Lots of flowers but no aubergines

[annacruachan]

The flowers on my otherwise healthy aubergine plants keep going brown and dropping off, leaving nothing but a bare stalk behind. Am I overwatering? underwatering? Is there anything else which could cause this? Help please!

[Flummery]

Maybe tickle them with a paintbrush?

[Alice]

I know what you mean Anna. I had the same problem with them for a few years. This is the first year I have got them to set fruit - and they're whoppers.

But a couple of things which might help
Aubergines like it hot, hot, hot so it may be if they are not hot enough they won't set.
I think mine are doing it because they are in the conservatory this year.
And they like to be humid. You could stand the pot in a tray of gravel and keep the gravel damp and / or mist them over with water every day.
They don't like to dry out.
Maybe this heatwave coming up will help them.
Good luck.

[smallblueplanet]

So you've finally got aubergines Alice? I look forward to seeing the photos - and yes anna as Alice says, aubs like it hot to set fruit.

[amandaandherveg]

So you've finally got aubergines Alice? I look forward to seeing the photos - and yes anna as Alice says, aubs like it hot to set fruit.

Go on Alice, show SBP your aubergines - they really are something special.

[Alice]

Yes, SBP, I've got great aubs. The early long purple seeds I got from you and the Viserba I got from Amanda. Whopping aubergines. I'll take an up to date pic and post it tomorrow.
The peppers sweet apple I got from you are cracking on too. Thank you.

[smallblueplanet]

Excellent news Alice, look forward to the pictures.

[realfood]

Remember that aubergenes have both male and female flowers and you need to transfer the male pollen to the female flowers.

[smallblueplanet]

Where did you get that from realfood? Eggplants/aubergines are self-pollinating.

[realfood]

Mine have had both male and female flowers when I have grown them. I have grown both Listada de Gandia and Apple Green. I assumed that the flowers that have no embryonic aubergines behind the petals are male.

[smallblueplanet]

I have grown applegreen and many other varieties, and never seen that. I've also googled for info and the info says self-pollinating, maybe the non-embryonic flowers you mention are just unpollinated?

[annacruachan]

Maybe tickle them with a paintbrush?

Will do, Flummery. Thanks.

[annacruachan]

Aubergines like it hot, hot, hot so it may be if they are not hot enough they won't set.
I think mine are doing it because they are in the conservatory this year.
And they like to be humid. You could stand the pot in a tray of gravel and keep the gravel damp and / or mist them over with water every day.
They don't like to dry out.
Maybe this heatwave coming up will help them.
Good luck.

Thanks, Alice. Mine are in the conservatory too, but near the door. I'll move them further inside and keep them cosy!

[realfood]

I have since done some googling and I think that I may have misinterpreted what I have seen when growing aubergines.
I now think that the plant selected some flowers for further development, while leaving others to eventually wither and fade away. The flowers that I thought were male flowers, were always smaller when fully open than the others.

[Michael Johnson]

growing Aubergines.

I had the same problem many times, but a friend of mine who grows them on a regular basis in the USA, says that they need warm roots to grow properly, and he gets them up to six foot tall according to variety, or three or four foot shrub type bushes of them.

According to him, he grows them all in large containers like 12" inch pots or larger, and in the base of each he puts a good dollop of half rotted crew yard (Cattle) manure, about four inches deep, and then the compost on the top.

I say half rotted- simply because it will still retain a bit of heat, which they seem to like,

My biggest problem though is white flies and aphids which simply love aubergenes it's like a magnet to them, and I spend all my time trying to keep them off the plants.