How to Grow Eggplant Canada
On this page
- Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
- Regional Planting Calendar
- Quick Facts
- At a Glance
- Soil & Growing Conditions
- Growth Stages
- Harvest & Storage
- Diseases
- Pests
- Nutrient Issues
- Companion Planting
- Pollination
- Recommended Varieties
- Recommended Tools & Supplies
- Plan your Eggplant planting
- Growing Eggplant in another region
- Sources
- Frequently Asked Questions
In Canada, eggplant planted out mid March to early April.
Timing is the decision that matters most in Canada: there are 6 separate regional planting out windows, ranging from mid March in Pacific Coastal Mild to early June in Far North & Alpine.
The short answer
- Plant out
- Mid March to early April
- Site
- 6+ hours of sun, soil pH 6–6.5
- Biggest risk
- Verticillium wilt
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Eggplant (Solanum melongena)
10 sources cited · Verified
Regional Planting Calendar
| Region | Plant out |
|---|---|
| Pacific Coastal Mild derived | mid March to early April |
| Central Continental derived | late April to mid May |
| Inland Valleys & Southern Lakes derived | late April to mid May |
| Atlantic Maritime derived | early May to late May |
| Prairies & Short-Season Continental derived | late May to early June |
| Far North & Alpine derived | early June to mid June |
Rows marked derived are interpolated between regions our sources do state, because no source we consulted gives a figure for that region specifically. They are deliberately wider to reflect that uncertainty.
Pacific Coastal Mild - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Eggplant should be transplanted when soils are 60°F (about 15°C) or after all frost danger has passed; row covers or hot caps protect plants set out before the frost-free period, and black plastic mulch brings maturity forward. Applied to a mean last frost of 18 March (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 18 March to 1 April. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Central Continental - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Eggplant should be transplanted when soils are 60°F (about 15°C) or after all frost danger has passed; row covers or hot caps protect plants set out before the frost-free period, and black plastic mulch brings maturity forward. Applied to a mean last frost of 30 April (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 30 April to 14 May. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Inland Valleys & Southern Lakes - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Eggplant should be transplanted when soils are 60°F (about 15°C) or after all frost danger has passed; row covers or hot caps protect plants set out before the frost-free period, and black plastic mulch brings maturity forward. Applied to a mean last frost of 30 April (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 30 April to 14 May. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Atlantic Maritime - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Eggplant should be transplanted when soils are 60°F (about 15°C) or after all frost danger has passed; row covers or hot caps protect plants set out before the frost-free period, and black plastic mulch brings maturity forward. Applied to a mean last frost of 7 May (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 7 May to 21 May. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Prairies & Short-Season Continental - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Eggplant should be transplanted when soils are 60°F (about 15°C) or after all frost danger has passed; row covers or hot caps protect plants set out before the frost-free period, and black plastic mulch brings maturity forward. Applied to a mean last frost of 21 May (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 21 May to 4 June. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Far North & Alpine - detail & sources
DERIVED from this region's own frost normal, not quoted for the region. Eggplant should be transplanted when soils are 60°F (about 15°C) or after all frost danger has passed; row covers or hot caps protect plants set out before the frost-free period, and black plastic mulch brings maturity forward. Applied to a mean last frost of 5 June (NOAA NCEI 1991-2020 for the USA; Environment and Climate Change Canada normals for Canada), that gives 5 June to 19 June. Your own local frost date is what matters — a region spans a range, and this figure comes from one representative station within it.
Quick Facts
| Factor | Value |
|---|---|
| Soil pH | 6 - 6.5 |
| Sunlight | 6-6 hours direct sun |
| Germination temp | 21°C |
| Optimal growing temp | 20-35°C |
| Minimum survivable temp | 9°C |
| Drainage | RHS: grow in "full sun" outdoors, enriching the soil with garden compost or well-rotted manure before planting. Neither source states a soil texture. |
| Edible parts | fruits |
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
| Stage | BBCH | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sowing & seedlings | 0 | Aubergines are grown from seed sown indoors from February (as early as January with a heated propagator), as they need a long, warm season and at least 21°C to germinate. Sow seeds about 0.5-1cm deep (Clemson/UMD: about 1/4 inch) in small pots or modules of moist seed compost on a warm windowsill or in a heated propagator. Prick out or pot on into individual 7.5-9cm pots once seedlings are large enough to handle, and grow on in good light at around 18-21°C. Harden plants off before moving them outdoors or into an unheated greenhouse. |
| Vegetative growth & planting out | 3 | When plants are about 30cm tall, pinch out the growing tip to encourage a bushy, branching habit. Plant into final positions from April (heated greenhouse), early May (unheated greenhouse) or late May/early June outdoors after the last frost - one plant per 30cm pot, three per grow bag, or spaced about 60cm apart (Clemson/UMD: roughly 45-60cm / 18-24in apart in rows 75-90cm / 30-36in) in fertile soil enriched with garden compost or well-rotted manure. Support the top-heavy stems with canes, keep the soil evenly moist, and grow in full sun with at least 6 hours of light a day. |
| Flowering & fruit set | 6 | Purple, star-shaped flowers appear through summer. Mist the flowers and damp down under glass to raise humidity and help pollination and fruit set. Once the first fruits have set, begin feeding every 10-14 days with a high-potassium liquid feed (such as a tomato fertiliser). Maintain a steady, even supply of moisture - containers may need watering daily in hot weather - as fluctuating soil moisture and limited root space cause blossom end rot. |
| Fruit development & harvest | 8 | Restrict each plant to about five or six fruits for good size, removing further flowers once these have set. Continue feeding and watering steadily. Harvest from mid-summer into autumn (roughly 65-150 days from sowing) as soon as fruits are full-sized, ripe and well-coloured with a glossy skin, cutting them with a short stalk using secateurs. Pick promptly: once the skin becomes dull the fruit is over-ripe and may taste bitter. Harvested fruit stores in the fridge for about a week at 7-10°C and 90% relative humidity. |
Harvest & Storage
Diseases
Pests
Nutrient Issues
Companion Planting
Pollination
Pollinating insects (bees and other flower visitors)
RHS: under cover, "open the door and vents on warm days when plants are in flower, to allow access for pollinating insects". Where insect access is limited, "misting the flowers also aids pollination, or you can hand pollinate flowers with a small paintbrush." Fruit set under glass is therefore an access problem before it is a plant problem.
Recommended Varieties
Variety selection matters more for aubergines than most UK crops, since every one of them needs the full glasshouse season to fruit well.
- Moneymaker — F1 hybrid, early and reliable with classic glossy purple fruits; a sensible default for a first attempt.
- Black Beauty — traditional variety producing large fruits; good if you want fewer, bigger aubergines per plant.
- Bonica — very productive F1 hybrid with good disease resistance; worth choosing where red spider mite has been a problem before.
- Ophelia — compact F1 hybrid bred for containers; the best choice where glasshouse space is limited.
Restricting a plant to 5–6 fruits isn't wasteful, it's the opposite: letting every flower set fruit spreads the plant's limited energy too thin, producing many small, poor-quality aubergines instead of a handful of good ones.
Recommended Tools & Supplies
Having the right tools makes growing aubergines easier. Our hand tools for gardening include secateurs for cutting fruit cleanly at harvest, and the soil and plant care range covers propagators for the heat aubergines need to germinate through to high-potash feeds for fruiting.
Planning the wider plot? See the UK vegetable planting calendar.
Plan your Eggplant planting
When to sow and plant Eggplant depends on your own frost dates. Check the Canada vegetable planting calendar, or the month-by-month guides that cover Eggplant: May. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Eggplant in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
The full list of 10 sources behind this guide (Clemson Cooperative Extension, FAO EcoCrop, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and others) is in the references of our UK guide to aubergines; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I plant aubergines out in Canada?
In Pacific Coastal Mild, from mid March. In Far North & Alpine, wait until early June. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to plant out only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
What soil pH do aubergines need?
A pH of about 6–6.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect aubergines?
Our data links 5 diseases and 7 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Short-season growing is arithmetic before it is technique: days to maturity against frost-free days decides what will finish at all. The Canada Garden Planner does that subtraction for your region before you sow.
Get the Canada Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for Canadian growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against Canadian hardiness-zone and frost-date data, with provincial agriculture and university extension sources cited directly where one exists for a crop. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Vegetable Growing Guides Canada
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Last verified 2026-08-06
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