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How do they do it????

• Message 1. 

  Posted by redwineandroses (U13889653) on Thursday, 11th November 2010

  Just watched the supermarket advert for sprouts being lifted from the fields for a wellknown company.How on earth do they get them so perfect,no slug damage ,no catterpillar damage,all identical in size.After battling all summer with all the pests my plants look like net curtains,every sprout has a slug hole in it,and they have been netted.Has anyone out there got any knowlege of the amount of pestacides they must use to get that degree of perfection,i find it frightning??

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  Posted by John (U14257971) on Thursday, 11th November 2010

  Pesticides on crops for supermarkets, indeed for all customers, are very closely monitored, recorded and the crops tested for residues - I used to grow soft fruit for them. The pesticides used are just very effective and applied at the right time to prevent damage by pests.

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  Posted by farmerSteve (U2644680) on Thursday, 11th November 2010

  I can assure you the use of monitoring, pheromone traps etc can ensure that you get clean crops with a minimum of insecticide. Cabbage white butterfly which is responsible fro the worst damge in gardens only ever affect the edge of the crop so they are never normally a serious agricultrural pest.
  The other big pest this summer has been turnip sawfly which is uncommon and has had to be sprayed for luckily the sprays which can be used commercially can kill all stages of the moth in one go. So even if all traces of the product disappear within 24 hours as most insectticides do it will have done its job.
  Unfortunately the gardener is very tightly restricted in there choice of insecticides as they have to be tested to very rigourous standards which is phenomenally expensive
  Most of the major pests we face such as turnip sawfly carrot root fly are only flying for very short intervals so a judicious spray can sort them
  It is certainly true that before pheromone trapping it was very common to spray some crops regularly to ensure they were clean but generally this is not the case today

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  Posted by redwineandroses (U13889653) on Thursday, 11th November 2010

  Thank you john and farmer steve for your answers,excuse my ignorance what are pheromone traps,are they available to the average grower???

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  Posted by Toadspawn (U2334298) on Thursday, 11th November 2010

  The varieties grown are usually F1 and bred to produce sprouts all the same size and shape and all mature at the same time. They are harvested by machine and the plants are cut off at ground level so they all have to be identical. Unfortunately not good for gardeners who want plants producing sprouts over a long period of time. Also unfortunately breeders tend to concentrate their efforts on developing plants for large scale commercial use (more money) than for garden use.

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  Posted by daydaisy (U14260695) on Friday, 12th November 2010

  I can remember my mother giving me a lettuce to wash when I was a child (a very long time ago!) and it was covered in greenfly. That just wouldn't happen today. I am quite glad about that though I hate to think what it is sprayed with. I believe lettuces are now grown in water with the nutrients just added.

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  Posted by Barny (U13453961) on Friday, 12th November 2010

  Don't worry about it at all,daydaisy,
  There is a very odd,perverse corner in the minds of some religious maniacs that compels them in a strange way to make up,or endorse,nasty stories about any and all the great beneficial ,engineering,medical,agricultural,etc., advances that the human race has made. Have you noticed that there is nothing good or useful that escapes their attention.....??
  insecticides,fungicides, herbicides,sterilising compoundsI(any compound of the "evil "element Cl),fertilizers, GM crops,antibiotics,hormones, the Pill, vaccinations,HRT,MMR,electricity pylons. nuclear energy,phone masts. mobile phones,etc,etc,etc,,,, (I'll bet you can think of some examples?)
  
  I expect that the little Stone Age Chappie that invented the wheel copped the same sort of stick from the village nutters.
  

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  Posted by farmerSteve (U2644680) on Saturday, 13th November 2010

  pheromone traps are little strips of yellow coloured sticky plastic
  they are placed in fields where a crop is grown and they are infused with chemical scents. These scents are the same given off by attractive moths looking for a mate
  You obviously have to have the correct scent fro the pest for the crop which you are growing. So for a carrot crop they would smell of carrot fly (please do not ask me how you know what anattractive young carrot moth smells like . I am not even sure what sex they are trying to appeal to).
  By the amount of flys caught on the sticky plastic you can guage when the fly is about to strike the crop and then spray it. As these pests very often are triggered by some atmospheric event to mate and go looking for your carrots it is an easy way to know when to spray with a pyrethroid to control.
  I believe these strips can also be used for overall control in glasshouses and are used in organic systems
  I would imagine they would be available from an on line retailer but you do need different strips for different crops

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  Posted by redwineandroses (U13889653) on Thursday, 18th November 2010

  Thank you farmer Steve for your comprehensive answer to my question about pheremone traps.

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Friday, 19th November 2010

  Here are my sprouts, grown under mesh and organic.
  
  
  
  Slightly on the small side but I am pleased, the variety is 'Revenge', which I am hoping is from 'revenge is sweet'? Alternatively it could mean 'wind' in which case Farmer Steve and Barny can have the laugh on me!
  
  You need to plant into soil that has been undisturbed over winter and has a high organic matter content. Cover with mesh and keep the ground free of weeds and old leaves.

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  Posted by Barny (U13453961) on Friday, 19th November 2010

  
  I'm not laughing ducky!! Those flippin' sprouts are far better than mine and I used to think that I was the best gardener in the world and sprouts & I 've always made a special effort with The ole Brussels ,to boot!! I just off to sulk now and I'm not going to post on these gardening boards anymore!
  

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• Message 12

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  Posted by Vixxihibiscus (U13865184) on Friday, 19th November 2010

  Hereisabee, they're perfect! I'm very jealous
  
  Mine are riddled with holes, I'm having to pick out the slugs before I cook them but I'd have them before those advert ones any day!

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• Message 13

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  Posted by mummyduckegg (U8437139) on Friday, 19th November 2010

  I don't grow them, but help my dad with his veg a bit nowadays. His are PERFECT, with no treatment whatsover. Some years have been rubbish, but this year they are fantastic. We have staked them against the wind, but nothing else since they were planted on.

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Saturday, 20th November 2010

  Thanks all, my soil is a sandy loam, with abundant thrushes and blackbirds, I hardly ever see a slug. Whitefly can be a problem under mesh, but beyond the sprouts is a lavender hedge which is a buzz with bees and hover flies which may help to keep the population down. It really is a question of getting time and energy down to your plot. We have had a morale problem in recent years at the association, so as secretary I have deliberately spent more time there to try and 'fly the flag'. Whether that has resolved anything I am not sure, but I certainly have some good crops.

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Thursday, 9th December 2010

  An interesting article on sprouts in this months RHS 'The Garden'. Sue Stickland (a good name on any allotment) suggests that the F1 varieties were bred to produce sprouts that stayed tight on the stem, so that they could be picked in one go, unlike old varieties which would be harvested from each week. Also to prevent 'lodging' which is the jargon term for falling over.
  
  She recommends Cascade and Bosworth (F1's) for an Xmas crop, then goes on to say that sulphurous compounds are the cause of the vegetable's distinctive taste, smell and alleged health properties. The NIAB run regular taste tests with Trafalgar, Maximus and Silverline coming top for sweetness, and Revenge coming top for bitterness!
  
  Despite the facts I have found Revenge to be good for eating and have previously grown Trafalgar, which I thought too sweet. So there are a wealth of varieties to choose from, perhaps a trial subject for GW to contemplate?

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  Posted by margaretstar (U14415248) on Thursday, 9th December 2010

  Is there any truth to the tale that sprouts taste sweeter after a frost because the starches turn to sugar?
  
  Now would be a good time to test it but I can't get out to the allotment because the lanes are just treacherous ice at the moment.
  
  What I do know is that steaming freshly picked sprouts is the best way to cook them - far less smell in the house, quicker and a beautiful soft and full flavour.

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• Message 17

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  Posted by pastmemories (U2437829) on Thursday, 9th December 2010

  Eat them raw, you`ll never want to cook them again. Some have a nice peppery flavour, I usually taste one before I buy.
  

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  Posted by whatalottie (U9072847) on Thursday, 9th December 2010

  I can just imagine how popular you would be in the supermarket pastmemories!
  
  Lottie

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  Posted by TopVeg (U7524957) on Friday, 10th December 2010

  My Dad always said that sprouts did not like growing in gardens - they preferred company in big fields.
  
  Bridget is our favourite sprout - it grows well in our garden & tastes good. But we could not find the seed this year - did anyone else?

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  Posted by veggieAl (U14716249) on Friday, 10th December 2010

  While we're on the subject of sprouts, if you don't mind me veering off at a tangent, what sort of yield would you expect, on average for brussels?
  I do like a nice sprout, but have always been put off growing them when I look at the spacings needed....the room needed for half a dozen sprout plants looks quite a size that could be used for other things !!
  
  BTW I accept that the answer to any 'what yield' question is always 'how long is a piece of string?' !!!!
  
  Cheers, Al.

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• Message 21

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Saturday, 11th December 2010

  Yes Bridgette is a Suttons variety,
  
  
  
  which I grew last year, a tasty sprout.
  
  
  
  That is my my favourite question 'how long is a piece of string'?
  
  The answer being any length between 5 and 50 cm. Any more and it would be a length of string, more, a ball of string? Hope that helps, will strip pick a plant next time on the allotment and weigh them.

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  Posted by veggieAl (U14716249) on Sunday, 12th December 2010

  Love that answer, hereisabee! BUT, how do you classify a piece of string under 5cm? Oakum, possibly?
  
  Weighing your sprouts would be very kind, thank you.
  I'm looking to provide as much of my own veg as I can next year, and whilst I would love some nice, freshly picked sprouts, I do wonder if a different veg grown in the same space would provide more produce!

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  Posted by hereisabee (U2342191) on Sunday, 12th December 2010

  0-5cm - bit or scrap of string
  5-50cm - piece...
  50-250cm - a length...
  2.5-25m - a ball....
  25m+ - ?
  
  Picked 300g of sprouts from an fair/average plant although there are still a few at the top and of course the leaf top which can be eaten like spring greens. I tend to space on the close side in order to minimise weeding watering. My spacing system is basically either one boot length or two in the case of B sprouts, so growing in 50cm by 50cm.

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