How to Grow Eggplant
Eggplant At a Glance
Difficulty
Moderate
Category
Fruit
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Frost Tolerance
Frost Tender
Cold Hardiness
Survives to 7°C
Plant Family
Solanaceae
Growing Season
Warm Season
Plant Lifecycle
Annual
How to Start It
★ Recommended for beginners
Our summers are too short for eggplant to ripen from an outdoor sowing, so start it inside. Sow 2 seeds per small pot 1 cm deep, 8 to 10 weeks before your last frost, and keep them very warm, on a heat mat or the top of the fridge: they sprout in 7 to 14 days. Plant out about 3 weeks after the last frost, once nights stay above 10°C (50°F), and 45 cm apart. Before planting out, set the pots outside in a sheltered spot for a few hours a day, a little longer each day for about a week, so they toughen up (this is called hardening off).
Eggplant loves heat even more than peppers do: cold nights make it stall and drop its flowers. A big pot on a hot, sunny balcony or against a south-facing wall often grows better fruit than an open bed. Pick the fruit while the skin is still shiny, since dull skin means it is past its best and turning bitter.
When To Start
First chance to plant
10 Days After Last Frost
Last chance to plant
60 Days Before First Frost
When should you plant Eggplant?
Your planting dates depend on your local climate. Sign up and add your location to unlock personalized dates.
Your Eggplant Planting Window
Start planting
May 15, 2026
Last chance
Sep 10, 2026
Your Eggplant Calendar
Set your location to turn these into exact dates and reminders.
Start eggplant seeds indoors in a very warm spot
9 weeks before your last frost· every year
Plant eggplant out now that nights stay warm
3 weeks after your last frost· every year
Pick eggplant while the skin is still shiny
80 days after your last frost· every year· optional
Start hardening off your eggplant seedlings: an hour outside today, a little longer each day.
11 days after your last frost
Water your new eggplant plants well while they settle in. Deep and slow is best.
About 1 days after you plant it
Hello from your eggplant! Eggplant loves warmth, so give it your sunniest spot and steady water.
About 47 days after you plant it
Eggplant check! Pick the fruit while it is glossy and firm.
About 81 days after you plant it
Picking time may be here: check your eggplant.
About 100 days after you plant it
The Journey Ahead
Eggplant's Lifecycle
Seedling
Mature Plant
Seed Production
Step 1
Prepare Your Space
1 cm
Seeding Depth
45 cm
Plant Spacing
75 cm
Row Spacing
1
Plants / Sq Ft
Vertical Growing
Yes: Trellis.
Method: Trellis.
Succession Planting
Yes.
Good Companions
Bad Companions
Step 2
Planting & Sprouting
Expect sprouts in 7–14 days
Growing Tips
- 1Give eggplant your hottest, sunniest spot, with at least 8 hours of sun a day.
- 2Plant it in soil rich in compost, or in a pot at least 30 cm wide and deep.
- 3Water deeply at the base whenever the top 2 to 3 cm of soil is dry, and spread mulch once the soil is warm to keep the moisture even.
- 4Feed with worm castings or compost tea every 2 weeks once the first flowers open.
- 5Tie the main stem to a stake when the fruit starts to form, so the weight does not snap the branches.
- 6Tiny holes in young leaves mean flea beetles, so cover new plants with row cover until they flower, and pick off any striped potato beetles by hand.
- 7Eggplant leaves and stems can make cats and dogs sick, so keep pets from chewing them.
Seedling Phase
Step 3
Growth & Maturity
~100
Days to Maturity
90 cm
Mature Height
60 cm
Mature Width
Pests to Watch For
Diseases to Watch For
Mature Plant
Step 4
Harvesting
Harvest Window
45 days
When to Pick
Pick fruits when glossy and firm
How to Harvest
- 1Pick eggplant when the skin is shiny and the flesh springs back when you press it gently with your thumb.
- 2Cut the fruit off with pruners, leaving 2 to 3 cm of stem, and wear gloves since the stems can be prickly.
- 3If the skin has turned dull, the fruit is past its best, so pick it anyway to keep new ones coming.
- 4Pick often, because the more you pick, the more fruit the plant sets.
- 5Use eggplant within a few days, keeping it in a cool spot or the fridge.
Step 5
Saving Seeds
How to Save Seeds
Eggplant flowers mostly pollinate themselves, but insects can carry pollen, so keep different varieties at least 15 m apart. Hybrid F1 seeds will not grow true, so save only from a variety that is not a hybrid. Leave a fruit on the plant long past eating stage, until it turns dull, hard and yellow-brown. Cut it open, pull the flesh apart in a bowl of water and the good seeds sink to the bottom, then rinse them and dry them on a plate for about a week. Store them labelled in a cool, dark, dry place, where they keep about 5 years.
Seed Production
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