Growing Eggplant, also Aubergine

Solanum sp. : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan	Feb	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		S	S	S	S	S
T	T		T	T	T	T
			P	P	P	P

(Best months for growing Eggplant in Australia - sub-tropical 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

11 Mar 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): A mate of mine has pruned back his egg plant the last 3 years - but I don't think they produce very well. Then he again he isn't a keen gardener.
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02 Feb 18, Frances Pegrem (Australia - temperate climate): I am not sure when to pick my eggplants. They are yellow, some are bigish and others growing. Some of the first ones to go yellow went spotty but some of the later ones are larger.
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05 Feb 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): It takes about 15 weeks to grow. Pick one and cut it open - if it has lots of seeds in it, it has gone too far but you can eat it. Keep doing this until you work out when to pick. Try and pick when only a few seeds. Not too big - not too small.
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15 Jan 18, Phil Morton (Australia - temperate climate): I've got three Asian eggplants growing, all from the same source, one in the ground and the other two in a raised garden bed. They all get equal treatment re fertiliser and watering but the two in the raised bed produce smaller fruit that is a very pale purple and tougher while the other has long much bigger deep purple fruit that's perfect. What could the likely cause be? pH or something else?
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17 Jan 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): The soil could be the difference. The raised bed would dry out quicker than the garden bed probably. Do they get the same amount of sunlight?
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25 Jan 18, Phil Morton (Australia - temperate climate): Not a lot of difference.... the one in the ground is closer to a west wall so get's about an hour less afternoon sunlight in a day. They both have good layers of mulch to help keep in the moisture. The 42' days recently and the few arriving from tomorrow have/will be doing damage to them both no doubt!
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01 Dec 17, John (Australia - temperate climate): Could someone please tell me. I planted what i thought were Turkish Egg plants. The vegetables that have formed are in a spiky what appears to be a shell of sorts..A bit like the old fashioned Maces the Medieval knights used to use in combat. Completely stumped. I do not have a clue as to what these may be.
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29 Jan 18, Cathie (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Any chance you have an African Horned Melon?
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03 Dec 17, Mike (Australia - temperate climate): How certain are you they are Turkish Egg plants. Let them grow and see what the end up like. Google about them - read all you can. Or look up some seed selling companies and buy some real T E P seeds. The joys of gardening.
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17 Nov 17, L.T. (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I have nice flowers on my Aubergine plants but they either drop or die before producing the fruit, also I am trying to grow globe courgette, the fruit looks beautiful and healthy but as soon as it becomes the size of a golf ball they drop off and die. What can I do to get the veggies I want
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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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