Planting guide

When to plant eggplant

Glossy purple fruit for the warm-season garden; small-fruited types crop most reliably. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Dec.

Start as: Seedling or Seed started indoors
Ready in: 9–17 wks
Spacing: 60 cm
Depth: 0.5 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Hands-on
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means eggplant can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○
Townsville	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○
Mackay	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	○
London	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant eggplant

Start seed indoors 8 weeks ahead with bottom heat.
Plant out only once the weather is properly warm.
Stake plants and feed every 2 weeks.
Cut fruit while the skin is still glossy.

Eggplant varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Black Beauty Classicheirloom · heavy-cropper · 11–16 wksClassic glossy purple globe eggplant
Long Purple Classicheirloom · heavy-cropper · 11–16 wksSlender purple fruit, mild and quick to cook
Ping Tung Long Classicheavy-cropper · 10–14 wksSlim Taiwanese type with tender, sweet, mild flesh
Little Fingers Classicpot-friendly · heavy-cropper · mild · 9–12 wksClusters of finger-sized fruit; good in pots
Thai Long Green Adventurousheirloom · heavy-cropper · 11–14 wksPale-green fruit for Thai curries
Listada de Gandia Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 11–16 wksPurple-and-white striped Spanish heirloom, creamy and mild
Rosa Bianca Adventurousheirloom · colourful · mild · 12–16 wksPink-lilac Italian bulb with sweet, creamy flesh
Turkish Orange Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 12–16 wksSmall orange fruit; ornamental and good in stews

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Bean, Marigold, Thyme

Eggplant by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Cucumber · Zucchini · Sweetcorn

Not sure eggplant is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now