Ask Gerry
Greenhouse Growing : Aubergines
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Problem with Aubergines
I have 3 aubergine plants, and although I have now had 2 fruits off them the flowers are going mouldy before they fruit you gan see small aubergines forming then they turn mouldy and drop off.
blakey, Peebles, Posted: 15/09/2010
Assuming these are growing in a greenhouse of some kind ... they do not do well outdoors, except in extremely good conditions.
The flowers and young fruit tend rot late in the season.
Sow the seeds in mid-March to mid-April and bring on the plants for summer growing and a reasonably long season of growth.
Aubergines and cucumbers
I have grown aubergines in the greenhouse they are about between 12" to 18" tall some have 2 or 3 fruits on them. Do i need to take off some of the top leaves and pinch the sides out? conflicting views on the internet. cucumbers i have are Fatima, what are male flowers and what are female and how to i manage these also.
bonstey, Oxted, Outside Ireland Posted: 29/03/2010
Allow aubergines to grow to about 50 or 60 cm tall and then pinch out the growing points just to keep the plant to a size. It needs to be staked with a light stake or strong cane.
Most varieties of cucumber are female only and if male flowers are produced, which is unusual, they can be told apart from the female flowers because the latter have a tiny cucumber just behind the flower.
Normally the cucumber plant will decide how many fruits to swell, but sometimes too many form and begin to swell and some of these can be removed, leaving one fruit per 25 to 30 cm of stem.