AUBERGINES
Sow: January to March
Plant: May to June
Harvest: July to October
January: Buy seed. Choose an early variety. Sow a few seed in an 8cm/3in pot. Cover with 6mm compost. Put in a plastic bag and keep at 20–25˚C/68–77˚F. Germination can take 7–21 days.
February: Prick seedlings out into individual 8cm/3in pots. Keep at 20˚C/68˚F.
March: Keep seedlings warm, watered and growing steadily.
April: Pot on into 12cm/5in pots if necessary. Give plants a health check. Watch out for greenfly. Buy in plants if you haven’t sown seed.
May: Harden plants off. Plant out in late May if nights are above 12–15˚C/54–59˚F. Provide an extra cloche or fleece cover to keep plants warm.
June: Plant out later sowings: two plants per growbag, one plant per 30cm/12in pot or in the border soil 45cm/18in apart. First flowers may need a hand with pollination.
July: Pollinate flowers with a paintbrush. Spray overhead if the weather is hot and dry. Watch out for red spider mite. Start feeding plants in pots by the end of the month. Feed every ten days while fruit is swelling. Keep soil damp.
August: Use aluminium foil to reflect light, if sunshine levels are low. Harvest first ripe fruit – watch out for spines.
September: Harvest lots of ripe fruit while it is firm. Watch out for aphids and for slugs nibbling fruit. Remove any plants that show no sign of fruiting. Reduce watering.
October: Pick any last fruit and remove all plants and fallen leaves.
December: Buy seed.
AUBERGINE TROUBLES
Slugs: March to October
Red spider mite: May to September
Whitefly: April to September
Aphids: March to October
Grey mould: March to October
Dry set: June to August