Training Aubergines to Three Stems and Keeping Them Cropping

Why the first flower is the reference

You do not remove any side shoots until the first flower opens, because the flower is what tells you which shoots to keep. Removing shoots before then means guessing.

1. Wait for it to open The first flower comes about two weeks after planting. Until then, leave the plant alone and let it establish.
2. Find the fork Above the first flower the main stem divides into two. Those two, plus one vigorous shoot immediately below the flower, are the three stems.
3. If you lose track If you picked the flower off and cannot find the point, keep the three thickest, most vigorous shoots and cut everything else off at the base. The shape comes out the same.

Building the three stem plant

Three stems is the standard for open ground. It gives the plant enough leaf to carry a long season without becoming so dense that the fruit sits in shade.

1. Keep one shoot below the flower Keep the single strongest side shoot immediately below the first flower. With the two above the fork, that gives three main stems.
2. Remove everything lower Rub off every side shoot below the one you kept, as soon as you see it. Left on, the base of the plant closes up, air stops moving, and aphids and mites move in.
3. Work on a dry morning Wounds seal once they dry. Cutting in the rain or the evening leaves them wet overnight, which is how disease gets in.

One stake per stem

Each main stem needs its own support. An aubergine carries heavy fruit on brittle wood, and a stem that snaps in midsummer is a third of the plant gone for the rest of the season.

1. How to tie Tie tightly to the stake and loosely around the stem in a figure of eight. The stem thickens through summer and a tight tie cuts in and snaps it.
2. How often Add a tie for every foot (30 cm) of growth. Leave the tip unsupported and it breaks under its own weight, and you lose the branch that would have grown from it.

Renew the shoots as you pick

Every time you cut a fruit, cut the side shoot it came from back to one leaf beyond the fruit. A new shoot grows from that leaf joint and carries the next flower, so the plant renews itself continuously instead of getting longer and thinner.

Doing it at the same moment as picking is what makes it sustainable. Treated as a separate job it gets postponed, and by the time you come back the plant is a tangle.

Take pruners with you when you go to pick. Cut the fruit, cut the shoot back, move on. Made into one habit, training never accumulates.

Removing lower leaves

Opening up the bottom of the plant keeps air moving through it in the wettest part of summer, which is when the disease pressure is highest.

1. Which leaves to take Start with leaves touching the ground, yellowing leaves and any splashed with soil. Leave healthy green leaves so the plant keeps its working leaf area.
2. Aim for a clear foot Work up from the bottom once a week until there is a clear foot (30 cm) of stem before the first leaves.
3. Check from underneath Crouch and look up through the plant. Dappled light reaching the ground means you have taken enough. Complete shade means take a few more, on another day.

Two, three or four stems

Three stems is the default, but the number should follow how much room you have per plant.

If you want to change part way through, reducing is safer than adding. Cut one main stem out at the base and let the rest have the resources.

Fixing training mistakes

None of these are fatal. Aubergines respond well to being cut, so almost any structural mistake can be corrected within a few weeks.