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Last edited on November 29, 2025. View history
Eggplant
Solanum melongena
WD
Also known as
aubergine (EN)
melongene (EN)
garden egg (EN)
guinea squash (EN)
How to sow eggplant: Sow seeds indoors and transplant out, or plant nursery seedlings
Sun requirement for eggplant: Plant in Full Sun
Eggplants commonly are egg-shaped with glossy black skin, but can come in a variety of other shapes and colors. They can be white, yellow, and pale to deep purple. Some are as small as goose eggs. The 'Rosa Bianca' cultivar is squat and round, while Asian cultivars can be long and thin. Eggplant stems are often spiny and their flowers range from white to purple.
Their flesh is generally white with a meaty texture and small seeds in the center. They are delicious grilled, roasted, in soups and stews, and breaded and fried.
- 52
- plantings
- 10
- harvests
- 6
- seed packets
Eggplant facts
Lifespan
Annual
living and reproducing in a single year or less
17 weeks
median lifespan
First harvest expected
11
weeks after planting
Last harvest expected
20
weeks after planting
Height × spread
50cm × 30cmRow Spacing
60cmDays until maturity
78–99 days median of members' seed packetsGrown for
fruit harvested 10 times
Optimal temperature
20–35 °C
Absolute temperature
9–40 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall
1200–1600 mm/year
Absolute rainfall
800–4000 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH
5.5–6.8
Absolute soil pH
4.3–8.5
FAO EcoCrop
Crop cycle
70–120 days
FAO EcoCrop
Max altitude
50 m
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal light
very bright
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?
A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.
Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.
For eggplant, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 9°C and a shortest growing cycle of 70 days at its best temperature, about 1295 growing degree days to a first harvest.
Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your eggplant will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.
Growing eggplants
- Sow seeds indoors 8 weeks before planting out
- Harden off the seedlings 1 week before planting out
- Stake the plants 3 weeks after planting out
- Water deeply at planting out every week
- Mulch around the plants 2 weeks after planting out
- Feed with liquid fertiliser 6 weeks after planting out every month
- Pick fruit regularly at first harvest every week
- Pull out finished plants 6 weeks after first harvest
How members grow eggplants
Sunniness
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Planted from
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Harvested for
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Varieties of eggplant
Plant eggplants with
Photos
Eggplant crops
Eggplant plantings
Eggplant harvests
Video
Where eggplants grow
Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.
What people are saying about eggplants
New website features (release 55)
by shiny,
lettuces
sunray tomatoes
Te Māori taewa potatoes
eggplants
radishes
Read more
New look, new features
by shiny,
If you notice any bugs or think of new features please let us know on our github or comment here.
We've got new crop cards on browsing crops or a [planting](https://www.growstuff.org/plantings/shiny-indoors-tomato-75b2e492-9f71-42f6…
lettuces
sunray tomatoes
Te Māori taewa potatoes
eggplants
radishes
Read more
Getting ready for spring!
by maco,
I've got seeds either on-hand or ordered for just about everything I'm starting from seed this year. I've been working out what I want to plant, and this is the plan I've come up with for the 72 square feet of my backyard raised beds:
arugula
basils
beets
cabbages
cauliflowers
cucumbers
eggplants
garlic
kale
lettuces
onions
oregano
parsley
Hungarian wax peppers
bell peppers
zucchini
yellow summer squash
butternut squash
sweet potatoes
tomatoes
super sweet 100 tomatoes
chamomiles
Read more
A slow start to summer
by Skud,
I'm so very, very behind on my gardening. I was travelling heaps and had lots of other commitments through October/November, which is peak spring planting time here, and nothing got done. I've come to the realisation that if I'm going to do work that involves that sort of travel, I …
cavalo nero
sunflowers
arugula
sorrels
tomatoes
San Marzano tomatoes
eggplants
zucchini
squash
Read more
Swap/trade (Australia): want large planting containers, will swap for seedlings/seeds/preserves/baked goods/ginger beer
by Skud,
I'm in Thornbury, in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia.
Our landlords won't let us replace the lawn with a veg garden, so we can only plant in containers. I'm on my usual spring quest for largish containers, 30cm diameter and above. We especially love the old-style…
tomatoes
cucumbers
eggplants
pears
quinces
ginger
Read more
Who's planted eggplants
- shiny Aro Valley · Wellington, NZ
- doitninetimes Backyard raised bed · Austin, TX
- flatfood balcony farm · Bangalore, Southern...
- Cwilliamson Home Garden · Angleton, Texas
- CloCkWeRX long purple eggplant 02 - Rosewater Backyard Left · Rosewater, South...
Eggplant harvests
-
milki harvested 2, weighing 0.38 kg.
almost 2 years ago
-
milki harvested 1, weighing 0.178 kg.
about 2 years ago
-
milki harvested 1, weighing 0.237 kg.
about 2 years ago
milki harvested 2, weighing 0.38 kg.
Find eggplant seeds
View all eggplant seeds
- Purchase seeds via Ebay
- Sign in or sign up to list your seeds to trade.
Time to harvest
If sown now, expect a first harvest in about 70 to 120 days.
From the growing cycle in the FAO EcoCrop database, which is the same wherever it is grown.
Ecological requirements
Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Solanum melongena L.
| Family / Taxonomy | Magnoliopsida Asteridae Solanales Solanaceae |
|---|---|
| Life form | herb |
| Life span | annual |
| Habit | erect |
| Optimal soil depth | medium (50-150 cm) |
| Optimal soil texture | medium, organic |
| Optimal soil fertility | high |
| Optimal soil drainage | well (dry spells) |
| Optimal soil salinity | low (<4 dS/m) |
| Photoperiod | short day (<12 hours), neutral day (12-14 hours), long day (>14 hours) |
Learn more about eggplants
Resources outside Growstuff.
