is make sure your soil contains some epsom salts.