Allotments 4 All

how do you get aubergines and peppers to set fruit (if that's the right word) when grown under cover?   ???

I have read on here that misting works, as do ends of fingers and cotton buds.  The only one I ever tried was frequent use of ends of fingers - seemed to work for me.

I never intervene and always end up with plenty.  If your 'cover' is open, like a greenhouse door or vents open, then bees and other polinators will find their way, or of course, you walking about in there and moving things will do the trick...or at least....it does for me!  :-\

Use a spare eye makeup brush, myself.  First baby Ring of Fire on its way as a result, although still somewhat green around the ears ;D  Mine are in a conservatory/utility room which doesn't seem to get enough natural pollinators visiting, hence the brush.

I just wiggle my fingers around from one flower to the next.  I also go bzzzzzzz to make the plant think I am a bumble bee.   ;D

You have to be canny - it's hard to fool those flowers.

I've pollinated all my indoors chillies using a finger tip - seems to work fine.

fingers and bee impersonations it is!

My dear old mum always advised me to dust round indoor flowers using  a feather - any kind found in the garden.  Never grown aubergines but certainly worked for tomatoes and peppers.  Mind you I don't think we ever didn't so might have pollinated anyway - is that called sitting on the fence?   :)

I agree with EJ on this one.  Have grown them 2 years now and I never do anything other than mist occasionally.  No problems with yield - last year more than I knew what to do with!  :)

What sort of timescale is involved between pepper & aubergine flowers and the eventual fruit?

This is my first year of growing them. They were sown back in March, they're mostly in the greenhouse in biggish pots, look pretty healthy (but then I have no comparisons) ... and geographically residing in Northumberland.

- The peppers are now starting to throw out plenty of buds. but nothing's actually at the 'open flower' stage.

- Noticed the very first aubergine flower bud forming, this morning.

how often do you mist a chilli?i do mine once a day

my peppers are at the same stage too. So...do you just transfer the pollen from one flower to another?

yes.except mine have no pollen lol...every flower so far has dropped off!!

Quote from: giraffeski on July 06, 2005, 15:52:19
my peppers are at the same stage too. So...do you just transfer the pollen from one flower to another?

Not necessary. Peppers have complete flowers so if you do want to manually pollinate them you don't need to transfer the pollen between flowers just between the anthers and the stigma on any flower.

Ah.. right, thank you John. Is it the same for aubergines?

Don't know about aubs, but toms have perfect flowers.

just want to join in only really to say what gorgi flowers the aubergines produce aren't they pretty! :D

But watch out for the PRICKLES!!

PS We talked about the spacing of aubs a while ago. These are nowhere near fully grown & they're already crowding. At 2 per bag.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/aub0707.jpg)

Oh Tim, envy,envy, those plants look great. I have 3 little aubs struggling in the great outdoors of my Lottie - living in a flat limits greenhouse options and they were all vandalised on our site a couple of years ago so no one has dared put them up again!! On the bright side my Lottie peppers and chillis are fruiting, if small, and my tomatoes, so far, are looking good.

At least you get some nice weather down there??

Our aubs did fine outdoors - with a windbreak.

Quote from: periwinkle on July 07, 2005, 08:31:37
Ah.. right, thank you John. Is it the same for aubergines?

Yes. Plants are grouped into families which are defined by the similar  arrangement of the different parts of their flowers. This is why tomatoes are grouped with peppers, aubergines, Brugmansia, Nicotiana, deadly nightshade and even Salpiglossis.

Quote from: Gadfium on June 29, 2005, 12:59:08
What sort of timescale is involved between pepper & aubergine flowers and the eventual fruit?

You can pick either at any size. However, peppers are best left to get full size. Baby aubergines are a gourmet delight, apparently- they go for a premium, but I pick mine when they are large enough for my intended purpose. They certainly shouldn't be allowed to get large (how large is large?) as they can become bitter.