Aubergine woes revisited

[Flummery]

Mine are very thin and a bit pale. Like comedy pencils! I grew them once before - many years ago - but I can't remember what variety those were. These are Long Purple. Well, you can't fault the description I suppose, but Thin Purple might have been more accurate.

[Alice]

Did anybody have good aubs ? This is your chance to shine and share your secrets.

[Dobby]

Yea we had a few good ones Ill get sue to post a picky tomra I got a camra phone now but dont know how to put them on hear I used chikin pellits and tomaright (tomatto food) had musak for the first time and whent back for seconds
I planted them early in pots 2 of the small stripy ones and 2 of the black ones
I dont kow if we have done well or not as we dont have anything to comper it to
you should see the cucumber 21" (the cucmber that is)
and the huge parsnip

[Curvy Vixen]

I got one, I got one!!

Well I ate it yesterday but at least I got one LOL!

There is another little baby one deep within a flower that I have high hopes for now and lots of flowers but I have no idea really what to do with them other than give them tomato food and chicken poo!

I'll bring it into the house through the winter and nuture it for next year..it's the only plant that will be allowed in!

[Seahorse]

Mine have done quite well, I think! I've got four plants with about 20 aubergines on them. I've already eaten a couple and am planning to make moussaka tonight. I haven't done anything special, they were raised in a plastic greenhouse and watered with my home made nettle fertiliser. I had an attack of red spider mite a few days ago, which was a bit alarming but after hosing them down with a water/milk/corflour solution (meant to wash most of them off and gum up and still left!) and isolation in the mini greenhouses, they seem to be ok.

They're Calliope F1s, which have the huge advantage of being harvestable and edible quite small. I will try and do a pic later.

Claire

[JazzDuke]

My Calliope are doing OK. Black Beauty was a failure. A mini one (not baby rosanna) is also doing well. Chillis were a failure thought his year.

[Dobby]

I'll bring it into the house through the winter and nuture it for next year..it's the only plant that will be allowed in!

I did not know you could do that
I was ready to plant some more seeds
Yes we got next years seeds already spent £20 when wyvales had seeeds at 50% of

[Hazel at the Hill]

Aubergine were one of the things I was going to try next year (along with peppers) but looking at this thread, the peppers sound to be the easier of the two.

Has anyone had success with augergines outside, or are you all growing them in the greenhouse?

[scarey55]

Hello Hazel,

I bought 6 plants from the local "garden centre" and just stuck them in the ground outside and didn't fuss them at all. Sorry, not very technical but I did manage to produce 3 aubergines. I am not kidding myself that it was a bumper crop but I did get them big enough to make ratatouille with some of the many the courgettes (note to self: just 2 courgette plants next year )
bisous,
Scarey

[Hazel at the Hill]

Well I'll give 'em a go then! Probably here at home where it's more sheltered than at the Hill tho'.

[Curvy Vixen]

Mine is outside too...The only thing I do is put it in a bit of a sheltered spot cos it's a little top heavy. I'll re-pot it after it's finished producing aubs and put it in the kitchen for the winter as I have no greenhouse.....yet...hee hee hee...*evil cackle*

[ulla]

My aubergine plants also had slug attacks and did not produce anything, either. Before I planted them out they were nice and happy and strong but they did not like the wind and the cold rainy weather in Edinburgh in June and July. When I saw them going downhill I covered them with one of these protective fleece, but then the snails seemed to get all their leaves.
The protective clothes seemed to work on both the tomatoes and the peppers and the aubergines in so far that they did not suffer from the rain but dried out...and of course their flowers could not be pollinated either.

[Woofster]

Last year I had a great crop of aubergines (in the greenhouse) but this year has been a flop. I had three Black Beauty plants of which one produced a good sized fruit which in my greed for it to grow bigger I left too long and a despicable slug ate holes in it. I did put the remains in a curry along with the solitary product from my Orient Express. The latter is producing another fruit or two but it looks like I won't be able to fill my freezer with homegrown ratatouille this year. Tomatoes were blighted as well. OTOH peppers (Ace), cukes (Passandra - recommend) and courgettes (climbing Black Forest v. good) have all done well. That is the magic and joy of growing veg - nothing is ever quite the same.