Brussels sprouts are the classic British winter vegetable, the one veg that turns up on almost every Christmas dinner table (whether you like them or not!). Learning how to grow brussel sprouts is well worth the effort: a single row of plants will hand you fresh, sweet harvests right through the leanest months, often tasting better after the first frosts have caught them.
This guide covers everything about growing brussel sprouts in the UK, from sowing the first seeds to picking sprouts on a cold December morning. We'll look at starting plants off under cover in the greenhouse, growing them in raised beds and open ground, the pests to keep an eye on, and a few lovely ways to cook the results.
One thing to know up front: this is a long-season crop. Brussels sprouts spend roughly 28 to 35 weeks in the ground from sowing to harvest, so they ask for a bit of patience and a bit of space. Get them in early, keep them firm and well fed, and they'll reward you from autumn right through to early spring. They're not a crop for the impatient, but they're a deeply satisfying one.
Starting Brussels sprouts off in the greenhouse
Because brussel sprouts need such a long growing season, it pays to give them a protected start. Raising your young plants under cover lets you sow earlier, keeps tender seedlings safe from cold snaps and slugs, and gives you sturdy, well-rooted plants ready to go out as soon as space allows. Think of the greenhouse as a nursery: you raise the plants here, then move them to their final home outdoors. A compact patio greenhouse or cold frame is plenty to get a tray of sprout seedlings going.
Growing Brussels sprouts from seed
Growing brussel sprouts from seed is the cheapest route and gives you the widest choice of varieties. Sow seed from February to April for an early, protected start. Fill a modular seed tray with moist, peat-free seed compost and sow two seeds per module, around 1 to 2cm deep, then keep the tray somewhere bright and warm. Brussels sprouts seeds aren't at all fussy, and seedlings usually appear within a couple of weeks.
Once they're up, thin to leave the single strongest seedling in each module and keep them growing on in good light. Greenhouse shelving or a seedrack lifts your trays off a cold floor and keeps them close to the glass, which is exactly what young plants need to grow stocky rather than leggy. Water regularly and never let the compost dry out.
Where to raise them: brussel sprouts plants grow large, so the greenhouse or staging is only for the early nursery stage. They're not a crop to keep under glass for life. As soon as the young plants are growing strongly and the weather's warming, they're ready to move outdoors.
Top tip: Sow early, mid-season and late varieties together and you can spread your harvest from autumn right through winter.
Growing from young plants
If you'd rather skip the sowing stage, you can buy young brussel sprouts plants, sometimes sold as plug plants, from garden centres and online suppliers in spring and early summer. The choice of varieties is more limited than with seed, but it's a quick and reliable way to get going, especially if you only want a handful of plants.
Top tip: Look for short, sturdy plants with healthy green leaves and a good root system rather than tall, drawn ones.
Whether you raise your own or buy them in, the aim is the same: strong young plants with a well-developed root system, ready to be planted out firmly into their final positions.
Hardening off and transplanting
Before any greenhouse-raised plant goes outside, harden it off gradually over a week or two so it gets used to wind, sun and cooler nights. A cold frame is perfect for this stage, letting you open up by day and close down at night. Water the plants well the day before moving them.
When to plant outside
Move young plants to their final positions in late spring or early summer, once they're around 10 to 15cm tall and four to six weeks old.
Top tip: The single most important thing with brussel sprouts is to plant them firm and deep. Set each plant lower than it sat in its module, with the lowest leaves at the soil surface, then firm the soil down hard around the stem with your heel and water in.
Loose planting in loose soil leads to wind-rock and blown, open sprouts later on, so don't be gentle here! Space plants 60cm apart each way (more on spacing below).
Growing Brussels sprouts in raised beds and the ground (from seed and plants)
Brussels sprouts will grow happily in open ground or a raised bed, as long as one rule is respected: the soil must be firm and fertile. These are tall, top-heavy plants that need a solid anchor, and they're hungry feeders that want plenty of richness in the soil. Raised beds make it easy to build up that fertility and keep the crop in its own dedicated, weed-free space, while a metal raised bed won't rot or harbour pests the way timber can.
Before planting, dig in two bucketfuls of well-rotted manure or compost per square metre, ideally the autumn before, then firm the ground well by treading it down.
When to sow and plant
You can grow brussel sprouts from seed sown in a greenhouse from February to April, or sow outdoors from March to May once the soil is workable, either in a seedbed or straight into the final position.
If sowing direct in the final spot, sow a few seeds every 60cm and thin to the strongest seedling at each point. Transplant young plants to their final positions in May or June.
Our monthly seed sowing guide is handy for keeping the rest of the veg patch on track at the same time, and brussel sprouts slot neatly alongside other winter crops.
Where to position them
Pick a sunny, open but sheltered spot. Brussels sprouts crop best in full sun, and they need firm ground to anchor those tall stems. Avoid exposed, windy sites that will rock the plants and loosen the roots, but don't crowd them against a fence either, as good airflow helps keep fungal problems at bay.
Top tip: Because they're brassicas, rotate them around the plot rather than growing them in the same place each year, to avoid a build-up of soil-borne problems such as club root.
Watering, soil, spacing and support
Spacing
This is where many gardeners come unstuck. Space plants a full 60cm apart in every direction, with at least 60cm between rows. It looks wildly generous when the plants are small, but that wide spacing gives them the light and air they need to crop well, and helps deter disease. Resist the temptation to squeeze more in.
Firming and support
Firm soil is everything for brussel sprouts. Plant deep and firm, and as the plants grow tall through late summer, earth up soil around the base of each stem to give extra anchorage before the autumn gales. On exposed sites, stake taller plants with a sturdy cane to stop wind-rock, which loosens the roots and can blow plants over or cause the sprouts to blow open.
Watering and care
Water young plants regularly and never let them dry out while they're getting established. Once they're growing strongly they only need watering in genuinely dry spells. Collecting rainwater in a water butt gives you a free, soft supply for those dry patches. Remove any yellowing lower leaves as you go to keep air moving around the plants, and net the crop against pigeons and cabbage white butterflies from the moment they go out. Our month-by-month raised bed guide sets out the seasonal jobs in more detail.
Brussels sprout companion plants
A little companion planting helps a sprout bed thrive. Beans and peas are classic partners, as legumes fix nitrogen in the soil that hungry brassicas love. Aromatic herbs such as dill, mint, sage and rosemary are thought to help mask the scent that draws in cabbage pests, while nasturtiums make a brilliant trap crop, luring caterpillars and aphids away from your sprouts and onto themselves. Beetroot and aromatic flowers like marigolds also sit happily nearby.
Just as useful is knowing what to keep away. Avoid crowding brussel sprouts with other brassicas such as cabbage, kale, cauliflower and broccoli, which compete for the same nutrients and share the same pests and diseases. Strawberries are a poor neighbour for sprouts and are best kept elsewhere. Keep the brassica family grouped together as one block in your crop rotation, but give each plant its full 60cm of space.
When and how to harvest
Brussels sprouts are ready from autumn through winter, broadly October to March depending on variety and sowing date, and this is the real joy of the crop: a steady supply through the coldest months. The flavour is sweetest after the sprouts have been touched by frost, which is exactly why they're the traditional Christmas vegetable. For sprouts ready in time for the festive table, sow a mid-season or late variety in spring and they'll mature through late autumn and December.
Top tip: Pick from the bottom of the stalk upward, starting with the lowest sprouts once they're firm, tightly closed and around the size of a walnut.
Snap each one off with a sharp downward tug, taking a few from each plant along the row, and remove the lower leaves at the same time. Leave the plants standing and simply pick what you need, even in the coldest weather. Once cropping is over, the leafy sprout tops can be cooked like spring greens, so nothing goes to waste.
Brussels sprout pests and problems and how to avoid them
Brussels sprouts are hardy and robust, but as members of the cabbage family they share the usual brassica troubles. The good news is that most can be prevented organically with netting, good spacing and sensible crop rotation, rather than reaching for sprays.
Cabbage white caterpillars are the most familiar problem. The caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies chew large holes in the leaves through summer and can strip a plant in no time. The simplest defence is to cover the crop with fine-mesh netting from the moment plants go out, so the butterflies can't land and lay eggs. Check the undersides of leaves regularly and pick off any eggs or caterpillars you find.
Pigeons are the winter equivalent, tearing at the leaves and leaving little but stalks and veins, especially when other food is scarce. The same fine-mesh netting that stops butterflies keeps pigeons off too, so keep plants covered all year round.
Cabbage root fly lays eggs at the base of the stem, and its maggots eat the roots, causing plants to wilt and grow poorly. Fitting a brassica collar (a disc of cardboard or felt) snugly around the base of each stem at planting time stops the fly laying in the soil there. Club root is a soil-borne disease that swells and distorts the roots. It's best avoided by rotating crops, improving drainage, liming acidic soil and, where it's already present, raising plants in modules so they have a strong root system before going out.
Whitefly and mealy cabbage aphid can both gather on the undersides of leaves. A strong jet of water, encouraging natural predators such as ladybirds, and removing badly affected leaves usually keeps them in check without any chemicals. Finally, blown or open sprouts (loose, leafy buttons rather than tight ones) aren't a pest at all but a sign of loose soil or shaky planting. The cure is prevention: plant firm and deep into firm ground, and earth up and stake as the plants grow.
Cooking with Brussels sprouts
Forget the grey, boiled-to-death sprouts of memory. Freshly picked brussel sprouts, especially after a frost, are sweet, nutty and genuinely delicious. Roast them whole with a little oil until the edges caramelise, fry them shredded with bacon and chestnuts for a festive classic, or slice them raw and wafer-thin into a winter slaw. The leafy sprout tops are a treat in their own right, too.
For a properly good way to use the whole plant, Rhino's resident chef Gill Meller has shared a recipe for Brussels tops with chorizo, onions and a fried egg, a brilliant winter breakfast that makes the most of the leafy crown most people throw away. You'll find plenty more seasonal dishes on the Rhino recipes hub, with new ones added regularly as each crop comes into season.
Brussels sprouts also pair beautifully with other home-grown winter staples. If you're planning the rest of your cold-season plot, our guides to growing potatoes and growing asparagus are lovely companions to this one.
Growing brussel sprouts is a long game, but few crops give back so reliably through the depths of winter. Plant them firm, feed them well, keep them netted, and hold your nerve through the long months of growth. Come autumn and winter, you'll be picking your own sweet, frost-kissed sprouts straight from the garden, just in time for Christmas.