[PennyS]

I've got four "Bambino" aubergine plants grown from seed, that I moved to the warmth of my parents' conservatory (thanks Mum).

They are now in flower.  Three are producing white flowers.  The fourth has purple flowers, and the stem of the plant is very purple. 

Is it normal to have such variation or have I got an odd plant in with my Bambino seeds?

Cheers! Penny

[prakash_mib]

penny!
let me throw a twist. I've never seen an aub flowering white 

[PennyS]

Ah these are going to be more interesting aubergines than I thought 

I've never really grown them much before so I've never considered what flowers they might have. 

Let's see what fruit they produce! 

[mumofstig]

Natural History MuseumAubergine flowers are either white or purple and have at their centre a bottle-shaped cone of stamens where pollen is held..........

Sounds to me as if you have 2 different sorts from 1 packet  

[PennyS]

Mmm interesting!  Bambino is a baby aubergine.  Wonder what the interloper is!

[andy135]

Are they F1 hybrid or could the plants which the seeds came from have been cross pollinated???

[PennyS]

Are they F1 hybrid or could the plants which the seeds came from have been cross pollinated???

It's not an F1 and it's not saved seed ... bought this year from the Organic Gardening Catalogue.  I haven't planted any other variety so I can't have mixed them up myself.

So it's a mystery!

[Ivah]

This suggests the white flowers are the ringers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/3747.shtml

[PennyS]

This suggests the white flowers are the ringers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/3747.shtml

Oooh that's very odd.  I've only grown a few plants and I only have one purple one... I'll see what fruit I get and contact Organic Gardening Catalogue... how strange. 
I do have a couple of "back ups" which really need potting on.  I hadn't bothered as I have four really strong, flowering plants.  Maybe I should pot on the backups and see how they do...

[gillie]

I have had several packets of seeds from the Organic Gardening Catalogue which were not all true to name...

I am not sure about their quality control.

Gillie

[PennyS]

I have had several packets of seeds from the Organic Gardening Catalogue which were not all true to name...
I am not sure about their quality control.
Gillie

Ohhh..   I got most of my seeds from there this year, and I've already had a mixup with my poor labelling of brassicas which won't help!  Looks like it's going to be very much "pot luck" when it comes to planting out  :blink:

[PennyS]

I've now taken photos.  To me, these do like quite distinctly different plants.  They came from the same seed packet! 

[oldcow]

I googled a bit, and there is an article that suggests that the mutation that causes the flowers to be white results in higher yields! It'll be interesting to see if that will happen with your plants!

[PennyS]

I googled a bit, and there is an article that suggests that the mutation that causes the flowers to be white results in higher yields! It'll be interesting to see if that will happen with your plants!

I'll let you know - I will weigh the produce off each plant!

[mumofstig]

Your purple aubergine looks exactly like my 'moneymaker'...........but then I suppose 1 purple flowered one looks much the same as........another purple floered one

Not much help really is it