Queer aubergine blossom

[ddiogyn]

Hallo,

My first aubergine flower has appeared, but it appears to be a fusion of two flowers. Has anyone experienced owt like this before? Would it be worth letting this one continue, or should i nip it off? Should i get any mature fruit, i'll be giving them away, since i don't particularly like aubergine, so would rather a more conventional looking fruit!

Also, how do i go about hand-pollinating - i tried with a paintbrush, but didn't look like it was transferring any pollen.

[smallblueplanet]

It looks like the sort of 'double flower' you sometimes get as an early one on tomatoes, gives an odd-shaped fruit. I'd remove it. You shouldn't need to hand pollinate aubergines, ours never have been. Where are you keeping them they like hot, humid conditions to fruit (but above all hot).

[Flummery]

I think it's called fasciation. You'll get a better class of aubergine if you nip that off - you'll get a fused fruit otherwise.

[Redpepper]

Hi ddiogyn, if your plants are indoors/in a greenhouse you could try putting the them outside on hot sunny days and let the bees pollinate for you. I find it works better than hand-pollination and you can always bring the plants back under cover at night.

[ddiogyn]

Thanks all.

It's growing outside against a south-facing wall and i've been attempting to create humidity by misting it during the day.

It has quite a few flower buds. The current one took about a fortnight to open, and none of the other ones seem mature enough yet, so it'll be a while before i get another flower i think. Meanwhile, will snip this fused one off.

[Patchninja]

Even in a GH you get enough insects to pollinate naturally. They seem to be really robust plants.