Growing Eggplant - Fall in Love with Eggplant in 13 Steps

There are also Aubergine plants available in our webshop. If it is sold out, you can also stay informed about new stock.

There are two ways to ensure that you can harvest aubergines in the summer. You can start aubergines from seed, but you can also buy aubergine plants from April in the garden centre, at the market or in our webshop. aubergines originate from Asia, so it is not surprising that we cannot simply grow the plants in our climate. Experienced growers who know exactly what the plant needs can grow the plant to maturity with just their greenhouse and harvest it at the end of the summer. But I want to eat aubergines in July. So I grow them in a propagator. In my propagator, the plants germinate with the peppers and paprikas in December. When I prick them out, they go into the Vitopod which has more height, but you can also continue to grow your plants indoors under grow lights without a heated propagator. It may be cheaper to just buy your plants in April, but the pleasure of my hobby makes it more than worth the effort or the money. A daily trip to my growing boxes , my greenhouse and my vegetable garden rounds off my working day nicely. Give it some more water, adjust the temperature, remove some leaves, ... that brings peace. Even in winter.

We all know the purple eggplant , but both their color , size and shape can vary . Eggplants that we harvest during the summer, or late summer, are the ideal grill vegetable. I choose the varieties Lange Violette for the large specimens (grow about a meter high) and Ophelia. These last plants do not grow so large (see photo) and I can plant them in my greenhouse under the seed tables. The seed tables with growing trays go away towards the end of May and then the smaller plants have all the light. The variety Ophelia is also extremely suitable for cultivation in pots . On the balcony, on the terrace or just in the garden.

aubergines mini Ophelia in pot

Like many crops, aubergines also germinate by means of moisture and heat. The moisture makes the seed pod softer and more fragile. The temperature signals to the seed that there is a chance of survival. The germ in the seed pod will therefore start to grow from the softened seed pod under the influence of heat. The germ has just enough food to become a plant with 2 cotyledons and 2 real leaves. From that moment on it needs something else.

Sow aubergines from mid-December in sowing and cutting soil or coconut soil in a tray or, for convenience , a 73-hole tray . The earlier you sow, the more you need to use grow lights. In December there is hardly any good quality sunlight, in February the days are already a bit longer and you can dare on the windowsill or in the veranda. Sow the tiny seeds only a few mm (3 to 5) deep . Set your propagator at 26 to 32 degrees for optimal germination. A well-germinated plant carries that strength with it for its entire lifespan. Your seeds will germinate within 5 to 10 days . If you see the soil burst open, it is high time to turn on the grow lights of your propagator. The light is like mother's milk for your plant. Give 12 to 15 hours of light per day at this stage. Together with the nutrition from the seed itself, the plant can remain in the coconut soil until the second pair of true leaves appear. If you give too little light after germination, the young plants will seek out the light themselves and you will get long, weak and stretched plants.

With the second pair of true leaves, the eggplant needs extra soil nutrition . Use good potting soil for vegetable gardens to prick out the plants from the tray. Fill P9 pots with 2/3 good potting soil and 1/3 perlite , press the potting soil and make sure you stay +/- 6cm from the top edge of the pot, the height of the root ball. With a spoon you can easily empty the cells of your tray. Place the scooped out root balls in the middle of your P9 pots. Leave the soil on the root system as much as possible. Fill the sides of the P9 pots with your good potting soil mix with perlite. Place your P9 pots back under growth light, if your propagator has become too small for the larger plant, consider hanging up growth lights yourself or consider a Vitopod , a propagator that has a height of 55cm.

After prickling out, your plant will have enough nutrition in the potting soil for 6 weeks. Then start adding liquid tomato fertilizer to the water you water with every week or every two weeks . It contains a little more phosphorus and potassium for sturdy plants. Also after prickling out, give a tip of a coffee spoon of magnesium per plant every 2 to 3 weeks . Then give water from above for once (otherwise the plant will absorb the water from below). Magnesium sulphate or Epsom salt is very efficient for green leaves. Note that magnesium needs sufficient potassium (=potassium) to be absorbed by the plant. Magnesium does not replace liquid tomato fertilizer (which contains a lot of potassium) but is a supplement.