I have planted a bunch of brussel sprouts this year, it's been a while since I have tried them. In the past I have always removed the lower leaves and they continued to grow up tall, but didn't really produce very large sprouts. Should I remove the lower leaves, or should I just let them be? My hunch is that by removing them I made the plant grow taller, and they didn't put much into the sprouts. Not sure, but I'd like to get some with size once. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I hope someone can chime in with some good info here -- I tried growing them last year, for the first time in many years, and had 9 HUGE plants with maybe 9 (altogether) not-so-huge sprouts (which didn't even taste very good)...

As I recall, the only other time I've tried growing them a woodchuck came through and ate everything just as the sprouts were starting to form...

I know they taste better after a frost.

When I grew them the cats of Cabbage White Butterflies just devastated the sprouts.

TVE/Tom...

Brussels sprouts really take quite a long time to mature, some varieties nearly 120 days or so. As for picking off the lower leaves, I'd pick them off only when you start harvesting the lowest "sprouts". Those lower leaves will be showing signs of yellowing at that point anyway.

And, as you probably already know, feed them a nice high-nitrogen food (blood meal, cottonseed meal) or a good foliar fertilizer every month if not every 3 weeks.

Hope this helps.
Shoe