I was told that if Brussel sprouts are planted or sown in loose soil the
sprouts will not be tight but will be very open leaved and useless as
sprouts.



I've always ignored this and never bothered with tamping down the soil but,
this year, I had to pull up and throw away my row of sprouts because they
were so open leaved as to be useless.



Luckily, I planted a row of a later variety of Brussel sprout plants
sometime after I had the problem, still in loose soil, and these look fine.



What I've was told seems to be true, however, but has anyone else more
experience of the problem and could it be caused by something else?



I'd be pleased to hear anyone else's experience as I can't see how the
firmness of the soil relates to the firmness of the sprouts.



Regards,



John