[SusieB]

I love sprouts, but have never managed to grow any .  Till now!  They are only the size of big marrowfat peas.  Will they get bigger, or should I eat them, before something else gets them?

I planted early and late sprout plants and don't know which this is.  Does that make a difference?

I have read somewhere, it helps if I cut the sprout top off.  Is this correct?

Many thanks.

[Kleftiwallah]

At this time of year I don't think your sprouts will get any bigger, they may 'blow' this means the small leaves will open out.

The sprout tops are edible (very much like spring cabbage).  I should harvest what you can and enjoy your skills.

P.S. next year remember to fix labels 

Cheers,   Tony.

[3759allen]

been wondering this myself.

can you pick the sprouts off individually and leave the small ones til last in case they get bigger? or do you have to cut the whole stalk?

[Baldy]

You can pick as and when you need them - i.e. you don't have to pick them all at the same time.
Generally the bigger ones are the 'older' ones nearer the base of the plant.
I've got some still going strong - will pick them in the next week or so (might have to canoe up to the plot though) - but a lot have now blown.

Cheers,
Balders

[sunshineband]

The sprouts at the top might still get a little bigger. still. Some late varieties are not even ready to harvest until February, so they do keep growing in the winter.

[bravemurphy]

Take the tops off the plants and the biggest sprouts and give them a feed, a mulch of manure with all this rain or some blood fish and bone sprinkled generously around them.

See what happens 

[R6robbo]

I always understood cutting off the tops halts all growth, with no leaves where will the
plants energy come from?
I personally would leave the tops for now and pick and eat the largest sprouts working from
the bottom up and leave the small ones at the top for a while to see if they grow any bigger.
But thats just my opinion. 

[bravemurphy]

Watching the commercial growers they take the tops off and I thought it was to put all the energy into the sprout.

[DD.]

I always understood cutting off the tops halts all growth, with no leaves where will the
plants energy come from?

The sprout itself is a tight package of leaves!

[Nobbie]

I always understood cutting off the tops halts all growth, with no leaves where will the
plants energy come from?
I personally would leave the tops for now and pick and eat the largest sprouts working from
the bottom up and leave the small ones at the top for a while to see if they grow any bigger.
But thats just my opinion. 

You only take off the very top of the plant, so there's still a large rosette of green leaves to feed the plant. Wish I'd done mine earlier as a lot are spoiled now and not suitable for cooking. The few tops I had were lovely

[heygrow]

It's my first year growing sprouts as well. I have been harvesting since late November and still plenty to take as and when the grow bigger and I want them. As has been said, from the bottom up generally or take any decent size ones. The others keep growing if you have the late winter variety. Really nice and sweet compared to shop bought ones.

[cadalot]

Mine ended up really tall - could be because I extended the netting to give them some breathing space and the sprouts were quite a distance apart, not as tight as all the pictures I see of what sprouts are supposed to look like.

With most of the sprouts harvested apart from some at the top just their tops still on on my neighbours asked me if I was growing palm trees 

[R6robbo]

I always understood cutting off the tops halts all growth, with no leaves where will the
plants energy come from?
I personally would leave the tops for now and pick and eat the largest sprouts working from
the bottom up and leave the small ones at the top for a while to see if they grow any bigger.
But thats just my opinion. 

You only take off the very top of the plant, so there's still a large rosette of green leaves to feed the plant. Wish I'd done mine earlier as a lot are spoiled now and not suitable for cooking. The few tops I had were lovely

Aah, so thats how you do it. Cheers.