Solanum melongena 'Early Long Purple'

RHS Plant Profile
aubergine 'Early Long Purple'

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Fruit Edible Conservatory Greenhouse
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A bushy annual vegetable reaching 1m tall. It has green leaves and purple flowers. These develop into a good crop of long slender dark purple fruits the size of a small cucumber

Position

Full sun

Soil Types

Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand

Max Height

0.5-1 metres

Max Spread

0.5-1 metres

Size

Time to Maturity
1 year
Max Spread
0.5-1 metres
Max Height
0.5-1 metres

Growing Conditions

Chalk Clay Loam Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained
pH
Acid or Alkaline or Neutral

Position

Full sun
Aspect
East–facing or North–facing or South–facing or West–facing
Exposure
Sheltered
Hardiness

Hardiness Ratings

All ratings refer to the UK growing conditions unless otherwise stated. Minimum temperature ranges (in degrees C) are shown in brackets

  • H1A: under glass all year (>15C)
  • H1B: can be grown outside in the summer (10 - 15)
  • H1C: can be grown outside in the summer (5 - 10)
  • H2: tolerant of low temperatures, but not surviving being frozen (1 to 5)
  • H3: hardy in coastal and relatively mild parts of the UK (-5 to 1)
  • H4: hardy through most of the UK (-10 to -5)
  • H5: hardy in most places throughout the UK even in severe winters (-15 to -10)
  • H6: hardy in all of UK and northern Europe (-20 to -15)
  • H7: hardy in the severest European continental climates (< -20)
H1C

Colour & Scent

Season Stem Flower Foliage Fruit
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter

Botanical Details

Family
Solanaceae
Native to GB/Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Genus
Solanum can be annuals, perennials, evergreen or deciduous shrubs or twining climbers, with simple or pinnnately lobed leaves and star- or bowl-shaped, 5-lobed flowers with prominent stamens, followed by fleshy fruits
Name Status
Unresolved

How to Grow

Cultivation

Grow in fertile moisture-retentive soil in good light. Can grow outside in summer. For more advice see aubergine cultivation

Propagation

Propagate by seed. See sowing vegetable seeds or sowing seeds indoors for further advice

Suggested planting locations and garden types

  • Edible fruit
  • Conservatory and greenhouse

Pruning

Pruning group 1

Pests

May be susceptible to aphids, glasshouse whitefly, glasshouse red spider mite and two-spotted mite

Diseases

May be susceptible to honey fungus (rarely)