How to grow Eggplant?
- Latin Family: Solanaceae
- Latin Genus: Solanum
- Ease of Growing: Temperamental
- Growing Type: Annual
Eggplant is a tropical perennial, but is grown as an annual in temperate countries. It isn't the easiest fruit to start from seed, as it is quite slow to get going. However once it gets going it needs little care. It needs hot weather for best growth.
Eggplant History
This subtropical species was first cultivated by the great civilizations of China and India almost 6000 years ago. It traveled west to the Mediterranean with early traders and has been grown in the warmer countries of Europe since at least the 16th century.
Soil Preference
- PH (min/max): 5.5 - 6.8
- PH Ideal (min/max): 6.0 - 6.5
Eggplant likes the same kind of soil as Peppers: fertile, well-drained, deep and loose.
How to care for Eggplant?
To produce well, Eggplant needs good soil, abundant moisture and warmth.
Water
The plants are fairly drought tolerant, but need moist soil for maximum fruit production.
Fertilizer
They like nitrogen and moderate amounts of phosphorus and potassium.
Seeds
Seed Viability: 6 - 10 years
Germination Percentage: 60.0
The plants are generally self-pollinated, but some cross pollination by insects also occurs. To keep a variety pure only one variety should be grown at one time, or it should be isolated by at least 50 feet. To ensure genetic variability, you should save the seed from at least 6 plants.
To get ripe seed, you need to let a fruit ripen completely. Separate the seed from the fruit by grating the seed bearing flesh and then mashing it in water. The seeds is then dried for storage. Eggplant seed is quite long lived if stored properly and may last for ten years.
Light
Sun: min. 6 hours daily
Full sun
Conditions:Warm, Hot
Season:Short Season, Long Season
Storage
Eggplant should be treated like a Tomato and stored at room temperature, rather than in the fridge. The fruit will keep for a couple of weeks in a cool place, but no longer.
Storage Req:
Storage Temp: °F
Storage Length: 1-14 days
Problems
Planting out too early
Planting out too early is a common cause of failure. If a young plant gets severely chilled it may be permanently retarded.
If it is too cold (especially at night) or too dry, the plant may drop its flowers instead of setting fruit.
Disease prevention
Avoid growing on soil that has previously grown tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, or especially eggplants for the past three years.
Pests
Control of flea beetles on young seedlings is essential. Harden off seedlings on a table at least 3' off the ground. (Very little flea beetle damage occurs at this height.) After the seedlings have been hardened off, transplant seedlings under 1 gallon plastic milk bottles and leave off the lid. Leave the plants under the bottles as long as possible. Young seedlings may also be grown under [row covers] for a month or until flowering starts.
Eggplant Types
- Italian
- Specialty
- Asian
Italian Eggplants produce the familiar shiny purple fruits found in markets. However they may also come in white (hence the name Eggplant) and other colors.
Italian Eggplants are larger in size when compared to Asian Eggplants.
Eggplants produce the familiar shiny purple fruits found in markets. However they may also come in white (hence the name Eggplant) and other colors.
Asian Eggplants produce slender fruits of colors from white with purple streaks to the traditional purple black. The skin is typically thinner than the European varieties making it sweeter in flavor and smooth in texture when baked, braised or fried.
Pests
- Blister Beetle
- Deer
- Colorado Potato Beetle
- Gophers
- Leafhoppers
- Leafminers
- Nematodes
- Wireworm
- Crickets and Grasshoppers
- Mealybug
- Aphids
- Cutworms
- Stink Bug
- Tomato Hornworm
Diseases
- Anthracnose
- Southern Bacterial Wilt
- Scab
- Tobacco Mosaic Virus
- Fusarium Wilt
- Damping Off
- Verticillium Wilt
- Sunscald
Related Plants
Ground Cherry
Squash, Summer
Okra
Eggplant
Tomatillo
Squash, Winter
Gourds
Melon
Peppers
Pumpkin