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Vegetable Gardening

Why were there no flowers on my eggplants?

7 years ago

I have 6 very healthy looking eggplants. I've grown them every year with success. This year there were NO flowers. I'm not talking about flowers that didn't turn to fruit, just no flowers. My nearby peppers, squash, cukes and tomatoes all had the number of fruits expected.
Any ideas?
TIA
LAS14

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Comments (5)

farmerdill
7 years ago
No idea. Eggplant is usually more reliable Than peppers, cuke, tomatoes. Variety maybe? Some have fairly long seasons and they do need warm weather. Not hot warm altho they are more reliable in triple digit heat than tomatoes.
digdirt2
7 years ago
The only other possible explanations I can think of is stunting from early exposure to overly cold temps or excess nitrogen fertilizer around those plants causing lush growth but no blooms. Are either of those possible? What variety is it?

Dave
laslaslas14 thanked digdirt2
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rgreen48
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I agree with farmerdill. In my limited experience, most issues regarding eggplant (aside from pests) relate to temperature. What's causing your specific circumstance is tough to know for sure, but they do prefer warmer temps than most garden veggies.

Is the variety one you've grown before? Does it comfortably 'fit' between your avg. frost dates?

ETA... Dave posted at the same time as I did... yep, he also makes a good point... too much N can affect flowering.
laslaslas14 thanked rgreen48
laslaslas14
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks, all. I'm guessing it was an unseasonal cold snap. Weather is getting more and more variable. We have un-seasonable cold and un-seasonable heat. That's gotta be it.
Labradors
7 years ago
I also had a problem with eggplants one season and I suspected it was because they were grown next to some bush beans which grew big and shielded them from the sun. It could have been a cool summer though too. I don't remember.

I've heard its good to grow them in black pots and put them on a tarmac driveway. Apparently, they LOVE the heat!

Linda

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