When to plant eggplants in Brighton: 20 July – 11 August

In Brighton, eggplant: sow for seedlings from 30 April to 12 June; plant into a greenhouse from 29 June to 11 August; plant out into open ground from 20 July to 11 August. For plants and seeds, the places nearby include Brighton Plants (plant nursery, 13 km) and McBeans Orchid Nursery (plant nursery, 13 km); addresses and opening hours are below.

Eggplant in Brighton: soil, season and weather

In Brighton the soil, not frost, sets the date: the last frost is over around 8 February, but the top 7 cm of soil reaches 18 °C — the minimum on the eggplant card — only around 20 July, 162 days later.

Last spring frost	8 February
Top 7 cm of soil at 18 °C	20 July, 162 days after the last frost
Into an unheated greenhouse	29 June – 11 August; June outside: 13.8 °C at night, 16.5 °C by day; card 21–29 °C
First autumn frost	1 December, 134 days after the start
Days in the bed to the first harvest (card)	70
First harvest, if planted in this window	28 September – 20 October
Days left for picking	64
Daylight	15:46 on 21 May, 15:54 on 20 July
Watering outdoors when fruiting (card)	every 3 days; the driest month, July, has 10 rainy days

The same dates in Brighton hold for Cucumber, Bell Pepper, Zucchini, Pumpkin and Watermelon.

Eggplant in Brighton: care after planting

Planted on 20 July: in the first weeks water every 4 days.

Feeding, by the card’s schedule from that day:

20 July — feed: balanced (NPK)
17 August — feed: nitrogen

Pests and diseases of eggplant to watch for:

Dates count from the first planting day of the window above; a later planting moves them by as many days.

Weather in Brighton during the eggplant season

No month of the season averages above the eggplant card's 21–29 °C by day; the warmest, August, averages 19.2 °C. Months that stay below 21 °C even by day on average: July–December (10.3–19.2 °C). Nights average below 21 °C in every month of the season, from 7.6 °C to 16.5 °C.

Month	Day, °C	Night, °C	Rain, mm	Rainy days	Daylight on the 15th
July	18.6	16	53	10	16:06
August	19.2	16.5	63	10	14:36
September	18.2	15.1	87	11	12:42
October	15.8	12.9	131	15	10:47
November	12.3	9.3	121	15	8:59
December	10.3	7.6	106	16	7:59

ERA5 2016–2025, Open-Meteo

Eggplant in nearby cities

All the nearest cities on our list plant eggplant earlier than Brighton; the closest date is in Oxford, 27 days earlier.

City	Distance	Date	Difference
Portsmouth	67 km	16 June – 11 August	34 days earlier
London	76 km	12 June – 3 August	38 days earlier
Southampton	89 km	17 June – 3 August	33 days earlier
Oxford	129 km	23 June – 3 August	27 days earlier
Le Havre	150 km	11 June – 22 August	39 days earlier
Cambridge	153 km	17 June – 4 August	33 days earlier

Where to buy eggplant plants and seeds near Brighton

Buy plants ready to set out from 20 July to 11 August (from 29 June to 11 August for an unheated greenhouse); seed for raising your own is sown from 30 April to 12 June. Within 15 km of Brighton OpenStreetMap lists 18 garden centres, 6 plant nurseries, 5 markets and 2 farm shops (collected 20 October 2026).

Brighton Plants — plant nursery
New Hall Lane, BN5 9YJ Henfield · 13 km · brightonplants.blogspot.com
McBeans Orchid Nursery — plant nursery
Resting Oak Hill, BN8 4PR Lewes · 13 km
Snoopers Paradise — market
Kensington Gardens 7-8, BN1 4AL Brighton · Mon–Sat 10:00–18:00; public holidays, Sun 11:00–16:00 · 0 km · snoopersparadise.co.uk
The Open Market — market
Marshalls Row, BN1 4JU Brighton · Mon–Fri 07:00–19:00; Sat 07:00–17:00; Sun 10:00–17:00 · 0 km · brightonopenmarket.co.uk

Each window starts on the Greenly calendar date and ends on the last day that still leaves the crop’s days to harvest (from its card) before the average first autumn frost, plus six weeks of picking for crops harvested over weeks (tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, watermelons, beans) — our rule; earlier in the window is safer.

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