Aubergines 2022

[greenishfing]

This is the bit that worries me because it exposes my lack of knowledge of plant physiology: which bits are stems and how many stems do need anyway? Which bits are just leaves? And worst of all, which bits will become flowers?

I agree with Mr bones. If they grow, I just let them get on with it. If the plants appear happy they never let me down and they just keep on giving......

[quanglewangle]

Setting all this masterful inactivity aside, surely suckers like this have to go.

[greenishfing]

The only thing I remove from mine are dead leaves. I'm not saying this is right but I usually get a good crop. They usually end up looking really untidy.

[greenishfing]

Just to add, nearly every year I suddenly get an influx of greenfly in the greenhouse. They only seem to go for the aubergine plants. The first time this happened I spent ages attempting to squish as many of the little bug*ers as I could. A very messy business. Two days later I got an inundation of ladybird larvae happily munching the remainder. Now I leave the greenfly alone and within a few days the ladybird larvae have always appeared and got rid of them for me.

[Snoop Puss]

You'll get flowers and fruit on what you call a sucker, quanglewangle. Depends if you want a small number of large fruit or prefer more fruit of a smaller size. There are just two of us, so I tend to go for more fruit of what are for us a more manageable size. I don't remove any side branches or 'suckers'. They all bear fruit.

[Babru]

I do remove tomato suckers, otherwise it's a jungle and it's hard to see the fruit. I might try removing some from my aubergine (thanks for the photo quangle). This is a very informative thread, all. Thanks.

[quanglewangle]

Have flowers (edit: flower buds obviously!) now. All four plants have same arrangement: one big and two small in a cluster.

[quanglewangle]

Flowers about to open now

[Mr Bones]

Same here Q

[quanglewangle]

Mr Bones your flowers, like your seedlings in ypur earlier posts have more colour than mine. Moneymaker?

[Mr Bones]

Mr Bones your flowers, like your seedlings in ypur earlier posts have more colour than mine. Moneymaker?

Yes, Kings seeds version of Money Maker

[quanglewangle]

I've got aphids. Not a very bad infestation and only on the aubergines.

Never had them before but was late getting the greenhouse bed marigolds going. Had some aphidus biological control delivered today and started releasing them.

Can't hear any munching yet but we'll see.

[Mr Bones]

^^^ Time to get a few ladybirds in there Q

[Babru]

I've got aphids. Not a very bad infestation and only on the aubergines.

Never had them before but was late getting the greenhouse bed marigolds going. Had some aphidus biological control delivered today and started releasing them.

Can't hear any munching yet but we'll see.

I've put out some ladybird larvae onto my aphid-infested roses. What biological control are you using quangle?

[quanglewangle]

I've put out some ladybird larvae onto my aphid-infested roses. What biological control are you using quangle?

I'm using Aphidius Colemani, a tiny wasp that stings and parasitizes the aphids.