{"id":47,"date":"2014-03-04T07:40:43","date_gmt":"2014-03-04T14:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=47"},"modified":"2014-03-06T02:18:34","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T09:18:34","slug":"growing-aubergines-eggplants-solanum-melongena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/tips\/growing-aubergines-eggplants-solanum-melongena\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Growing Aubergines in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Aubergine by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/4850146712\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4093\/4850146712_75b272f8e5.jpg\" alt=\"Aubergine\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Grow Eggplants from Seed<\/h2>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Fill a pot with seed compost then firm lightly.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Scatter a few seeds across the surface \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not too thickly<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Cover with a thin layer of soil or vermiculite, water and label.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Place in a propagator or warm spot or on a windowsill with a plastic bag over the top to help germination. Remove bag when seeds have germinated in about 7-10 days.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">When seedlings are 3cm tall give each their own 7.5cm pot.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Pot into a larger pot with general purpose compost when roots show through drainage holes.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">When plants are 25cm tall, stake with a cane and pinch out the top to make new branches.<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Plant into large pots for a sunny sheltered spot or grow in a greenhouse<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Pinch out the growing tip when 18\u00e2\u20ac\u00b3 high and the side shoots when 3\/4 fruit are set<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Feed, using a high potash feed, when the   fruit has set .<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Aubergines can suffer from blossom end rot, so ensure that  plants do not dry out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Watering<\/strong><br \/>\nAubergines are incredibly thirsty and dry compost will quickly lead to a check in growth.<br \/>\nEnsure that the plants never dry or the fruit will be poor and tough.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Feeding<\/strong><br \/>\nThe first flowers will appear when the plants are quite small.<br \/>\nGive high potash feed when first flowers show.<br \/>\nWhen this happens feed weekly with a liquid feed tomato fertiliser.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cropping<\/strong><br \/>\nFruits can be harvested with scissors or a sharp knife about August-September<br \/>\nEach aubergine or <a href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=14649\">eggplant<\/a> will produce up to 3 or 4 fruits, depending on variety and the weather.<br \/>\nPick when skin is shiny and fruit is a good size.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=2283&amp;awinaffid=81944&amp;clickref=&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thompson-morgan.com\/plants1\/search.html?section=all&amp;search=aubergines\">Aubergines from Thompson Morgan <\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Aubergine and   Varieties to Grow<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Egg-plants or Aubergines are related to potato, tomato and deadly-nightshade.<\/li>\n<li>Aubergines may survive outside in mild areas but they like warmth.<\/li>\n<li>Old varieties had bitter flesh that needed salting but modern varieties are now much more palatable.<\/li>\n<li>Outdoor fruits will be smaller.<\/li>\n<li>For the small fruited cultivars it might be six inside and three out of doors<\/li>\n<li>Aubergine  Baby Rosanna F1 produces an abundance of golf ball sized, bitter free baby fruits  throughout the summer on dwarf plants.<\/li>\n<li>Spineless plants of Aubergine Calliope produce a heavy crop of oval, baby  fruits that mature to  a cream streaked purple colour.<\/li>\n<li>Traditionally coloured black varieties include Florida High Bush and Moneymaker F1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Seed varieties from<a href=\"http:\/\/www.awin1.com\/cread.php?awinmid=2283&amp;awinaffid=81944&amp;clickref=&amp;p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thompson-morgan.com\/plants1\/search.html?section=all&amp;search=&lt;b&gt;aubergines&lt;\/b&gt;\"> Thompson Morgan<\/a><br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n<strong>Cooking Aubergines<\/strong><br \/>\nAubergines are in season from August until October<br \/>\nAubergine can be purple or white, or any shade in between. Traditional fat banana shape, as well as balls and even think stick-like aubergines all taste similar<br \/>\nThere are cooking details on <a href=\"http:\/\/vegbox-recipes.co.uk\/ingredients\/aubergine.php\">Vegbox <\/a> the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbcgoodfood.com\/content\/knowhow\/glossary\/aubergine\/\">BBC<\/a> and other <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cookitsimply.com\/category-0020-0196t.html\">cooking sites<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grow Eggplants from Seed Fill a pot with seed compost then firm lightly. Scatter a few seeds across the surface \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not too thickly Cover with a thin layer of soil or vermiculite, water and label. Place in a propagator or warm spot or on a windowsill with a plastic bag over the top to help germination. Remove bag when seeds have germinated in about 7-10 days. When seedlings are 3cm tall give each their own 7.5cm pot. Pot into&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/gardening\/tips\/growing-aubergines-eggplants-solanum-melongena\/\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vegetables-herbs","category-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}