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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.

West coast: Kerala, Goa, Konkan, coastal Karnataka, south Gujarat

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 West coast

  • Season

    Rainfed crop planted in May to June before the south-west monsoon; irrigated crop planted in September to October6

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 6 to 7 months from nursery sowing to the last picking.

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

  • Plant out

    May to June, before the monsoon6

  • First harvest

    55 to 70 days after sowing

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

Across India

When to sow it

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

Too late this season

The window here was September to October. The next one opens in May.

Sowing now in:North-west plainsGangetic plainsArid westCentral plateauDeccan plateau
  • Nursery
  • Transplant
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
West coastKerala, Goa, KonkanSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold 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 NaduEast coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
West coastMay to June, before the monsoonSeptember to October
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
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 manure or compost6

    20 to 25 tonnes per hectare · Mix well into the soil while preparing the land. · Land 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 55 to 70

    First pickingNo published guide covers this for the West coast, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    Every 5 to 7 days

  6. Day 180 to 210

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

Irrigate every 3 or 4 days in summer.6

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 West coast aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering6

Irrigate every 3 or 4 days in summer.

Weeding6

Weed and earth up the plants at one and two months after transplanting.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Land preparationWell rotted farmyard manure or compost20 to 25 tonnes per hectareMix well into the soil while preparing the land.

Sources6

Varieties and yield

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

20 to 30 tonnes a hectare

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

Varieties grown here6,5

  • Surya

    Bacterial wilt resistant

  • Swetha

    Bacterial wilt resistant

  • Haritha

    Bacterial wilt resistant

  • Neelima

    Hybrid; bacterial wilt resistant

  • Pusa Purple Cluster

Good neighbours4,1,8

Grows well with

Pests and diseases6

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Shoot and fruit borer

    Signs

    Caterpillars bore into shoots and fruits.

    What to do

    • Remove and destroy affected shoots and fruits by hand.
    • Use plant-based sprays as far as possible.

  • Pest

    Root-knot nematode

    Signs

    Galls on the roots; plants stay small.

    What to do

    • Treat the nursery with Bacillus macerans or Paecilomyces lilacinus at 25 g per m², and drench with the same at 3% seven days after sowing.

  • Disease

    Damping off

    Signs

    Seedlings rot at the base in the nursery.

    Prevention

    • Sow the seed as thinly as possible on raised beds in the open during the summer months.

  • Disease

    Phomopsis fruit rot

    Signs

    Fruits rot.

    What to do

    • Remove and destroy affected parts.

  • Disease

    Little leaf

    Signs

    Tiny leaves; plants bear no fruit.

    What to do

    • Uproot affected plants.

  • Disease

    Bacterial wilt

    Signs

    Plants wilt suddenly.

    Prevention

    • In wilt-prone areas grow resistant varieties such as Surya, Swetha and Haritha or the hybrid Neelima.

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

After the last picking, pull out the plants and destroy any with wilt. Rotate with a crop outside the tomato family.

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. 6Package of Practices Recommendations: Crops 2011, Vegetables (Brinjal)Kerala Agricultural University, ThrissurRead 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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