How to grow eggplant (aubergine) in a home veggie patch

Growing eggplant in a home veggie patch

Eggplant, or aubergine if that is the name you grew up with, has a reputation for being a fussy crop and I honestly do not think that is fair. It came out of a hot climate and it wants the same handful of things every single year, so once you know what those things are it stops being difficult and starts being predictable. Most of the failures people describe to me in the shop come down to one of two things, either the plant went into cold soil or it never got enough sun, and both of those get decided before you plant anything.

Wait for warm soil, not a warm afternoon

This is the one that catches everybody out. Eggplant will sit and sulk in cold ground and it will not grow away again properly even after the weather turns, so a plant that went out too early usually stays behind the one that went out a fortnight later. Plant out in late spring once the frosts have genuinely finished and the soil has had a few weeks of warmth in it, and if you want to be sure about it, push your hand into the bed first thing in the morning rather than judging it off a nice afternoon.

If you have started seedlings indoors, keep them in pots a bit longer than you think you need to. A slightly pot-bound seedling that goes into warm soil will beat a big one that went into cold soil, every time.

Full sun, and shelter from the wind

Give it 6 to 8 hours of direct sun. Around here the north-facing side of a fence or a shed is the spot that bakes, so that is where these plants want to be, and a bit of shelter on the windy side is worth more than people realise, because wind knocks the flowers about and a flower that gets knocked off is a fruit you were never going to get. A row of pots, a low hedge or the shed wall itself all do the job.

Soil that drains and still holds moisture

Eggplant is a hungry plant with a fairly shallow root system, so it wants soil that has plenty of organic matter in it without staying wet. Dig compost or aged manure through the bed a few weeks before you plant, and if your patch is heavy clay, that organic matter is doing more for you than any fertiliser will. The pH it likes sits between 5.5 and 6.8, which is worth checking with a test kit if you have never done it, because acidic soil quietly locks up nutrients the plant has paid for.

Water deeply, and on a rhythm

Deep, regular watering is what keeps the fruit setting. Short daily sprinkles wet the top of the soil and leave the roots dry, so a proper soak two or three times a week beats a splash every evening, and you adjust the frequency to the weather rather than the calendar. Water at the base instead of over the top, because wet leaves overnight is how fungal problems get a start.

Mulch is doing half the work here. A good layer of sugar cane or straw keeps the moisture in, keeps the soil temperature steady and stops the surface crusting over, and it is the cheapest improvement you can make to a veggie bed.

Feed it, then change what you feed it

Up until it flowers, a balanced feed is fine and it wants the nitrogen to build the plant. Once the flowers start, swap to something with more potassium in it, because that is what pushes fruit rather than leaves. A liquid feed every couple of weeks through the fruiting stretch keeps it going, and a plant that stops producing halfway through the season has usually just run out of food.

Stake it before it needs staking

A loaded eggplant plant gets top-heavy and the stems snap in a gust, which is a miserable way to lose a crop you have waited months for. Put a stake in when you plant, tie it loosely with soft twine, and add a second tie as it grows. Doing it early means you are not pushing a stake through the root ball later on.

Give the flowers a hand

Eggplant flowers are self-fertile and they still need movement to shed their pollen, so if you have a healthy plant that flowers and then drops everything, the bees may simply not be getting to it. A gentle shake of the plant in the middle of the day does the job, and a soft brush works if you want to be thorough about it.

The pests that actually turn up here

Aphids and whitefly are the common two, and both of them cluster on the new growth and under the leaves where you will not see them unless you go looking. The 28-spotted ladybird is the other one worth knowing, and it is easy to mix up with the helpful ladybirds, so count the spots before you do anything about it. Two-spotted mite shows up as fine stippling on the leaves in a hot dry run.

Check the undersides of the leaves once a week and you will catch nearly all of it early, when a hose-off or a light oil spray is enough. Leave it a month and you are dealing with a colony instead of a few insects.

Pick it glossy

A ripe eggplant is firm with a shine on the skin, and the moment that shine starts to go dull it is heading towards bitter and seedy. Cut it off with secateurs or a sharp knife and leave a short stub of stem on, because pulling at it tears the plant about. Picking regularly also tells the plant to keep setting, so the more you take the more you get.

Shop related products

Did you know we also keep garden stakes in the shop in hardwood, bamboo and plastic-coated steel, along with garden twine for tying up. Those are not all on the website, so give us a ring on (08) 8536 4333 to check what is on the shelf.

The rest of the range is in our garden centre, and if you are picking up bagged soil, manure and mulch in one go, have a look at our local delivery. It is $5 around Strathalbyn and $10 on the regional run, on goods bought from us.

Keep reading

Still learning, same as everyone, and still counting spots on ladybirds before I panic.

Candeece
Strathalbyn H Hardware

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