Get busy with your Brussels

CHRISTMAS dinner might be the farthest thing from your mind, but now’s the right moment to start if you want to eat Brussels sprouts on December 25.

Sow them in a modular tray, filled with peat-free compost, two to three seeds per section, water with a rose nozzle and place them outdoors under fleece to avoid cabbage root fly. These pests can cause brassicas to wilt or die.

Seedlings should appear in one to two weeks, when you can thin them to one per pot. Or you can fork through soil to form a seedbed, water the ground lightly, and sow direct. Ideally, Brussels sprouts (Brassica oleracea) should be planted out in a sunny spot in their final position by midsummer to crop well from autumn into winter.

Continue to water in dry weather and remove weeds with a hoe, feeding with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser if they are not growing well.

Young plants should be supported with a stake to help them grow upright and planted about 2ft apart.

It can be a good idea to net them to protect them from cabbage whitefly and aphids.

They can grow up to 1m (3ft 3in) tall and withstand light frosts. Good varieties include Maximus and Red Delicious.