BACK

Aubergine

Solanum melongena

INTRODUCTION

Aubergine, known as Egg Plant, has traditionally always been a warm climate plant. Originating from India, it has now become a viable crop for the UK climate with better varieties more readily available.

With a little care and attention and if sown early enough with heat, this versatile plant will deliver delicious fruits all summer long and into the autumn. Better suited to greenhouse or polytunnel production, although with a warm suntrap in the garden against a south-facing wall it can be successful outdoors - if not a little bit more challenging.

Soil Preparation

Aubergines are not suited to open ground growing in the Uk unless you can provide a hot and humid environment.

However, they are well suited to greenhouse, polytunnel or even cold frame culture.

Aubergines require a long growing season with consistently warm and humid conditions.

A convenient method of production is to grow in pots or grow bags. If using pots, an ideal container size of at least 5-10 litres should be used filled with quality compost.

Sowing & Planting

Seeds should be sown early in the year, preferably, January or February. Always use a heated propagator and maintain a temperature of 22-30oc if you wish to achieve the best results.

Seeds will take about 10 days to germinate. When seedlings are large enough to handle, prick out into 9cm pots and try to keep growing on temperatures at 16-20oc.

During late spring, pot on into final growing position. Maintain temperatures at 16-20oc and high humidity.

Growing & General Cultivation

Keep well watered throughout the growing season and feed on a weekly basis with a high potash feed.

When plants reach a height of 60cm (24 inches) remove/pinch out growing tip to encourage side growth and early flowering.

To obtain the very best quality harvests from your plants, it may be advisable to limit the number of fruits per plant to no more than 4 or 5. Allowing all flowers to develop to maturity will result in a lot of smaller fruit.

Remove any old flowers from developing fruits to reduce the risk of disease.

Plants will require canes for support.

Maintain temperature and humidity.

Pests & Diseases

Aubergines will be prone to all of the usual greenhouse pests and diseases, especially during warm weather:

Aphids will be inevitable at some stage of growth. These sap-sucking insects will secrete sticky honeydew, distort foliage and potentially spread viruses. Use an Organic Insecticide or consider Biological control. See Product Directory for details.

Greenhouse White Fly can affect greenhouse crops but is not normally a problem with outdoor production. If a problem occurs, consider Biological control. See Product Directory for details.

Red Spider Mite shows up as yellow mottling on the foliage. On the underside of leaves, webbing will become obvious in severe cases, with mites clearly visible. The pest is normally more of an issue on indoor crops, particularly during hot, dry weather. Biological control is available. See Product Directory for details.

Powdery Mildew is a white powdery deposit that can cover stems and foliage. It is usually associated with dry weather and to prevent, avoid plants from drying out. Remove affected foliage as needed or in severe outbreaks, use a suitable fungicide - see Product Directory.