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Vegetables · Fruiting

Growing brinjal

Solanum melongena · also called Baingan, Wangun (Kashmiri)A warm season fruit vegetable raised in a nursery and transplanted. It needs a long, sunny, frost-free season and bears over several months.

North-west plains: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A round green brinjal fruit hanging under the leaves of a brinjal plant
Photo: Dr. Anil Kumar Swain - Sr. Scientist & Head. Krishi Vigyan Kendra, OUAT, Nayagarh · CC0

At a glance

Brinjal in the North-west plains

  • Season

    Four crops a year: autumn, late winter, spring and rainy season2

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 6 to 8 months from nursery sowing to the last picking, depending on the crop.

    No published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Nursery

    October2

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Sow now

The window here is November, protected from frost.

Sowing now in:Gangetic plainsArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateau
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunTemperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlySub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, KonkanEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
North-west plainsOctoberNovember, protected from frostFebruary to MarchJulyNovemberFirst half of FebruaryBy the end of AprilAugust
Temperate HimalayaMarch to MayAprilApril to JuneEnd of MayJuly to September
Cold desertUnder cover onlyUnder cover: Late March to April, under coverUnder cover: May, in the greenhouseUnder cover: July to September
Sub-tropical foothillsJanuaryFebruary to MarchMayMarch to AprilUnder cover: December, under low poly tunnelsFebruaryMarch to AprilJuneApril to MayUnder cover: January, into trenches
Gangetic plainsOctober to NovemberMay to JuneNovember to DecemberJune to July
North-east hills and valleysEarly September to OctoberJanuary to FebruaryOctober to NovemberFebruary to March
Arid westJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to AugustNovember to DecemberMarch to April
Central plateauJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to AugustNovember to DecemberMarch to April
Deccan plateauJune to JulyOctober to NovemberFebruary to MarchJuly to AugustNovember to DecemberMarch to April
South interiorDecember to JanuaryMay to JuneJanuary to FebruaryJune to July
West coastMay to June, before the monsoonSeptember to October
East coastDecember to JanuaryMay to JuneJanuary to FebruaryJune to July

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Well rotted farmyard manure2

    10 tonnes per acre · Mix into the soil before transplanting. · Before transplanting

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 6 to 10

    Seeds come up5,7Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 25 to 30

    Transplant7,5,4,9

  5. Day 180 to 240

    Last pickingNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Water straight after transplanting. Then irrigate every 4 to 6 days in summer and every 10 to 14 days in winter, depending on the soil; the crop takes 10 to 16 irrigations. Drip irrigation with plastic mulch on raised beds saves about half the water.2

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH3,1,2

    5.5 to 6.8

    Grows on most soils, from light sandy to heavy clay, if they are deep, fertile and well drained. Silt loam and clay loam suit it most; sandy loam gives an earlier crop.

  • Sunlight1

    Full sun. It needs a long, warm growing season with plenty of sunshine.

  • Temperature1,2,3

    Grows best at 21 to 27 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the North-west plains aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering2

Water straight after transplanting. Then irrigate every 4 to 6 days in summer and every 10 to 14 days in winter, depending on the soil; the crop takes 10 to 16 irrigations. Drip irrigation with plastic mulch on raised beds saves about half the water.

WeedingNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Hoe shallowly two or three times in the first six weeks after transplanting and earth up the plants.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Before transplantingWell rotted farmyard manure10 tonnes per acreMix into the soil before transplanting.

Sources2

Varieties and yield

Typical rangeNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

300 to 350 quintals a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here2

  • Punjab Neelam

    Round fruited; for February and August transplanting

  • Punjab Raunak

    Long fruited, early

  • Punjab Barsati

    Long fruited; for rainy season transplanting; more tolerant of fruit borer

  • Punjab Sada Bahar

    Long fruited; summer, autumn or ratoon crop

  • Punjab Bharpoor

    Small fruits in clusters; resistant to bacterial wilt

  • Punjab Nagina

    Small round fruits in clusters

  • PBHR-41

    Hybrid, round

  • PBHR-42

    Hybrid, oval round

  • BH-2

    Hybrid, oblong; for bharta; also for net-house

  • PBH-5

    Hybrid, long

  • PBH-4

    Hybrid, long

  • PBH-3

    Hybrid, small oblong

Good neighbours4,1,8

Grows well with

Pests and diseases2

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Jassid, hadda beetle and shoot and fruit borer

    Signs

    Damage from May to September. Jassid-attacked plants turn pale, then bronze. Hadda beetles eat the leaves. Borer-infested shoots droop and dry, and fruits show holes.

    What to do

    • Pick all infested fruits and destroy them.
    • Collect and destroy hadda beetle egg masses and skeletonised leaves with adults and grubs on them.

    Prevention

    • Do not keep a ratoon crop.
    • Use nitrogen with care: heavy doses make the crop prone to jassid.

  • Pest

    Whitefly

    Signs

    Worst from July to September. Adults and nymphs suck sap and leave honeydew; leaves turn black with sooty mould.

    What to do

    • At the first sign, give one or two sprays of PAU neem extract, 1200 ml per acre.
    • Or spray 1500 ml of maize, sorghum or bajra juice in water for an acre.

    Prevention

    • Check whitefly numbers on 10 plants in each quarter of the field before 10 am.
    • Clear weeds on bunds, waste land, roadsides and channels.

  • Pest

    Spider mites (Tetranychus urticae)

    Signs

    Attack in hot dry April to June: yellowish-white specks, then scorching and leaf fall; leaves collect dust.

    Prevention

    • Do not keep a ratoon crop.
    • Do not delay or hold back irrigation in April to June.

  • Disease

    Phomopsis blight

    Signs

    Straw-brown to deep brown spots on leaves and fruits; infected fruits rot.

    Prevention

    • Collect seed only from healthy fruits.

  • Disease

    White rot (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum)

    Signs

    Pinkish brown water-soaked patches on leaves covered with white growth in cool humid weather; hard black bodies form; stems and fruits rot.

    What to do

    • Collect and destroy plant debris.

    Prevention

    • Do not plant brinjal after pea, cauliflower or carrot; tomato or chilli can follow instead.
    • In fields prone to the disease, avoid the main season crop (July to February).

  • Disease

    Little leaf

    Signs

    Small leaves in rosettes; no flowers or fruits. Spread by jassid; worse in a ratoon crop.

    What to do

    • Rogue out affected plants.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2,3

Grow seed plants at least 200 m from other brinjal varieties. Check the crop three times (at growth, at flowering and fruiting, and before harvest) and pull out off-types and diseased plants.

When the seed is ready

Seed fruits are ready when at least a third of the fruit has turned yellow.

Cleaning the seed

Cut or crush ripe fruits and leave them overnight. Work the seed out by hand in a tub of water: the flesh floats and the seed sinks. Wash several times and do it in the morning so the seed dries the same day.

Dry the seed straight after washing, in part shade, before packing and labelling it.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the North-west plains, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Pull out the crop after the last picking rather than keeping it as a ratoon, and destroy plants with little leaf.

Remove and destroy infested plants and crop residues straight after the last harvest, so borers and disease do not carry over to the next crop.

Rotation

Do not grow brinjal on the same land year after year. Rotate with crops outside the tomato family, such as maize, soybean, wheat, rice, sesame or a green manure, which also lowers bacterial wilt. Avoid following brinjal with potato.

Growing under cover2

Low tunnels: transplant in the first half of November on raised beds at 90 x 30 cm, cover the arches with clear 50 micron plastic in early December and take it off in the second half of February. This gives fruit in the lean March to April period. Net-house: the hybrid BH-2 is recommended, transplanted in late July, early November or late February (nursery in mid June, mid September or end of November) at 90 x 30 cm on raised beds. Train the rainy season crop to two main shoots and tap the main stem around midday to help pollination.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 2Package of Practices for Cultivation of Vegetables 2021 (Brinjal; low tunnel technology; brinjal in net-house)Punjab Agricultural University, LudhianaRead the source
  2. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Brinjal)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (College of Agriculture course notes)Read the source
  3. 4AESA based IPM package: BrinjalNational Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM) and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  4. 5Brinjal: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing the National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  5. 7Brinjal (eggplant): varieties developed by IIVR and cultivation detailsICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, VaranasiRead the source
  6. 9Horticulture: Vegetables: Brinjal (season, seed, cultural practices, manuring, irrigation, yield, varieties), TNAU Agritech PortalTamil Nadu Agricultural University, CoimbatoreRead the source

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