Aubergines!

Hi, I am very new to this gardening caper, and I am in need of some help. Iââ?¬â?¢ve been trying to grow Aubergines, and thought I was doing ok. Iââ?¬â?¢ve got them growing in pots (8ââ?¬Â or so), in peat free compost, mostly in plastic greenhouses, although Iââ?¬â?¢ve got 3 growing indoors. Theyââ?¬â?¢re now grown to about 18 inches high, with good strong green leaves and with plenty of flowers ââ?¬â?? but no fruit! My earliest batch were planted at the end of January, and in some cases have flowered up to 4 or 5 times. Iââ?¬â?¢ve sprayed them a couple of times a week for the last 2 or 3 months with soapy water to ward off flies ââ?¬â?? was that a bad idea? Also, Iââ?¬â?¢ve moved them around fairly constantly ââ?¬â?? would they be better off being left alone? I've been feeding them with tomato food weekly, which seems to have helped them grow taller at least. All help welcome!

 

I'm no veggie grower, but to get fruit, you need pollination. If you've been spraying them with soapy water, and moving them a lot - I doubt that that would occur :D . If you've still got some flowers, take a paint brush and see if you can make like a bee, transferring pollen from the stamens of one flower to the stigma of another. Then keep your fingers crossed, though its getting late.

 

Thanks Fran! With the help of a gardening book to tell me what the stamen and stigma were (dropped out of Biology at 14 I'm afraid!) I've had a go, although in the end I think all I've done is poke a kid's paintbrush in the flower of one, wiggled it about a bit and then poked it into the flower of another and done the same. Do the flowers need to be on separate plants do you know, or can you use the two flowers from the same plant? I've still got plenty of buds, so it may yet work. If not, I've learned lessons for next year!

 

Sorry, my lack of veggie knowledge shows here - I don't know whether aubergines need more than one plant, or one will do - I think its best to use more than one plant. I would also get them all outside, and maybe the bees will help the paintbrush (but no soap spraying :D ). I shall be interested in hearing whether you get fruit forming. As the flower dies, then keep an eye on it and see if looks like a fruit taking shape. Meanwhile keep watered and fed.

 

Question - what is half a centimetre long and shiny purple?

Quiet at the back, if that was the answer I'd be on a different website wouldn't I? :D

Success! I have my first Aubergine. This might not seem much to the more advanced among you, there being 18 plants and it being late September, but in my house this is cause for celebration. I put the plants out in the yard (avoiding too much direct sunlight when one wilted horribly), got busy with the paint brush and something seems to have worked. Fran, I salute you!

Next year the plan is sow in January, keep inside until late May, move to the plastic greenhouse then and when buds appear move outside (next to our thriving herb garden which seems to attract bees by the bucket load).

 

Oh wow, congratulations - you must be dead chuffed. :D Keep an eye out for the night time temperature eh

 

Thanks Fran! Yes I think I will move my one and only successful plant back inside and lop off any other buds (I'm told you should normally get 3-4 fruit per plant but that's not going to happen now), but to be honest at this stage I will still be surprised if I get anything we can actually eat - it's more of an experiment to help do it properly next year.

 

Whoa don't be to fast to move indoors or into greenhouse - or indeed do anything. Leave it where it is, keep up the watering and feeding and if a frost is forecast, just move it under cover overnight (or cover with fleece) - and back where it was in the morning. If flowers are still forming leave them, they will either pollinate or not.

I have very tender plants in containers on my patio - and they will stay outside for as long as I can - better light, better ventilation better everything.

 

Hello everyone, new member here. I have grown aubergines for the first time this year. I started the plant off initially behind glass but once about 15 to 18 inches moved it outdoors. Have fed it throughout the summer on tomato feed and am pleased to say I have one aubergine about the size of a full grown apple (round!) I have some other healthy blooms but suspect it will be too late for them to do anything this year. The bees must have done their work either that or they are self pollinating because I certainly did not aid mine to pollinate.

 

Congratulation :D