Why Are My Brussel Sprouts Not Forming Heads?

Brussel sprouts may have an unfortunate reputation among children, but they can be one of the most exciting, hardy, and delicious vegetables to grow in your garden. But when plants don’t produce classic sprouts that we all recognize? What should this mean for their future development?

Reasons Brussel sprouts don’t form heads include nitrogen deficiencies in the soil, too warm of an environment and needing extra fertilization from other sources – any combination of which will likely leave you with minimal or no Brussel sprouts to harvest.

Why are my brussel sprouts not forming heads? There are ways you can combat these challenges and ensure a bumper harvest this season. Continue reading for more details about Brussel sprout growth and which varieties produce heads quickly.

How long do Brussel Sprouts take to form?

In general, it can take anywhere between 4 months and 120 days after planting for them to fully mature into harvestable specimens; though you may see them beginning to form as soon as 50 days post-sowing!

Patience is key when harvesting brussel sprouts successfully; their formation often takes some time and may leave you questioning whether they will even come. But rest assured, most likely they will!

Golf-ball-sized Brussel sprouts may be the most desired and sought-after size, but sprouts can be harvested in any size you prefer – from smaller bite-size sprouts to golf ball sized sprouts! All varieties taste delicious!

Reasons for Loose Heads in Brussel Sprouts

Why are my brussel sprouts not forming heads? There are three primary causes for loose-headed or non-forming Brussel sprouts; lacking nitrogen in the soil, excessive temperatures outside or plants needing topping due to too many leaves growing out of them.

Lack of nitrogen

One reason that sprouts don’t form on plants may be the soil lacking sufficient nitrogen, an essential macronutrient essential to plant life’s development as an integral component in protein synthesis. Without nitrogen present in soil conditions, sprouting may never occur on its own.

Certain cover crops have the ability to remove nitrogen from the air and return it back into soil via nitrogen fixation, creating an eco-friendly method. Unfortunately, however, this takes an entire season for your soil’s nitrogen levels to return to optimal levels.

Feather meal, blood meal and even just layer of compost can be great additions to increase nitrogen levels in soil. A general 10-10-10 fertilizer might also do the trick! But for maximum accuracy when it comes to measuring nitrogen levels in your soil, consider scheduling a professional soil test at an agricultural extension agency near you – that should give you all of the answers!

Weather too warm

Weather Too Warm Brussels sprouts belong to the brassica family, along with crops like broccoli, cauliflower, kale and collards. Brassica crops tend to be cold hardy but less so in hot climates.

Brussel sprouts can be particularly sensitive to high heat temperatures and won’t form heads if temperatures reach too high, making summer an unfavorable season for their cultivation. Consistently hot weather could send them spiraling out of control or cause them to bolt and go to seed prematurely.

Once a Brussel sprout plant has bolted, its energy no longer goes towards growing bigger sprouts; rather, all of it goes toward seed production before eventually dying off completely. Pruning any flowers off can slow this process but won’t stop it entirely.

To avoid this situation, plant your sprouts early or late summer depending on when you want a harvest. As brussel sprouts are extremely cold hardy plants, don’t be alarmed that some cold nights might kill your plants!

My garden had some striking signs after our initial freeze; in particular, its top leaves of Brussel sprout plants became severely damaged and began drooping over their stems, becoming brown and discolored.

But this ended up creating a sort of protective tent around the brussel sprouts themselves which were in no way damaged by the low temperatures. I left them on the plant for approximately another two weeks before harvesting them.

Many experts consider frost to be essential in producing delicious brussel sprouts; this causes their starches to be turned into sugars in order to survive cold temperatures, creating sweeter sprouts than would have existed without frost.

Sometimes, Brussel sprouts can even survive an entire winter season! Covering them with something such as frost cloth can help ensure their warmth, but even without one they might still be going strong come springtime!