The message
from "Alan Holmes" contains these words:
"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...
"Alan Holmes" wrote

Why is it that the sprouts on my plants are so small, this is the second
year it has happened, or am I growing the wrong variety?

Which are Brassica gemmifera, at least that's what it says on the packet!

I think I got them from Wilkinsons.


Check your soil pH, it needs to be 7+, never below 7.

I have no idea how to do that, or even understand the results!(:-(

Buy a soil test kit, or if you don't want the (rather small) expense, a
reel of pH indicator paper, which you would get from an industrial
chemist, or a proper high stree *CHEMIST* (not pharmacy).

Take a trowel full of soil and put it in a plastic bowl/cut-down
container and add about twice or three times the volume of de-ionised
water (obtainable from motorists' shop) and mix thoroughly. Allow to
settle.

Dip a length of test paper into the water, and read off against the
scale on the box.

With manure and compost being incorporated it's easy for the pH to creep
down over time.

In the spot where they are, I would doubt that it has been manured, or had
much in the way of compost added.

It might be naturally acid. Damp ground often is, for instance.

Are you planting them early enough in the year?

Can't be sure, I'm principly a lazy devil, so I just get up and do
something, when I'm too bored to remain sitting down!

Do you ensure they are well, I mean well, firmed in?

I think so, but before I tried this variety, I don't recall ever having
trouble before.

We grow Trafalgar and Icarus both from T & M.

I'll have to look for some other variety and see if that makes a difference.

Try adding powdered chalk to the soil. This reduces the pH, and
incidentally, helps to protect against club root.

--
Rusty
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