[smc]

Hey guys, anybody got any good tips for these? Thinking about my green house, are they heavy feeders, like or dislike water?

[Benandbill]

Don't know about feeding but I imagine they like a bit of water.  They're supposed to be grown in warmer climes though so maybe not over watering?  I need advice on mine as well.  I have some plants in the house looking very healthy in pots.  I don't have a greenhouse and am wondering if it's safe to just plant them out in the allotment??

[Yorkie]

Here's the RHS page on aubergines
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Gardening/Grow-Your-Own/Veg-A-to-Z/Aubergine

I suspect you've left it too late to start from scratch from seed.  Treat them a bit like a tomato for feed and water I think.

I wouldn't risk them on the allotment / outdoors; they are mediterranean plants and most varieties need the warmth of a greenhouse.  I've grown them OK in a mini greenhouse.

[mumofstig]

when I had too many aubergine plants for the greenhouse space last year, I grew them in a warm sunny sheltered spot in the garden and they did quite well (they were in front of a south facing hedge )

I just left them in their 'flower bucket' pots and fed and watered the same as all the plants in the greenhouse. Success of course depends on the weather!

[moose]

We have a lady on the allotment who grows them very successfully outside, but- she is on a south facing slope which get sun most of the day

[Yorkie]

She's also a couple of hundred miles further south than smc 

[Benandbill]

Is her plot in Athens? 

[Yorkie]

Nooo ... Birmingham to Kent.

[Benandbill]

I've planted 3 of mine out in the allotment yesterday as an experiment and gave some away to someone with a proper greenhouse.  I've kept myself 4 nice plants in the house which I think it's time I tried to find bigger pots for.  Maybe when the tomatoes have hardened in my small plastic greenhouse, I'll put my Aubergines out in there and take the toms out...? 

[rainie]

I tried aubergines last year and treated like tomatoes, they were ok considering they didnt get the tlc they deserved as i was too busy. The fruit was edible nad tasty just smaller than i buy in the shop. This year i've given them more time and they look good. Strongest plants in the gh, will pot others and try some outside in a sunny sheltered place.

[Yorkie]

One year I grew aubergines and peppers in my mini greenhouse (the 4-tier one which you can get 3 seed trays on each shelf).  It was against a back wall, tied onto a drainpipe so it didn't move, and got the sun for most of the afternoon.

I took out the top 2 shelves, put the plants in decent pots on the 3rd shelf down, and they just grew up between the struts towards the top of the greenhouse.  I left the door open as a rule, and got a small crop - would have been bigger if I'd watered and fed it better.

[Benandbill]

So with those plastic greenhouses, it's best  to leave them open in the day and zip them shut overnight yes?

[DD.]

Is that not what was said here?

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=76621.msg866301#msg866301

[Benandbill]

Sure, was just looking for a 2nd, 3rd opinion.. Sorry, didn't mean to offend!