EGGPLANT

While it’s still a bit chilly for planting eggplant in much of the country, starting seed now in containers in a warm, protected spot will give you a huge head start. Carefully managed, your plants will be quite well established by the time conditions are warm enough for you to plant them out, which means earlier cropping and a longer harvest period.

For speedy germination, eggplant seed needs a minimum temperature of about 24°C. If you’re in a warmer temperate or subtropical area, you might find that a spot on an all-day sunny windowsill will do the trick, before moving them to a heated room at night. In colder areas, you may need a mini heated propagator unit to provide adequate warmth, which is a worthwhile investment if you are serious about making the most of the early sowing opportunities.

I like to sow the seed into cell punnets filled with quality seed-raising mix. Plant two seeds per cell, 5mm deep.

Thin to just one after germination, which should take about 10 days when the mix is kept just moist. A week or two after germination, start giving seedlings a weekly feed with half-strength liquid fertiliser. Once they’ve produced their second set of leaves, carefully pot them up into 7.5–10cm pots for growing on. Continue to maintain the heat and keep up the weekly liquid-fertilising regime. Hold off planting out until the cold weather and risk of frost has passed. In the lead-up, give the plants some time outdoors on warm, sunny days to help harden them up, then move them back indoors on chilly nights.