Growing Eggplant, also Aubergine

Solanum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Feb	Mar	May
S	S
		T
		P

(Best months for growing Eggplant in USA - Zone 5a regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays
T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
P = Sow seed

Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 75°F and 90°F. (Show °C/cm)
Space plants: 24 - 30 inches apart
Harvest in 12-15 weeks. Cut fruit with scissors or sharp knife.
Compatible with (can grow beside): Beans, capsicum, lettuce, amaranth, thyme
Avoid growing close to: Potatoes

Your comments and tips

23 May 10, Lynn (Australia - sub-tropical climate): My four eggplants look like they are healthy but no flowers have appeared yet. They are in a raised garden bed and have been in the ground about 12 weeks. Help please
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27 Mar 10, Kd (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Al, there are a lack of bees this year, so many plants which are flowering are not being pollinated. Try hand pollination from the male to the female flowers.
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25 Mar 10, Mas (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I'm a first time eggplant grower, we picked our first eggplant last night and there's another growing at the moment. yum. Can I scrap out the fresh seeds, dry them and then plant again?
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24 Mar 10, Al (Australia - temperate climate): Hello My eggplant plants seem healthy but they have not produced any fruit (although there are flowers). They were planted from seed in Nov/Dec last year. Any reason why no fruit is being produced?
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15 Mar 10, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi Glynis, Could be fruit fly. There are some good organic baits on the market these days - see www.greenharvest.com.au
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14 Mar 10, Glynis (Australia - temperate climate): I am having the same bug problem as Diana, 7 Apr 09. What can I do about it. The plants are fruiting well, but by the time they are grapefruit size they are going brown/yellow and full of grubs.
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02 Mar 10, Pru (Australia - cool/mountain climate): To stop flowers falling off plants put a 10 cm straight line of Epsom salts about an inch away from the main stem. Works a treat. I now have 9 fruit on one plant.
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26 Feb 10, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Hi Aurelio, If it's green caterpillars then try using Dipel, which is a bacteria product that only affects caterpillars. Best not to use sprays/powders as they don't affect caterpillars, but they will hurt beneficial insects. Some wasps will attack caterpillars, so make sure you have flowers around to attract the wasps, and don't use pesticides as they harm the good bugs that help keep things in balance.
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17 Feb 10, AURELIO (Australia - temperate climate): HELLO 1ST TIME GROWER PLANTED EVERYTHING IN NOVEMBER MOST THINGS HAVE GROWN BUT CANT SEEM TO STOP THEM LITTLE GREEN WORM LOOKIN THINGS THEY SEEM EAT ALL MY LEAVES AND LEAVE HOLES IN THE LEAVES IVE TRIED SPRAYS POWDERS ANY HELP PLZ P/S IM PROUD OF ME EGG PLANT ITS ONLY GOT 1 AT MOMENT BUT ITS GROWIN GREAT
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15 Feb 10, 2 green thumbs (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Dear Roz, I have just had an explosion of Corriander from seed in seedling trays. I was given fresh seeds off a friends plant, which I dried in a paper bag til brown, then planted them in a seedling tray filled with seed raising mix. Maybe try that.
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Replying to:

I know it's over a year later, but I've been looking for info for overwintering a huge eggplant plant, and saw your question here. Summer '22 I picked up three 5" Japanese eggplant plants from local Tractor supply store, on sale in 3 or 4" pots, for $4 each. I grew them in central MA, each in a 12 or 14" pot all summer. Got some good yield, and they grew to about 18" high, but I decided to bring them inside for the winter to see if I could get more fruit from them. I put them on a south facing bay window, air temp was never much above 68*, I watered, fertilized once (maybe 2x) from October-May, and hand pollinated flowers with a paint brush. Got about 10 fruits, which I thought was pretty good! Nice and tender and sweet. In late May/early June they went outside, (after hardened off properly) planted 1 into 2' tall raised wooden garden box (with tomatoes, potatoes, basil, borage), 1 into a large deep pot, and one in a conditioned straw bale. The pot one failed, the box and straw bale one thrived and are now 3' tall and maybe 2-3' wide. Tons of flowers, fruit, I couldn't keep up. I'm trying to figure out if I can bring one of them inside again (transplant into v. large pot) and get one more summer out of it! So you can probably grow Ichyban Japanese in your zone, just protect from cooler temps, and bring inside if your season isn't long enough.

- TMR

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Growing Eggplant, also Aubergine

Solanum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Your comments and tips

Gardenate

Keep your garden growing - see what to plant right now

Growing Eggplant, also Aubergine

Solanum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Your comments and tips

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