• Yes, preferably with a smaller plant variety such as Pot Black, whose fruits are large enough to grow a few meals.

• Best not to grow them in shade, unless your summers are really hot

Aubergine plants need warmth at all stages of growth, and I categorise them with melons for their relative growing difficulty in regions with cool summers. Ideal summer temperatures are in the range of 12–20 °C/54–68° F by night, and 24–35 °C/75–95 °F by day.

• Temperature is the key. Homeacres, for example, is a little too cool, with an average temperature from June to August of 11 °C/52° F by night and 21 °C/70° F by day. These figures are marginal for outdoor aubergines, so they are more worthwhile under cover.

• To enjoy harvests in summer, rather than autumn, you need to have warmth for propagation in order to sow early and keep plants growing. In cool climates, it may be as long as two, or even three months before it’s warm enough to transplant.

• The soil needs no special preparation, just the same compost mulch or cover as you apply for tomatoes and cucumbers. We usually spread this once a year, in May or late spring under cover, after clearing winter vegetables and before the summer plantings

‍

There are many varieties available, but some are poorly maintained. Ones that used to be reliable every summer, I now find less so. It’s why I sometimes recommend F1 hybrids, although you may be fortunate and find a good open-pollinated variety.

If so, and if your summer season is long enough for the fruits to go to seed, with the flesh inedible by that stage, it’s worth saving seeds. Aubergine flowers self-pollinate, which means you can save seed from just one variety, and the flowers will not have cross-pollinated with any neighbouring and different variety.

In cooler climates, such as here in the UK where every growing day makes a difference, it’s worth sowing early enough that you can then pot on small plants to keep growing. We need large plants at the transplanting stage.

Firstly, prick out seedlings from the seed tray into a module tray, when about two weeks old and with just two leaves. After another four weeks, pop the module seedlings into a pot around 7 cm/3 in diameter. After two more weeks, if not ready to transplant, pot on again into a 10 cm/4 in pot for 10–14 days.

Avoid overcrowding – these plants need to grow and crop for a few months, which means there needs to be empty space around the base. Soon after transplanting the soil will be full of their roots.

I would not try to grow other vegetables as an intercrop, but you could plant basil to crop for a while between aubergine plants.

Low-growing flowers, such as dwarf marigolds, flower well under aubergine plants and look really good, probably because their roots collaborate nicely with the aubergine roots. Self-seeding may be an issue, but it’s not a problem if there is enough frost in winter to kill the thousands of seedlings.

45–60 cm/18–24 in allows for large leaves on vigorous plants, and fruiting for ten weeks or more.

Either grow as unpruned bushes with a stake in the middle, or as cordons up one or two strings per plant. If the latter, place the string end under the rootball when planting – see photo above and further details below.

Watering

A key requirement for successful growing in pots and containers, even more than in beds, is to use a well-structured compost with a long-term supply of nutrients. I have trialled many composts and find best long-term growth from organic-approved ones.

In genuinely organic composts, the nutrients come from decomposed plant matter and not from added chemical feeds.

• Unlike for food and beverages, the label ‘organic’ on sacks of compost and manure means nothing unless verified by a certifying symbol from a national body, such as The Soil Association (UK).

• Nutrients from chemical feeds (‘synthetic’, ‘non-organic’) are mostly soluble in water and need careful management.

• Nutrients in organic and homemade composts do not wash out, and release slowly over a long period.

‍

Feeding is worthwhile only if soil is infertile, and for containers. I use proprietary organic feed, such as Osmo brand – there are others available. You can make a feed from nettle and comfrey leaves.

For containers, I suggest using small amounts of feed to start with and then observing new growth for clues. Watch for leaves growing darker and larger, the plant health staying good.

For bush plants, your work depends on the variety. Some are vigorous and need tying to or around the stake you have put in. Also, it’s worth removing old leaves and any rotting fruit.

For cordon plants with two leading stems, with your two strings already set under the rootball, watch for the first strong side shoot. Allow this to grow into a second upward stem. Then, about three weeks after you first let it grow into a stem, twist it gently around the second string.

Cordon aubergines need less twisting around strings than tomatoes because their stems develop more slowly. Removing side shoots is similar to tomatoes and needs to be done regularly, but there are less of them so it’s not too onerous, as you see in the video.

• Plants self-thin their fruits! When a lot have been pollinated, you will see a few decay and then drop off. This is nothing to worry about. You can thin more small fruits if you want larger aubergines.

• Unless your garden is barren of insects (unlikely), pollination will look after itself. If fruit are not setting, it’s more likely to do with a shortage of moisture, issues of warmth, or perhaps the variety.

It’s not usually necessary to thin fruit, just remove any rotting ones.

Assessing when aubergine fruits are ready to harvest is not always straightforward. It’s not a question of size or fatness, because many varieties crop small and thin fruits. What you are looking for is a relative degree of plumpness and firmness, and the skin still being glossy, rather than the matt appearance of older fruits.

If you leave aubergines longer than necessary before harvesting, you lose food. They switch from growing flesh to developing seeds. Best harvests occur when you keep picking regularly, and before you see any signs of them going seedy.

• Picking is regular and frequent through summer’s second half, and finishes in early autumn.

• For pest protection, there are no specific measures needed.

• The possibility of red spider mite is a worry.

• Aphids should not cause much of a problem.

Red spider mite (Tetranychus urtica) is more difficult to deal with because it’s unpredictable and almost invisible to the naked eye. You don’t see its first incidence, from early to midsummer. Then suddenly there are many leaves turning pale green and then yellow, with faint cobwebs on their undersides. By this point, it is too late to rectify matters.

Aphids such as whitefly (Trialeurodes vaporariorum) and greenfly (Macrosiphum rosae) like aubergines, but watering well in spring enables healthy growth to continue until the joyful time of late spring. Aphid populations then reduce as predators start to arrive, especially by early summer.

Because aubergine plants need warmth to perform, their useful life finishes before mid-autumn.

Clear plants when you see no more baby fruits, and/or they have few healthy leaves.