This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Saturday, 11 August 2012

Eggplant (Aubergine) Update


I never thought of Northern Ireland as having the right climate to grow eggplant / aubergine but I'm happy to report I'm getting fruits. The developing eggplant are tiny but hopefully they'll grow into a decent size (and better yet, be tasty). 

Variety: Aubergine Early Long Purple 3 (Eggplant). Sown indoor from seed on 8 April 2012.

An article I read on the internet says to harvest when they reach their full size and are shiny. This makes me smile - when growing a plant for the first time, how do you know when it reaches its full size? I'm thinking I'll give them to Sept before harvesting. Any thoughts on this welcome!
Above and Below: The fruits developing - quite a nice surprise this week.
Above and Below: The plants are kept in a sun room / conservatory in medium sized pots, and fed weekly with tomato feed. 

Above: This photo shows the size of a plant approx 7 weeks ago. Photo taken on 21 June. 

Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.
Posted by at
Labels: , ,

10 comments:

  1. elaine 11 August 2012 at 10:55

    They look quite exotic don't they - mine started off okay but now the fruits are dropping off - too much water, not enough - who knows.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mark Willis11 August 2012 at 12:37

    Kelli, your Aubergines are at about the same stage as mine. I hope to be harvesting the first couple in a week or 10 days.
    On my blogpost called "Taking it easy" (8 Aug), Gardenglut left me a comment about how to tell when Aubergines are ripe, which you might find useful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Peggy11 August 2012 at 13:13

    Hi Kelli, they look good enough to show! We have harvested 3 of ours so far, they are fatter but not as long as yours. Off now to Mark's blog to see if we should have waited?!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Egretta Wells blog11 August 2012 at 14:35

    Your eggplant looks great! They should be ready to harvest before Aug. ends, I would think.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Martyn12 August 2012 at 01:59

    Hi Kelli
    Ours are in flower but no fruits yet. Ever hopeful.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sue Garrett12 August 2012 at 02:11

    You're right it isn't a helpful guide for a beginner is it? We don't have that worry - as Martyn said - no fruit at all.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Annie12 August 2012 at 13:47

    Very impressive...love those poppies too. I have some seeds that I must get in the ground soon, ready for our spring

    ReplyDelete
  8. Neesie13 August 2012 at 01:07

    How wonderfully exciting for you Kelli...they look fantastic!
    They've just got to do you good because they just look healthy never mind the taste! Enjoy ;D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unknown13 August 2012 at 07:10

    Those egg plants look great. I can think of ten different things to cook from them off the top of my head. Could you please tell what size container you are growing them in and how long did they take before setting fruit? Also are they high maintenance?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)