Aubergines - Any Tips??

[lisa4star]

Any advice?

Last year I tried to grow aubergines.

My plants looked really healthy and flowers kept appearing and so I thought I would get aubergines, however the flowers just died and go no aubergines.

Any ideas why?

I am trying again this year and would love to know why last year they didn't come to anything.

[lisa4star]

My future aubergines are in need of some love and I don't know how to give it

[Lesley Jay]

Hi Lisa, so sorry for the delay! Ideally aubergines need to be grown in a greenhouse as they do need warmth. If you are growing the plants outside choose a nice sunny spot that is wind free. Once the flowers appear you need to mist the plants twice a day to encourage the fruit to set - which is possibly the problem that you had last year. The plants want feeding with a tomato food once the fruits start to grow and you will also need to stake the plants as aubergines are heavy and will pull the plant down. Then enjoy eating your very own home grown aubergines!!

[Gevalia]

aubergines are cute vegetables! ive been ignoring it for more than 24 years!

our markets here in the philippines are usually loaded with them but we only have few varieties, like the long ones and the round ones.


when i started my container garden they werent even included in my original roster of vegetables, for i thought we had enough of them everywhere. it isnt too pricey too, so investing just to harvest them wouldnt be too wise.

thats what i thought.
way back in March i was so desperate to have zucchinis, and that time i had no zuke seeds yet so i thought id settle for something i can readily grow in my country...and chadan!!!! Eggplants. i want to make them extra special so i call them aubergines instead ( people were like, "what are those aubergines? they look like egg plant!")

sure i have had so many issues with them , 1st was their pot size. since they werent part of my original plan they had to settle for smaller pots, 10 liters. and then they grow so slow.very slow. i already harvested my radishes and bitter melons and they were barely starting to flower....but i learned they were just slowly but surely.


then i also had some trouble with their flowers. the first flowers never developed into someting edible.

i couldnt see any fruit behind any flower, unlike zucchinis and bittermelons. i couldnt tell which is female or male until i learned that each flower is bisexual. but i couldnt polinate them because i didnt know how to do it. i reasearched and found out i only have to tickle the insides of eacc flower with a paint brush, and though i was doubtful about it ( i couldnt see any pollen trasnferring from one part to another) i still continued...and then days after i saw that my flowers are turning to little abuergines...not just aubergines, but the most beautiful aubergine i ever saw in my entire life !( for some reasons the ones im growing are egg shaped ( so thats hwy its called eggplant huh?) unlike all the eggplants i see in teh market that are long and thin.

i will post the pics of my beloved aubergines tomorrow

[lisa4star]

Thanks 4 help Lesley! Do I mist them just with water? They r in a greenhouse. Fingers crossed they work this year. Love to eat them in a tomato and mozzarella bake.

[Gevalia]

im not certain if we had the same problems with aubergines before since i live in a tropical country. but maybe, it has something to do with pollination?

each aubergine flower has male and female parts so its all ready to pollinate itself. but it still needs some human (or insect )intervention.

you may want to try tickling the inside of an open flower in the morning with a little paint brush. this will ensure that the pollen coming from male part is being trasnferred to the female part. the flower remains viable for few days so theres no harm in repeating the process the next day. i did this and i now have several aubergines getting larger each day

[judimac]

I am crossing my fingers as I have 6 plants of Listada de Grandia. I've only ever had 1 aubergine ripen!

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by lisa4star

Thanks 4 help Lesley! Do I mist them just with water? They r in a greenhouse. Fingers crossed they work this year. Love to eat them in a tomato and mozzarella bake.

Hi Lisa, as Gevalia said aubergine flowers are self pollinating so you can just give the plants a little, gentle shake as you walk past to dislodge the pollen. Misting the plants with just water helps to set the fruits and you can leave a bucket of water in the greenhouse to help with humidity as the plants don't like a dry atmosphere. I bet they taste great!!

[vegetable-gardener]

We used to grow aubergines in tunnels. And we had loads of them (grew them for restraurants), we watered overhead because that helps set the fruit.

[Peony]

Do you have to pinch out some of the flowers, to allow the fruit to develop?

[lisa4star]

Hi Peony,

As I posted this thread, I am far from being an expert - as far as I am aware you don't need to pinch out any flowers however I am not 100% sure so maybe someone else will help and if I am wrong that could be another reason I didn't get any aubergines last year.

[lisa4star]

Well I do believe there are little baby aubergines growing on my plant - woo hoo. Fingers crossed they will grow to be big and purple shiny beauties.

[Lesley Jay]

Originally Posted by lisa4star

Well I do believe there are little baby aubergines growing on my plant - woo hoo. Fingers crossed they will grow to be big and purple shiny beauties.

That's brilliant Lisa!! Fingers crossed.


Hi Lisa and Peony, you can pinch out the growing tip of the plant when it gets to 30cms - 40cms (12 inches - 16 inches) tall. This helps make a bushier plant. Some people do remove the later flowers once the plant has set the number of aubergines that you want to grow. This helps channel the plants energy into the aubergines that are already growing on the plant and hopefully producing good sized fruits.