[AnneB]

Every year I say I will give it one more try.

I have one surviving aubergine in an unheated polytunnel.   It has got to about 9" high.  It has had a succession of flowers, all of which have dropped off without coming to anything.

I have two surviving okras, which are even smaller than the aubergine.   I have at least managed to get one okra fruit so far, which equals last year's harvest at least.

I am also growing peppers, cucumber and tomatoes all of which are doing well, growth as expected and lots of fruit on the way, 1 sweet pepper already harvested.  What am I doing wrong?   Why are these plants so small when others requiring similar conditions are thriving in the same place?  They aren't overcrowded either, which I thought might be the problem last year. 

[compostqueen]

I gave up on aubs this year after years of trying to get a decent drop.  I was pushed for space so made the reluctant decision to ditch them in favour of something more rewarding.  Had space been at a premium I would have persisted as  I did enjoy growing them despite the mean returns

[JayG]

Aubergines are quite regularly complained about on this forum as being hard to grow successfully - seems they are particularly problematic given anything less than a long, hot summer...

[New shoot]

The only time I got a decent crop was with a grafted plant, but there are downsides.  They are pricy to buy and are really vigorous, so take up a lot of room. 

However, I couldn't tell the difference in taste between homegrown and shop bought.  That is always my deal breaker if I am in two minds about a crop, so I decided that I would rather use the space for tomatoes or peppers 

[Snoop]

I'd agree with New shoot. It's always a shame to have to abandon an aspiration, but just think what you could grow in their place instead.

[Aunt Sally]

A lot of people do like to try to grow the more tropical of vegetables, and I include sweet potatoes to the above too.

It's very difficult in our climate to keep the plants happy enough to produce a good crop, even down in sunny Kent.

[New shoot]

A lot of people do like to try to grow the more tropical of vegetables

Too true    I did have a few weeks of planning an okra crop after watching the allotment challenge show.  After researching them and seeing how big the plants got, I shelved those plans until I have a vast polytunnel to house them in 

[sunshineband]

AHA! This is the year I have successfully grown aubergines that get to full size!!!! Amazing but true 

The tips I can offer are:

- sowing early in a heated propagator: for me that was early February
- transplant seedlings when they get their first real leaf. I put them in tall, transparent drinks cups, with about 3cm of compost in the bottom
- use a very open compost mix so the roots get enough air, and feed them with general veg fertiliser half strength at every watering. I used a mix of reconstituted coir, vermiculite and multipurp.
- add more compost as the plant grows until it is about 2cm from the top
- repot as soon as the roots filled the cup ---easy to see as it is transparent -- into a 5ins pot, and then on again as often as is needed. Mine are now in 15ins pots and about 24ins tall
- keep feeding them and once flower buds are seen, switch to half strength tomato feed twice a week: they need watering every day as the leaves are huge
- shake the flowers gently to ensure pollination and remove the collapsed flower rom the baby fruit if it does not fall off straight away
- keep the air moist to avoid red spider mite. if this arrives a soap based spray will deal with them, but you need to do it  a couple of times
- I ignored advice to pinch out the tops as the plants are full of flowers anyway

I hope that helps. Maybe it'll work again for me next year, but if not at least I have had one year with an amazing crop 

[adri123]

My aubs have been dragged out of the greenhouse in shame.  They won't feature in future seasons.

[mumofstig]

My aubs have been dragged out of the greenhouse in shame.  They won't feature in future seasons.

That was my reaction after a few years with wonderful looking plants - but no fruit set

SSB may (I repeat may) have convinced me to try once again 

[ghost61]

Aubs are wind pollinated and so I grow them outdoors, in the main.  I dohave a plant inside by the door of the polytunnel and that now has two large black fruits.  The ones outdoors are kept under plastic until the plants are in bud and then revealed to the elements.  That seems to work for me.  However, I have failed with okra!

[surbie100]

This is not meant as a brag, but I haven't ever had massive failures with aubergines. (Swedes are another issue entirely!) Like Sunny I start them off in Feb in a heated propagator and pot them on into fairly loose mix. I keep them on my sunny windowsill and don't let them get pot-bound or too wet. When temps are around 10C they went into the greenhouse this year. If in pots they go fairly rapidly into a large flowerbucket with a very good handful of chicken manure/growmore mixed into the compost.

My Baby Ophelia has been cropping for about 3 weeks I think, is now outside and has many bunches of fruits. I think some of the problems with aubs is the lack of pollinators or air movement in the greenhouse to support the pollen to move off the stamens.

I sowed some Rosa Bianca in about April time as an experiment and they have really caught up - they were about to flower when I went off for a week. Am looking forward to seeing what has happened when I get back.

[sunshineband]

Surbie, I agree with you about the lack of pollination opportunities for aubs grown indoors, which is why I tap the flowers to distribute the pollen.... seems to work 

[oldgrunge]

I gave up on aubergines years ago. The plants grew ok, but they always developed rot, and were an irresistible attraction for every whitefly for about 100 miles.

[adri123]

Have just dragged them back in after spotting fruit coming...quick snip off the ragged looking leaves and see how it goes. 

Is paint brush pollination needed in a greenhouse?