Organic Aubergine Seeds - Black Beauty

Black Beauty Aubergines are a popular summer vegetable and are absolutely delicious when harvested fully ripened and cooked in a favourite Mediterranean recipe. 

Use these Black Beauty Aubergine Seeds to grow top-quality organic, open-pollinated and heirloom aubergines that have been a favourite in the UK for a good reason since 1910. Delicious and pear-shaped, Black Beauty has a deep purple to black coloured skin protecting a creamy and buttery fruit. Organic Black Beauty Aubergine fruits can be picked small, making them well suited to UK growing conditions, or left to grow to full size for a delicious bitter free flavour.

• Pack size: 20 seeds
• Time to germination: 14-21 days
• When to sow inside: January – April
• When to sow outside: April- June
• Spacing: 90cm +
• Soil preference: Fertile well-drained
• Light preference: Full sun
• When to harvest: July – October

How to grow Organic Black Beauty Aubergine from seed

Aubergines, or eggplants, belong to the same family as peppers and tomatoes and should be grown in much the same manner. However, they are slightly more cold-sensitive, which can halt the plant's growth, reducing its vigour, resistance to pests and disease, and yields. As such, for a successful experience, we recommend growing aubergines under glass only.

When sowing your Organic Aubergine Black Beauty seeds (shallowly), consider the temperature they will be exposed to. 21-24 degrees is ideal; however, once germinated, aubergine seeds can tolerate somewhat lower temperatures. After germination, place on a sunny windowsill, or as we recommend, under LED lights, to grow on and develop in 8cm thin-wall pots before planting out in late spring, pot and all.

What to feed your Black Beauty Aubergine plants

As they are heavy feeders, aubergine plants enjoy free-draining, moist soil loaded with plenty of organic matter. Add a few handfuls of fish, blood and bone meal with some volcanic rock dust and kelp powder to give them a rich, balanced and diverse diet for strong organic growth and cropping over the season. This diet will also help the plants to form strong, well-developed immunity.

By preparing the planting hole/soil with the above organics before planting and applying a side dressing of phosphorus-rich bone meal or wood ash, just prior to fruiting, you are feeding the whole soil ecosystem, which in turn feeds your aubergine plants a much broader diet. Off the shelf bought chemical fertilisers are limited in their scope and kill life in the soil web, trapping the gardener to spend more time and money repeatedly fertilising. 

Black Beauty Aubergines have been a favourite for so long as they are a great all-rounder and are pest and disease-resistant. All aubergines should be rotated every few years and given plenty of space as they don’t like humidity. For this reason, we plant them with the tomatoes near the open greenhouse door, leaving the moisture-loving cues to thrive in the humid back corners.

When ordering Organic Black Beauty Aubergine Seeds from Grow Sow Greener, we recommend sowing nasturtium seeds. A beautiful plant that add interest and beauty in its own right and is a great companion for aubergines.  Growing nasturtiums a distance away from your veg will help lure aphids away, whilst giving you delicious red flowers and peppery young leaves for adding to salads.

GROWING GUIDE: How to Grow Aubergines Organically