[deneview]

3 out of my nine brussel sprout plants ( falstaff-red) have very loose open blown sprouts, should i pull them out and plant something else or should i leave them in?
thanks, never grown sprouts before

[lucywil]

mine too, (First time, and open sprouts)  i just assumed that in the next couple of months they will fill out. some one will put us right soon.

[Spon]

The usual problem with sprouts is that the soil in which they have grown was not firm enough. Sprouts like to grow in soil that is really well compacted and they will then form tight buttons. If the soil is too loose the buttons will be loose too. The same problem crops up with cauliflowers, etc.
In future, make sure you have trodden the soil down really well before planting and then 'puddle' the seedlings in.
As for this year, I would be tempted to let them keep growing. You may find that some of the buttons at the top of the plant are tight enough to use but, even if not, the top leaves are a good vegetable to eat.

[deneview]

thanks for advice, the 3 that have blown are next to an area i rotavated, the other 6 are in v hard soil that i'd not touched for 1yr.

[leeky]

I was told to plant sprouts in hard ground by an old geezer up the plot.
I've put some in rotovated earth so I expect they will blow  :?  

[muntjac]

just stomp on the soil with botth feet iether side of the stems  that firms em up after  hard wind