Kitchen Garden Forum

Just went out to check on Aubergine plants and found one of the lower bigger fruit had a sticky substance on the side of it! I took the fruit off the plant and cut it into slices and found areas just under the skin looked like it had been cooked! A few of the bigger fruit on my plants have lost their shiny appearance. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yep - me too!
Despite being told I probably wouldn't be able to grow an aubergine without a greenhouse, I managed one! It wasn't very big but I was very proud of it
came home on Wednesday after a couple of days away and it was all shrivelled and dull
Still, at least I now know it's possible!

I am growing a single aubergine plant for the first time as an experiment, and the same thing happened to the first fruit to reach any decent size. I have since discovered that the plants must be kept humid, as well as warm, and that frequent misting and spraying with tepid water keeps them happy. Also keeping containers of water among the plants boosts the humidity for them. Since trying this, the subsequent fruits are nice and shiny, and getting bigger daily.
Hope this helps.
Lyn

I grow mine in the tunnels and have buckets of water next to them all day, so perhaps that explains why it hasn't happened (yet) to these!