Aubergines 2022

[Lymmguineas]

Ok, so I've invested in a cheap lamp.
A couple of quick questions for those of you that use one for your seedlings.
How many hours a day do you leave it on for?
Are there disadvantages (apart from the electricity bill) for leaving it on 24/7?
Thanks.

[quanglewangle]

Like you Mr Bones I had a look around and it is a bit of a lucky dip.

[Mr Bones]

Ha.. looking at Moneymaker from supplier to supplier the bract changes colour and so does the shape and colour of the fruit. Bit of a lucky dip really
So you're right Q - it does seem like there are Moneymakers and there are Moneymakers.

[Mr Bones]

Mr Bones Your Moneymakers look different to mine. Yours seem to have purple bracts and mine are usually green. Also yours are quite slender, while mine are more teardrop shape.
So it seems there may be Moneymakers and Moneymakers

How strange. We most definitely only had Moneymaker for the last few years (they're the only variety we've bought), have just checked a photo of last years and they have purple bracts too.
Also on King's Seeds website
https://www.kingsseeds.com/Products/...anum-melongena

[quanglewangle]

Mr Bones Your Moneymakers look different to mine. Yours seem to have purple bracts and mine are usually green. Also yours are quite slender, while mine are more teardrop shape.
So it seems there may be Moneymakers and Moneymakers

[quanglewangle]

How do you know when to pick them?

Any time they are big enough but before they turn matt.
Mrs quanglewangle likes to stuff them so they need to be quite big.

[Babru]

How do you know when to pick them?

[quanglewangle]

Aubergines are always eaten under-ripe. Once they are ripe they loose their shine and are not nice to eat.

[Babru]

Thank you Mr Bones, I'll try one plant and see how it goes. Fingers crossed for a decent summer.

[Mr Bones]

And another one taken June 19th 2020. We let them grow a little bigger earlier in the season and pick them small near the end (Sept/Oct) when they tend to contain more seeds.

[Mr Bones]

Took this photo July 4th 2017 just before the first pick of the season
Edit to say these and the ones below are Moneymaker.

[Babru]

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/au...xoClbIQAvD_BwE

Reading this, it says you can pick and use them any size - is this feasible? Or is it September before the first 2 inch one is ready!

[Babru]

Anyone know of some tasty mini aubergines I could try? Our season is a lot shorter than somewhere like Cornwall. I have great success with snack peppers, so aubergines might be the same.

[quanglewangle]

Have gone for Moneymaker this year in the hope that reliability trumps fanciness

+1 for reliability and Moneymaker!
Leggyness: if you are able to overlook the dire aesthetic these cheap lamps seem to work. Run off a phone charger. Could be used to supplement windowsill daylight.

[Chippy Minton]

Just sowed ours. We're on the Cheshire Staffordshire border. It's always a game in my experience of not too early that they get leggy on the windowsill whilst waiting for the temperature to be right for an unheated greenhouse (very late last year, lost the first run of cucumbers) against sowing too late and getting nothing.

Have gone for Moneymaker this year in the hope that reliability trumps fanciness