[Fleecewife]

Whenever I have tried, the cut end of the stem tends to rot, so I lose the whole plant for the sake of a very second rate bit of greens.

[Blonde]

I meant the caterpillars!!
why have they survived the frost?!

my brussels have now blown, but still taste lovely.  arent they just a great plant, really!!
I have to think of them as just small cabbages though, as a brussels-hater of long standing! (til I grew my own!)

caterpillasrs dont survive the frost the moth or buttrfly lays her eggs and when the eggs hatch the caterpillar comes out, I guess he hids behind or under a leaf when it is frosty and he survives that way.   When the time  is  right he wraps himself in a cocoon and turns into a butterfly  or a moth.  Stop the moths/butterflies and you stop the caterpillars