[myden]

First time I've Aubergines and I must say I was a little late potting then on to big pots due to having to wait for hubby to erect my greenhouse. The plants came on lovely and grew quite big with lots of flowers some of which died and others produce fruit. All going well but I have six plants and I have taken only two decent size aubergine from them, that was a while ago now. The other fruits seem to stop growing and have lost their shine and depth of colour. They have picked up in the last couple of weeks since the warmer weather but it is getting late in the season now so what do I do? Pick although they are quite small or leave them a wait and see? I stopped them when they got over 12in but they still keep on sprouting new growth and more flowers.

[AnneB]

Well done, I am jealous!  My Diamond aubergine plant has produced lots of flowers and some fruit this year, but all eaten I think by snails.   They wait until each fruit is quite large and ready for harvest, then dive in and eat the Lot, leaving the skin.  Furious, first year I have managed to produce anything too.   

[TheWhiteRabbit]

Bah, my plants grew and looked promising, they started to flower and then they just died off. I'm trying again next year but if I don't have any success, I'm going to buy some fruits from a supermarket and glue them onto a plant. Humph.

[Snoop]

Myden, are your aubergines for egg-sized aubergines? If they're for normal-sized fruit, I think the problem is that you stopped the plants too soon. They will grow significantly taller than 12 inches. Mine are about 4 feet tall at the moment (I know you're going to say "yes, but you live in Spain", but we're currently down to about 4 ºC at night at the moment and I'm expecting a frost any morning now, so our seasons are probably about the same length).

If you stopped the plants too soon, you're likely only to get smallish fruit. So in fact what has happened is that you should have picked the fruit much earlier, when they were a good colour. If you leave them too long, they go dull and will eventually start to turn a bit brownish or even yellowish if you have the stripy or white aubergines.

[surbie100]

Even if they are for egg-sized fruit I think they've been stopped too early. My Ophelia aub plant is over 2ft high and still producing towards the top of the plant, and it's been outside since May.

If the fruits have gone dull, take them off, they aren't going to do anything more at that point. If there are some baby-sized ones you could leave them on and give the plant a quick feed, or cut your losses and take them home, s'up to you - I'm clearing mine off soon as I need the space (just gone back into the greenhouse) for other things at the end of the month.

[GrannieAnnie]

I bought a plant because my seeds were too old and didn't germinate.  I've had 1 huge fruit from it, but the other 2 fruits, although they started off nice and purple, are turning a bit green, will the purple come back, or are they going to seed? 

[Snoop]

GrannieAnnie, I suspect your aubergines are past their best. The purple doesn't come back, I'm afraid.

If you pick one, you can cut it open and see how well developed the seeds are. I don't mind flattish seeds, but I don't much go for them when they start to fill out and go a bit rounded. They don't taste bad - it's just a texture thing. One thing you could do is slice or dice your aubergine and sprinkle it with a little salt. Leave for half an hour for the salt to draw out any potentially bitter juices, rinse and then wipe dry and cook as normal. I don't bother with the salting business usually, but it is worth doing for aubergines that are past their best.

Took me a season or two to be sure of when to pick aubergines to be honest, so I know how frustrating it is. I don't pick them when they're at their shiniest, but as soon as they just start to dull a little. They're not going to get any bigger and they've ripened as much as they're going to. Books suggest you pick them when they're glossy, so you might decide to ignore me on that one.

We're having an aubergine dish for supper tonight - Imam Bayildi. Not Mr Snoop's favourite, but I've got a couple of aubergines that need picking. So that's what on the menu.

[myden]

Thanks for the replies, I understand what you mean about stopping them. Never mind better luck next year!