November Growing- Aubergines Abundent, Aromatic and Amazing!

November 26, 2024

Aubergines – value for money!

Aubergine (also known as ‘eggplant,’) are a real ‘bang for your buck’ tunnel house vegetable. That’s partly because of their sheer bulk (the shiny skinned, oval, purple variety can weigh 400 grams and more!), but also because they are such ‘moppers-up of flavour.’ Best known in the cuisines of the Middle East, Asia, and the Mediterranean, they absorb flavour and fill out vegetable dishes to make them into a hearty meal. Aubergine can also be a delicacy such as in Georgia where they are thinly sliced and stuffed with an oily walnut and spice filling, or when the Greeks preserve immature aubergine as a sweet treat.

As for where the alternative name originated, ‘eggplant’ refers to aubergine varieties which produce small, oval-shaped, white fruit. Today, there are many different aubergines you can grow in your tunnel house, from the long, stripey purple-and-cream-skinned Tsakonian to minis such as ‘Thai Purple’ and ‘Baby Brinjal’ (both of which are suitable for growing in pots).

Source

Aubergine are heat-lovers, preferring temperatures of between 16 and 21°C , and won’t perform well until conditions in your tunnel reflect this. For this reason, you’ll need to consult the weather history of your region to find out which month is best for transplanting seedlings undercover. Aubergine seedlings are usually available in the garden centre from October to January, with the grafted variety often being a better choice for growers in areas with a short summer season. If you plan to grow your own aubergine plants from seed, you’ll need to get them underway in late winter. If this is your plan, sow the seed into individual coconut coir pots of moist seed raising mix, and pop the containers on to a propagation pad. Alternatively, place the pots on a sunny window sill, and cover them with plastic to hold in the warmth. Grow the seedlings on, turning them daily to encourage straight stems.

 

Ground work

Aubergine grow best in moderately loose, free-draining ground that is rich in organic material. They prefer a pH level of between 5.8 and 6.5 which puts them in a soil acidity range similar to that of tomatoes. Aubergine can be in the ground for 6 months or more so it’s important to ensure their bed is rich in nutrients and that you have liquid feed ready to supplement this.

Aubergine have a moderately deep root system so begin your bed preparation by loosening the ground to at least the depth of a garden fork’s tines. To do this, push the fork into the ground at regular intervals, and rock it back and forth without actually digging up clumps of earth. To this loosened ground, dig in plenty of quality compost. It should contain nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, and any compost made with plenty of green plant material, seaweed, and kitchen fruit and vegetable scraps will be able to provide this. Extra nitrogen can be added in the form of sterilised, commercially sourced, manure pellets. As you dig in your compost, remove any sticks or stones (this avoids your aubergine’s root having to negotiate any obstacles), and crush up lumps of soil with the back of a rake. If you are concerned that your compost may contain weed seeds, cover the ground with black plastic until you are ready to transplant your seedlings (this will also help warm up the bed). Before planting, water the ground deeply over a period of two days. Depending on variety, an aubergine plant can grow to around 70-150cm high, so check your seed packet or plant label, and if you have a plant that will need support, push a stake into the ground before you transplant the seedling.

 

Transplanting

Aubergine are ready to go into your tunnel house when soil temperatures are reliably warm (around 24°C). Use a garden thermometer to test for this before your transplanting. When planting your seedlings, use a trowel to create pockets 45cm to 60cm apart. If you are planting more than one row, keep the distance between rows at 75cm (aubergine can become quite bushy). Water each planting hole well, and upend the seedling container to ease out the plant. Aubergine do not form roots on any underground section of their stem (as tomato plants do), so when placing the seedling in the planting hole, ensure that the soil around the stem doesn’t come up any higher than it was in the seedling container.  (If you bury the plant too deeply, the stem may rot.) Gently firm the soil around the base of the plant, and mulch with a light material (such as chemically un-treated pea straw) if you are concerned about weeds.

Maintenance

As your aubergine plants grow, water them deeply once or twice a week. (This encourages the roots to grow down to cooler soil.)  Water the plants with a liquid feed of kelp and sterile animal manure every 7-10 days until flowering commences. After that, water with liquid kelp only (too much nitrogen encourages foliage at the expense of flowers). Encourage pollinators into the tunnel house by growing flowering plants in and around the structure. If temperatures drop, or if pollinators are scarce in the tunnel house, gently hand pollinate with a soft artist’s paintbrush.

Keep a watch for sap-sucking insects, such as aphids, as aubergine are particularly attractive to these bugs. Squash pest insects with your fingers in the first instance. If the pests persist, apply a spray made from 1/4 tsp hard bathroom soap dissolved in half a litre of boiling water that has been left to go completely cold. Repeat every 3-4 days. Note: if you are growing organically, there is no need to completely rid the plants of pests – a healthy balance is what you are aiming for because the general strength of the plants means they can hold their own against a degree of pest attack. Keep the tunnel house well ventilated day and night, promptly snip off any leaves that attract disease, and harvest fruit as soon as it is ripe to take the pressure off the plants.

 

Tips

Aubergine don’t like wet ground. Test before you water to see if moisture is actually required. To do this, push a stick into the ground to the depth of 10cm. If it comes out with soil clinging to it, delay watering. If it comes out clean, it’s time to add water.

 

If your aubergine plants are growing vigorously, pinch out their growing tips once the plants are around 45cm high. This encourages the plant to bush out and produce more flowers (and, therefore, fruit).

 

If fruit is heavy, support it with a string nets tied to the plant’s support stake.

 

If insect infestation is severe, consider purchasing predator insects from Bioforce.

 

When watering, do so at ground level, not from above the plant. Water in mid-morning when there is plenty of time left in the day for foliage that accidentally becomes wet, to dry off.

 

Aubergine prefer 6 hours of sunshine a day – give them the best spot in your tunnel house to ensure they get this.

 

 

 

When sowing seed, cover the seed containers with a sheet of perspex or glass to prevent mice digging them up (in August, rodents are on the hunt for any food they can find).

 

If raising seed without the aid of a germination pad, try popping the seed containers inside a plastic bag as they sit on a sunny window ledge. Leave one end of the bag open to avoid over-heating and ‘cooking’ the seed. This mini greenhouse effect can hurry along germination.

 

As soon as you start sowing tomato seed, begin soaking kelp and sterile animal manure in a large barrel of water. This will be the liquid feed for your plants until flowering time commences.

 

Once you discover a variety of tomato that you favour, keep the seed from it for sowing again next season. To collect seed, take pulp (containing seed) from a ripe tomato, and smear it onto a folded paper kitchen towel. Leave it to dry thoroughly over a period of days, then snip up the individual seeds (paper towel and all) and store in a sealed envelop or jar (don’t forget to label with the date and description).