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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.

Temperate Himalaya: Kashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu, Uttarakhand hills

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 Temperate Himalaya

  • Season

    Spring to summer in the mid hills; summer only in the high hills3

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 5 to 6 months from nursery sowing to the last picking. The first autumn frost ends the crop.

    No published guide covers this for the Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

  • Nursery

    March to May3

    Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Across India

When to sow it

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

Wait until March

The next sowing here is March to May.

Sowing now in:North-west plainsGangetic plainsArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateau
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluSub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover only
Compare all 12 regions
Cold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlySub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic 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
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
North-west plainsOctoberNovember, protected from frostFebruary to MarchJulyNovemberFirst half of FebruaryBy the end of AprilAugust
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

    Farmyard manure3

    200 to 250 quintals per hectare · Apply at field preparation. · Field preparation

  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 150 to 180

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

Water every 7 to 15 days, more at flowering and fruit development.3,7

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 Temperate Himalaya aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering3,7

Water about once a week in summer and every 10 to 15 days in cool weather. The crop needs about 100 to 110 cm of water in all. Avoid water stress at flowering and fruiting.

Weeding3

Weeds compete most between 30 and 50 days after transplanting. Hand weed in the later stages along with top dressing.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Field preparationFarmyard manure200 to 250 quintals per hectareApply at field preparation.

Sources3

Varieties and yield

Typical range3

300 to 500 quintals a hectare

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

Varieties grown here3

  • Pusa Purple Long

  • Pusa Purple Cluster

  • Pusa Kranti

  • Pusa Anupam

  • T-3

  • Arka Keshav

    Bacterial wilt resistant

  • Arka Nidhi

    Bacterial wilt resistant

  • Hisar Shyamal

    Bacterial wilt resistant

Good neighbours4,1,8

Grows well with

Pests and diseases3,4

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Shoot and fruit borer (Leucinodes orbonalis)

    Signs

    Shoots wilt and dry first; later the caterpillars bore under the calyx into the fruits, which fill with frass and show exit holes.

    What to do

    • Remove and destroy infested shoots.

    Prevention

    • Grow tolerant varieties such as Pusa Purple Cluster.
    • Do not keep a ratoon crop, avoid close spacing and avoid planting brinjal continuously.

  • Pest

    Hadda beetle (Epilachna vigintioctopunctata)

    Signs

    Grubs and adults scrape the leaf surface, leaving skeletonised leaves.

    What to do

    • Pick off grubs, pupae and adults by hand from skeletonised leaves and destroy them.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.

    Prevention

    • Conserve its parasitoid wasps and predatory bugs.

  • Pest

    Jassid or leafhopper (Amrasca biguttula biguttula)

    Signs

    Sucks sap from the underside of leaves; leaves turn pale and curl. It also spreads little leaf.

    What to do

    • Remove affected parts.
    • Spray neem seed kernel extract 5%.
    • Conserve ladybird beetles and lacewings.

    Prevention

    • Grow okra as a trap crop.

  • Disease

    Phomopsis blight (Phomopsis vexans)

    Signs

    Part of the fruit bleaches and looks scorched.

    Prevention

    • Grow a resistant variety such as Pusa Bhairav.

  • Disease

    Bacterial wilt

    Signs

    Plants wilt suddenly, as in tomato.

    Prevention

    • Grow resistant varieties such as Arka Nidhi, Arka Keshav and Hisar Shyamal.

  • Disease

    Little leaf (spread by leafhoppers)

    Signs

    Plants stay short; leaves are small, narrow and misshapen; flowers turn leafy and no fruit forms.

    What to do

    • Remove and destroy affected plants early.

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 Temperate Himalaya, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Frost in October ends the crop. Pull out the plants; compost healthy ones and destroy any with wilt or 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.

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. 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
  2. 4AESA based IPM package: BrinjalNational Institute of Plant Health Management (NIPHM) and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
  3. 5Brinjal: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing the National Horticulture BoardRead the source
  4. 7Brinjal (eggplant): varieties developed by IIVR and cultivation detailsICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, VaranasiRead the source
  5. 9Horticulture: Vegetables: Brinjal (season, seed, cultural practices, manuring, irrigation, yield, varieties), TNAU Agritech PortalTamil Nadu Agricultural University, CoimbatoreRead the source

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