[Tom Hill]

I had a very good crop of sprouts this year from a variety called Brodie but when I came to dig up the old stalks I found a mass of pale yellow green attached to the roots.  They looked like anaemic baby sprouts, has anyone else experienced that, it was a first for me in 60+ years of gardening.

[Tom Hill]

Obviously not, or I have been sent to Coventry.

[mumofstig]

As you say it can't be a common occurrence, plus at this time of year there are fewer people visiting the site.

Someone may answer at the weekend - would be nice to find out what it is  Any chance of a photo?

[Goosegirl]

Sorry but I can't help. Did you leave one in to see what would happen?

[Tom Hill]

I cleared them as soon as I could.  I was afraid it might be linked to clubroot, not that we have any on site.

[beesrus]

Hey Tom, knowing West Penwith, maybe you've just struck some sort of tin. There's a lot of strange soil in that vicinity due to the mining.
I can't say I've ever seen what you describe either, and club root would certainly also have been a worry of mine.

[Tom Hill]

No it's not tin or copper, a Cornishman can smell tin & copper.

[beesrus]

Only joshing. I was born and raised in Penzance, and we always blamed the tin god, or Western National if need be, for anything unexplained. Your Brussels thing is most unusual. If they were all affected, and it's not club root, it could well be a seed contained mutation of some sort. Maybe ask the seed company if they have had any similar experience.
Crown gall might be a possibility as it attacks turnip (swede) roots, so why not another brassica.

[engineer]

Just dug up all my stalks, and guess what, yep, what appeared to be baby sprouts at root level, on closer inspection it would appear that these little sprouts are new shoots. Thinking back to harvest time I removed all the plant tops, thus stopping all top growth. Would it be feasible to think the plant is regrow ing from it's base?

[Tom Hill]

Do you know the variety ?

[engineer]

Hi Tom, I think they where Bosworth from Thompson & Morgan, an early variety.

[sunshineband]

That would make sense - new shoots growing from the base.

Last year I had a whole crop of "sprouting broccolis" from my Brussels plants, coming from the leaf joints in the green top of the plant. I guess if you took the top off, it has to grow from somewhere else, and the base seems the only growth point left.

If the top has gone, the hormones that prevent the plan shooting out from all over the place are not being produced, and other growth points are free to start off then

[anchorman]

Quite interesting your sprouts growing babies around their feet. Last autumn, I lost some cauliflowers devastated totally by catapillers because i was stupid enough to go on holiday. So In a mad-dog rage I took a sharp knife and chopped of the heads and all growth, leaving the stems and roots until i clear the patch. Guess what?? They've just started growing heads for the third time....in mid winter!

[Tom Hill]

This growth was under the ground, I only discovered it when I pulled up the stalks to compost them.