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Aubergines vs Toms maybe vs chillis

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  • Aubergines vs Toms maybe vs chillis

    So - I've sown a few aubergine seeds today and know that its probably way to early as I've only got unheated GH for it - but I've failed with em for many years and am only trying one more time as I came across a packet that I didn't know I had. Planing to do them again at the start of May but then I guess I won't have enough time to get them to bulk up (if they even get going)
    So - my query is based around this: I can grow toms and chillies quite well - aubergines are supposed to be only a little more fussy than toms
    So - if you can do aubergines what are the things that I might be missing out?
    sigpic
    1574 gin and tonics please Monica, large ones.

  • #2
    Sow in January and grow on until you can leave them in the GH overnight.



    ...mind you, I've never been successful!

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    • #3
      i tried growing those white and purple aubergines after seeing them grown on that allotment program afew years ago they grew to about 2 foot but i never got anything even start to fruit on them
      The Dude abides.

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      • #4
        I managed one small aubergine last year - can't figure out how. The ones I grew the year before didn't ripen. I know nothing about successfully growing aubergines.

        How many plants did you have? It may be that, unlike toms, they need to be externally pollinated and each plant only seemed to have one or two flowers open at the same time.

        I only had a couple of plants so growing several plants and companion planting with pollinator friendly plants may improve chances. Not growing them this year though

        New all singing all dancing blog - Jasons Jungle

        �I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb."
        ― Thomas A. Edison

        �Negative results are just what I want. They�re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don�t.�
        ― Thomas A. Edison

        - I must be a Nutter,VC says so -

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        • #5
          I have loads of aubs from one called Ophelia - it chucks out baby aubs at an impressive rate of knots. I have best results in well-fed flower buckets outside when it's warm. They get a good handful of BFB in the potting bucket and then comfrey tea every 3 weeks.The ones I grow in the greenhouse struggle with lack of pollinators, for all that they are supposed to sort themselves out.

          I start mine in Feb usually - this year lots failed so I've only just resown rosa bianca and antigua. Hopefully they can catch up. I have 2 ophelias crawling along in the growlights.
          http://mudandgluts.com - growing fruit and veg in suburbia

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          • #6
            I have a tray of Black Beauty seedlings which I started off in a heated propagater in January. They have been sitting on a windowsill and are about 5 inches tall. I have just started taking them out to the unheated greenhouse during the day.

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            • #7
              Here comes heresy: would you consider buying in plug plants to give you a head start?

              It's what everyone does in the area of Spain where I live, simply because the season isn't long enough to get a decent harvest off them. That said, because everyone here does it, the plants are really cheap (about 30 pence each) in comparison with plug plants in the UK.

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              • #8
                Here are my notes on my attempts at aubergines over 2 years in my friend's greenhouse:

                2014
                Plant (unnamed variety) bought 24/5 at the 6 leaf stage and planted in the greenhouse gro-bed alongside tomatoes.
                By 20/7 produced an aubergine the size of an egg, but then wilted and looked extremely sick. I ate the aubergine. The plant died.

                2015
                Plant (Black Beauty) bought 14/6 from Wyevale and put in the greenhouse. 22/6 several aphids removed. Potted up into 7.5l pot and put on large green tray on greenhouse floor alongside potatoes. The plant is already not looking great and I don't hold out much hope for it.
                By 12/7 the plant is growing well, athough no sign of flowers yet. Still problems with aphids – I'm spraying the plant with dilute washing up liquid.
                Flowers started forming mid August, by which time the plant was quite large. However by 1st September none of the flowers had actually set fruit despite attempts at hand pollination.
                10/10 plant is now badly infested with red spider mite having been looking sick for a while. Although it grew into a strong, healthy 2ft high plant with plenty of leaves and flowers at first, not a single fruit even started to develop. Plant was cut down and thrown away.

                Growing these is a waste of time and space.
                A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP. - Leonard Nimoy

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                • #9
                  I've never had luck growing aubergines most a plants ever produces is a couple of fruits but at least the purples flowers are pretty.
                  Location....East Midlands.

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                  • #10
                    Year 1 - I grew strong plants in the greenhouse borders but they failed to set fruit - despite lots of (pretty) flowers which I did try to pollinate with a brush

                    Year 2 - I grew weaker plants in pots of MFB, despite feeding, but did get some fruit because I put them outside on the paving for the buzzies to pollinate them.

                    Got fed up after low yield, so didn't try them for a few years.....

                    This year a final try: same routine to start - sow Feb/March in propagator, then onto window ledges, then in & out to greenhouse, but then (this is the different bit) they will finally go into the biggest tubs I can find. Soil with some slow release fertiliser granules,at the bottom to hold more water and mpc for the top half. Hopefully this will mean stronger plants but they will still, eventually, go outside for pollination.
                    Fingers crossed

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                    • #11
                      I usually start my aubergines off a bit earlier, probably first week of Feb, under lights, and have got a few nice aubergines off them in the past

                      That being said last year I cheated, and got some of those grafted aubergine plants, and got loads of aubergines off them, still got some in the freezer now

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                      • #12
                        I agree with Snoop. The only time I had success with the tricky little blighters was 3 years ago when I bought 2 plug plants, potted them straight up into large containers, dumped them outside and watered them when I remembered.
                        I have enough seed pandering to do (my tom seeds WILL get sorted this week) without trying to grow a healthy, cropping plant.
                        I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work. Thomas A. Edison

                        Outreach co-ordinator for the Gnome, Pixie and Fairy groups within the Nutters Club.

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