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Help with aubergine,beans etc
Posted by Lyn V
Help with aubergine,beans etc January 12, 2009 11:55PM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 1,990 |
We are the proud owners of our very first aubergine but now we don't know how to tell when it is ready. It is a good round size not oblong & we have a lot more flowers but they don't seem to be fruiting. Is it lack of bees or what because we had this also with our beans, loads of flowers but no beans, well maybe 6 or so. There are many bees in a hedge near us but never see them in our garden. We also had fejoes flowering but no fruit there also. Help & advice please.
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 13, 2009 02:36AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 2,387 |
Bees love the colour blue and will happily fertilise an old curtain if it's a nice lavender blue. My vege garden has banks of lavender constantly in flower all year round and they seem quite content to spend hours there foraging for nectar. When I was learning bush craft we were advised to avoid wearing anything blue to lessen the chances of being stung or set upon by a swarm of bees.
We grew aubergines last year and there were so many aubergines per bush I think we should have done some serious pruning while the fruit was still in infancy. We didn't and the result was many rather insignificant tennis ball sized aubergines that were quite tough and bitter.
If you do think it is a question of the bees paying insufficient attention, perhaps the old paintbrush dabbing pollen trick would work.
As a matter of interest, what colour is the hedge the bees next door are clamouring over. I think they also have a good sense of smell as I have a jasmine hedge and when that is in bloom they seem to go nuts diving into that. I also have a pink type of wild creeping hibiscus that flowers all year round with a slight vanilla fragrance (hint of blue within the pink) and the birds and bees are always buried deep within the flowers.
I love fat bumble bees. You can coax them onto your hand (mostly when they are trapped inside trying to crash through a window) and stroke their furry back and they seem quite content. Don't stand on one though as they don't like it much.
If one is dehydrated, you can saturate a paper towel with water and spread some honey on it and they will happily replenish themselves until they have strength to fly away.
We grew aubergines last year and there were so many aubergines per bush I think we should have done some serious pruning while the fruit was still in infancy. We didn't and the result was many rather insignificant tennis ball sized aubergines that were quite tough and bitter.
If you do think it is a question of the bees paying insufficient attention, perhaps the old paintbrush dabbing pollen trick would work.
As a matter of interest, what colour is the hedge the bees next door are clamouring over. I think they also have a good sense of smell as I have a jasmine hedge and when that is in bloom they seem to go nuts diving into that. I also have a pink type of wild creeping hibiscus that flowers all year round with a slight vanilla fragrance (hint of blue within the pink) and the birds and bees are always buried deep within the flowers.
I love fat bumble bees. You can coax them onto your hand (mostly when they are trapped inside trying to crash through a window) and stroke their furry back and they seem quite content. Don't stand on one though as they don't like it much.
If one is dehydrated, you can saturate a paper towel with water and spread some honey on it and they will happily replenish themselves until they have strength to fly away.
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 13, 2009 05:36AM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 1,990 |
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 13, 2009 06:36AM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 2,387 |
We are having a bumper crop of Scarlet Runners which is quite odd as we didn't set any and these ones are from some previous life. I must have left a root behind or something. Also the hairy type of runner with white flowers which I thought had become extinct. Now, I've decided that I love beans again so I hope these two rebels can keep my inner woman happy throughout the summer. I can't believe the flavour. The cucumber has had me all atwitter too with the purely perfect corn cobby flavour of that. Another in the offing..maybe tonight is the night for number two.
Belatedly we have set more Scarlets beside giant sunflower seeds, already heading skywards and hope they will have a nice relationship with them and cling on for dear life instead of having to make some support system which won't be possible or at least inconvenient where they are.
Re the tennis ball sized aubergines. They were heritage or something posh and I kept waiting for them to grow bigger but they didn't so maybe they were lacking water at a crucial time. Maybe they were just duds. They must need heaps of water to grow huge. I think they were bitter because they were left for so long.
The previous year we grew some quite successfully and I think we had about 3 shop sized ones. Not as big as a rugby ball but a decent size nonetheless. I don't think it really matters when you pick them providing they have a nice weight to them and are a reasonable size. Stunted little maggots like mine are not advisable to eat.
Belatedly we have set more Scarlets beside giant sunflower seeds, already heading skywards and hope they will have a nice relationship with them and cling on for dear life instead of having to make some support system which won't be possible or at least inconvenient where they are.
Re the tennis ball sized aubergines. They were heritage or something posh and I kept waiting for them to grow bigger but they didn't so maybe they were lacking water at a crucial time. Maybe they were just duds. They must need heaps of water to grow huge. I think they were bitter because they were left for so long.
The previous year we grew some quite successfully and I think we had about 3 shop sized ones. Not as big as a rugby ball but a decent size nonetheless. I don't think it really matters when you pick them providing they have a nice weight to them and are a reasonable size. Stunted little maggots like mine are not advisable to eat.
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 14, 2009 03:11AM |
Registered: 17 years ago Posts: 1,990 |
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 17, 2009 11:17PM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 2,481 |
Your tennis ball aubergines might have been supposed to be that size Kerry. There are all sorts of heritage aubergines in a bewildering array of sizes, shapes and colours. [www.kingsseeds.co.nz]
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2009 11:18PM by PennyG.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2009 11:18PM by PennyG.
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 17, 2009 11:48PM |
Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 2,387 |
I suppose they could have been Black Egg, Penny, but the skin was so tough - but sitting here thinking about that aspect, it probably toughened as I was waiting for them to grow bigger. I love those (green from memory) marble sized ones the Indonesians put in Green Chicken curries. Also had some pea sized once.
What a marvelously diverse thing it is. Just like humans.
What a marvelously diverse thing it is. Just like humans.
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc January 18, 2009 09:02PM |
Admin Registered: 18 years ago Posts: 7,844 |
Re: Help with aubergine,beans etc October 23, 2009 05:22AM |
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