I never have had to, they have always stood up straight. Love them. But it wouldn't hurt to stake them.

Thanks for the info.

Mike

And another BS question. (Brussel Sprouts, that is!)

How many to a square? I am assuming four...

Thanks.

One to a square worked for me--which is the planting grid for all the common brassicas (cabbage family) except kale (4/1). I will say, the kale I planted accidently at 1/1 made such huge, sweet leaves, compared to the ones I planted correctly at 4/1, that I may try it again with a known cultivar--"cabbage rolls" from flat leaves the size of small turkey platters....

Well, just a follow up: The plants stayed tipped over most of the season with no negative effects. We finally had a light frost which I hear is supposed to make the sprouts sweeter. I picked one plant and the sprouts were wonderful, better than any I've had before.
Amy,
One per square for me, and it definitely filled the square up.

Good Luck,
Mike

Definitely 1 per square. Be careful that what you plant around them gets a chance to get established or they could be overshadowed by the leaves of the brussel sprouts.

You can help the tipping over by removing leaves as the "sprouts" mature from the bottom up. Always leave at least a foot or so of leaves at the top of the stalk so the plant can continue getting energy from the sun. This will also generally result in larger sprouts.

Always worked for me.

don

Another brussel sprout question:

If I harvest sprouts will the plant grow new ones, or is it just best to pull the plant and put something else in it's place. With my broccoli, after I harvested the main heads I was able to get some smaller heads that rapidly appeared in the following weeks.

Thanks,
rusty

Rusty - don't yank the plants. You need to wait until they get hit with a frost (two or three frosts is better) before you can harvest the sprouts. By that time, the growing season is done.

I know what you're talking about with the broccoli, but the same doesn't apply to brussels.

I am new to this, so what's a square? A square foot? Also I read something about pinching something off? Does anybody have any idea what and where this is. Mine are tipped also.

http://www.veggieharvest.com/vegetable-garden/brussels-sprouts.html

http://www.mahalo.com/how-to-grow-brussel-sprouts

I space my sprouts 2' apart and stake them. The further apart you plant them, the larger the sprouts will be.

I adore Brussels sprouts and would get a huge kick out of growing some in my garden, but the culture info makes me despair of success. I'm on the Kansas-Missouri border south of Kansas City, where summer temps are typically in the upper 90s. Does anyone have any experience and tips for growing a BS plant or two in such conditions, or should I just give it up and stick to peppers?