Why eggplant flowers fall off

The first foot of soil should be moistened this way. In the wild, eggplants essentially pollinate themselves with the wind.

Other factors such as humidity can hamper pollination. This is because humidity can cause grains of pollen to stick together rather than dropping onto the pistil. It can be time-consuming to pollinate your plants manually. We recommend using a soft-bristled toothbrush or paintbrush.

It takes time, but the result is worth it. You can also look at adding an oscillating fan to your greenhouse or garden to simulate the wind that would normally help your eggplant pollinate.

When the blossoms on your eggplant start dropping off, you might feel helpless and confused. Rest assured that the two main causes, lack of water and pollination, are easy to fix. By providing your eggplant with enough water and helping it pollinate, you can ensure your plant is much more likely to fruit. Is it Sweet?

Disclosure: As Amazon Associates we earn from qualifying purchases. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Insert Image. How to Fix It. How to Grow Rosa Bianca Eggplant. A few choices to consider are:. Seeds in packets of 35 or sets of three plants are available from Burpee. You can find seeds in a variety of packet sizes available from True Leaf Market.

Seeds in packets of 30 or sets of three plants are available from Burpee. I always use a NPK at the beginning. But as soon as the first blossoms appear, switch away from this general-purpose fertilizer. At this point, your plant needs less nitrogen, and too much of this nutrient can prevent flowers from developing.

Once the plant enters the flowering phase, excess nitrogen can cause your eggplant to develop more leaves than it needs at the expense of flowers and fruit. If you notice that you have too many leaves and not enough flowers, just adjust your fertilization habits and blossoms should soon appear.

Have you ever fixed a blossom drop issue with your aubergines? Share your stories and questions in the comments section below. And if you want to learn more about growing eggplant and the many varieties S. As a freelance writer, she contributes to several websites and blogs across the web.

This will help keep the root system warm in cooler weather. Succulent, savory eggplants are most definitely in your future. Facebook Twitter Pinterest More Posts Notify of. Inline Feedbacks. You are going to send email to. These Eggplant flowers are self-pollinating with both the male and female organs in each flower. Then, the fruit develops from the female part of the flower. Fruit — Depending on the Eggplant variety, the fruit can be purple, white, and striped.

Eggplants produce purple fruit that grows about 7 to 10 inches when mature. Different Eggplant cultivars bear fruit in about 50 to 80 days. Eggplants require well-drained soil, rich in nitrogen, and phosphorous for optimal growth.

If your soil lacks any of these conditions, Eggplants will grow foliage, but not bear any fruit. Spread compost or manure in the garden to add nutrients to the soil.

Eggplant is very easy to grow in the low desert southwest. It does well in a variety of soil textures but prefers rich, well-drained soil with a pH level of 5. It thrives in full sun and requires at least 5 months of warm weather for fruit production.

Even one of the following reasons can prevent Eggplants from producing fruit. Many times, Eggplants increase large flowers, only to have them drop off for no apparent reason. If you determine which of the following issues is damaging Eggplants, you can take measures to solve the problem. Eggplants require sufficient water to grow successfully. They require deep and consistent watering, that can reach at least 18 inches into the soil.

If water reaches the first few inches, it results in flower drop. Even the Eggplant fruit will fall off, if not watered enough. Applying up to a 3-inch layer of mulch around Eggplants keeps the soil moist, and prevents sun damage to the foliage on hot days.

Eggplant flowers have both male and female organs in each blossom, and which makes them self-pollinating. Usually, the wind or insects carry the pollen from the male to the female part of the flower, but sometimes they require a little help. Gently shaking or tapping the Eggplant loosens the pollen, transferring it from the male to the female. The female part of the Eggplant flower is where the fruit forms. You can use a small paintbrush to transfer the pollen.

Just swirling the brush around inside the flower must do the trick. Eggplants like sunny and hot, but not too hot. Spreading organic fertilizer , such as cow, horse or poultry manure adds the nutrients Eggplants crave back into your soil. Manure provides nitrogen that Eggplants want to produce protein for growth. If your soil lacks nitrogen, Eggplant leaves will turn yellow. Organic fertilizer adds phosphorous, which plants need to form healthy roots, and flowers that produce fruit.

This will protect them from sun scorch. Lush plants give you high hopes for a large harvest, but leaves may be all you get from Eggplant if the soil has too much nitrogen and not enough phosphorus.

An application of ammonium phosphate worked into the soil around the Eggplants at a rate of about 2 pounds per square feet can make more phosphorus available to the Eggplants for blossom production. Once the plant does set buds, spritzing its foliage with a solution of about 1 teaspoon of Epsom salts per gallon of water can give the plant extra magnesium and calcium to help it hold onto blossoms.

When an Eggplant plant is stressed, its blossoms will dry up and drop off without producing Eggplant fruit. The common reason an Eggplant gets stressed is due to a lack of water. Your Eggplant needs at least 2 inches of water a week, more in hot weather.

The majority of that water must be provided in one watering so the water goes deeper into the ground and is less likely to evaporate quickly. Deep watering encourages the Eggplant to grow deep roots, which helps it find water deeper in the ground and even out its water needs so it is less likely to drop a single Eggplant flower.

Although Eggplant flowers are self-pollinating, bumblebees and other insects pollinate the flowers. And other insects that pollinate Eggplants are ants, thrips, and flies. There was no difference in the Eggplant fruit quality, no matter which way the pollination took place. Every Eggplant flower has male and female organs that self-pollinate to produce the Eggplant fruit. Bees and wind mainly help the flowers to transfer the pollen from the male to the female.