Your comments and tips

12 Oct 15, Prometheus (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

A quick tip for those trying to grow eggplant in a cool climate with a short growing season - rather than waiting for the end of Spring frost (usually November here), you really should be getting eggplants in the ground by October at the latest. They need a long growing season to produce abundant fruit and the warm weather months in these climates are limited. They take a long time to raise from seed, so are best purchased at nurseries etc. at this time of year. To protect them from Spring frosts one trick is to cut off the top halves of plastic softdrink or mineral water bottles, remove the lid for ventilation, and securely place the top half in the circle of soil surrounding the young seedling. In the event of late frost, this will improve their chances of survival. If growing in containers, moving them to a sheltered, part-sun location (eg. under the dappled shade of a tree) may also help protect them from late frosts. The same can be done for other frost sensitive crops in the nightshade family eg. tomatoes, chillies, capsicum. Happy gardening, P.

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30 Oct 15, Steve (Australia - temperate climate)

Great advice! Thank you very much :-)

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03 Jun 15, Sally-Anne Pucek (Australia - temperate climate)

Eggplants are great chopped and added to a spicy curry,

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19 Jun 15, Roy (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Sally-Anne you are so right about using egg plant in curries,the variety I use is the small one just about ready when they are about 10 centimetres long and still have a mauve colour.

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04 Apr 15, Dave (Australia - temperate climate)

Have had a good feed from my two plants which are still producing fruit. What is likely to happen as it gets colder?

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09 Mar 15, Robert Tompsett (Australia - temperate climate)

I planted egg plant seeds in my protected part of the garden, and they have grown fine with lots of flowers and I have harvested two fairly large fruits already. But the rest are fairly small and do not seem to be growing. I have fertilized, and i water every second day. will they grow into April month ?? I am in Canberra

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06 Apr 15, Paysin (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hi It's probably ok till April but once it gets cooler it won't do very well. Try staking the plant as it supports it to help produce bigger fruit. Also if there are multiple fruits then they can be a bit smaller.

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28 Feb 15, Louise (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

My eggplants are growing beautifully. They are pretty much full size and have been purple until today. They have now got a yellowish tinge on the skins. They are watered regularly and have heaps of sun. I live in Brisbane Queensland.

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17 Jan 15, Willie Bouma (South Africa - Summer rainfall climate)

After 15 weeks there are many flowers but no fruit.

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17 Jan 15, Roger (Australia - temperate climate)

I have experienced the same issue as Pam. Planted my Eggplant in November from seeds. Got healthy plants with flowers , but only one small fruit about the size of a large apple on one plant. Water not an issue. Garden reticulated. Any suggestions

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