Grow Your Own Vegetable Garden
How to Grow Eggplants
General
Eggplants are closely related to Capsicums, chillis and tomatoes and as such, have very similar growing needs.
There are quite a few varieties available, all requiring full sun and warm climates. If they do not receive both of these, they will flower but not fruit as the plants require nighttime temperatures above 20 deg c. Everytime I have grown eggplants, I have had great success, even though we live in a cooler climate, we do experience hot summers. Fortunately those hot summer nights that are not so fun when sleeping, do = eggplants!
Eggplants aren't as fussy as the other plants sharing this bed as far as soil conditions are concerned, but like the others, they do require staking as the sheer size and weight of the fruit,combined with any reasonable breeze will end in broken stems. You can expect yields, depending on variety, from 2 to 7kg's.
Planting Guide
| Position: Full Sun, protected from strong winds |
| Plant: In cooler climates, plant out as advanced seedlings in late spring after all frosts have passed and soil temperatures have warmed. Can be grown from seed, plant in punnets and keep in a greenhouse about 6 weeks before Spring frosts pass, then treat as above. |
| Frost tolerant: No - Plants are Temperate to semi tropical plants |
Heat tolerant: Yes - but extreme summer temperatures can burn fruit so cover may be required. |
| Feeding: Plants like a well composted and manured, free draining bed. Feed ever two weeks in summer with a liquid feed. |
| Plant Group: Belongs to the solanum family so can be grown with others such as tomatoes, chillis and potatoes. Must not be grown in a bed that previously grew these. |
| Pests: Birds, snails and slugs as seedlings but there aren't any major pest issues with eggplants, they can suffer from aphids and like tomatoes "wilt" caused by bacterial infection. Generally, a healthy productive patch will be enough to keep the plants in good condition. Refer to the pests page for treatment information. |
| Harvesting: Matured fruit should have smooth shiny skins and immature seeds. Cut fruit from the plants with scissors or secateurs. Take care as the stems at the crown of the fruit have small spines. |
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