No aubergines & no sparrows!

FairChristian 4/27/2013, 8:33 pm

I have very healthy looking plants in tunnel house & in garden, but unlike my experience in Cambridge I have not had a fruit inside or outside for the last fews years. Have tried the paintbrush trick but to no avail. We live in a quiet & sheltered valley, usually overun with sparrows especially near my chook house, but for the last few months we have nothiced that there are very few, if any sparrows at all.
Any help please?

**llama momma** 4/27/2013, 10:49 pm

Have no response to your sparrow issue but just about all growing problems come back to the issue of Mel's Mix being incorrect in some proportion or else a problem with the quality of ingredients. What did you use and how much of each, and in what size box(es)?

**camprn** 4/27/2013, 11:09 pm

Did the aubergine make any fruit at all? What has your temperature been like lately?

FairChristian 4/28/2013, 1:52 am

Temps pretty changeable, from 18 to 27 had a couple of exiting moments with fruit developing but then broke off at the stem. Have spent the afternoon in tunnel house & find that the soil is not as wet deep down as I would have imagined, so will try changing my watering routine to 2hrs every 7 days instead of half an each day through the hot summer. I have had a lot of grasshoppers and greenfly in there. A lot to learn & haven't been able to take care of either garden for a long time, so will try harder.
Probably shouldn't be on this site though as I just realised sfg actually means something! Rolling Eyes

**camprn** 4/28/2013, 7:22 am

Oh dear.... ok. Aubergine like it HOT and they must have A LOT OF WATER! Also, they are heavy feeders, requiring good fertile growing mix and periodic feeding with compost tea or top dressing. If the plants are setting fruit and then shedding the fruit, the plant, it would seem, is stressed and in survival mode.

This site offers a bit of info about plant requirements.
http://myfolia.com/plants/410-eggplant-solanum-melongena/varieties/7404-dusky

**llama momma** 4/28/2013, 7:25 am

FairChristian wrote: Probably shouldn't be on this site though as I just realised sfg actually means something!

FairChristian-- On the contrary! You are most welcome to learn all you want about the sfg method, I found it to be a simple method to be successful without decades long learning curve! No roto tilling, nearly no weeds, soil mix always soft, and a good compost is all that feeds your plants, less watering, save on seeds, honestly the list goes on and on.

FairChristian 4/28/2013, 5:47 pm

That's celcius of course.
Thanks for your help & encouragement. A beautiful balmy morning here in New Zealand today and I have just been out to visit my darlings, picked off a couple of snails, but also found that the 2hr timer didn't work, so that was worth the walk in my pyjamas!
Hopefully will be able to keep the tunnel warm enough now that autumn has come, am expecting great things!
As for the square foot, sure sounds good, where do I begin?

Shalom Christine.

Pollinator 4/28/2013, 6:52 pm

camprn wrote:Oh dear.... ok. Aubergine like it HOT and they must have A LOT OF WATER! Also, they are heavy feeders, requiring good fertile growing mix and periodic feeding with compost tea or top dressing. If the plants are setting fruit and then shedding the fruit, the plant, it would seem, is stressed and in survival mode.

Or it could be getting just a few grains of pollen, to start the fruit development, but not enough grains to carry it to maturity. Check out the third photo in this article: http://gardensouth.org/2011/06/15/evaluating-squash-pollination/

plantoid 4/28/2013, 9:49 pm

When pollinating I've used a rabbits tail fastened to a pencil and I've twiddled it around in several other flowering plants in the flower beds before I've brought it into the glasshouse to pollinate toms , aubergenes and capsicums . I also go back over the plants a day later just in case things didn't work out well the first time.

( I know you can make use of the toms self fertility but I wanted to hand pollentate & see what crosses I could make )

FairChristian 4/29/2013, 12:18 am

yes the photo is good, and kinda what my courgettes were looking like before I got in & started talking to them! But they are doing what they ought now so here's hoping with purple passions. We have our own hive so maybee I can train them too, surround the tunnel house with flowers maybee. Very Happy

FairChristian 4/29/2013, 12:20 am

p.s saw a couple of sparrows today, will be sure to leave the chook shed open! For a couple of days anyway!

**llama momma** 4/29/2013, 1:32 am

FairChristian wrote:As for the square foot, sure sounds good, where do I begin?

Shalom Christine.

The book is called, All New Square Foot Gardening. By Mel Batholomew. There is a second edition that came out earlier this year, the other edition came out 2006. It is a method that this forum was born out of. Hope you find the book and enjoy!

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