A few things about Eggplant...

[nctomatoman]

My wife, Sue, has done it - converted me from eggplant loather to lover. And, I've been surprised at how easy it is to get a great crop of them (we had 13 plants in pots last year and were completely overwhelmed with them). Plus, though you don't get the flavor variation that you do with tomatoes, the colors make them visually interesting to grow.....and saving seeds from the hybrids can lead to some great research experiments!

A few success factors from my view:

1. Start seeds and treat seedlings just like tomato seeds and seedlings. Eggplant seed is not viable for nearly as long as tomato seed, but 4-5 years seems to be OK.

2. A real key to success is avoiding the flea beetles early on! This is where I actually do go the chemical route - I spray my plants with a very dilute mix of sevin and diazanon (or malathion) prior to flowering/fruit set. If you can keep the flea beetles away early on, the plants will survive later on when they return - we don't like to spray once fruit is setting. If you don't want to spray, I wonder if a barrier such as Reemay would work well?

3. Eggplant thrive in pots - even 12 by 12 inches. Be sure to stake them - our NY Improved got to 6 feet tall last year. They like food and water at the same rate as tomatoes or peppers in pots. We ended up getting between 15 and 50 fruit per plant, depending upon the variety. The slender Asian varieties were virtual eggplatn machines!

4. Some of our favorites -

purple/white striped - Antigua (TGSC)
green - Green Giant (JSS)
black - New York Improved (bell shape, I got from a friend in a seed swap), Orient Express or Ichiban (JSS, TGSC - slender, long black)
white - many choices - Snowy, Cloud Nine are good ones (JSS, Stokes, etc)
lavendar - many choices - for bell shaped, Rosita or Neon; for slender, Ping Tung Long or Machiaw (JSS for Machiaw - the others TGSC)
Blushed white and lavendar/pink - bell shaped, Lavendar Touch (widely available), slender, Bride (Stokes, others)

There are also novelty types, such as Kermit (small round two tone green), Calliope, etc.

5. Saving seed - let the eggplant go yellow. Cut in half, fill a bowl with water, work your fingers into the flesh, working under water - the seeds separate easily. Pour through a sieve, spread on an unglazed paper plate - air dry for 1-2 weeks.

6. a few dehybridization experiments: Calliope gave me fruit that was indistinguishable from the hybrid. Lavendar Touch gave me one plant with similar looking fruit to the hybrid, and one that was white. Orient Charm gave me a nearly solid long pink/lavendar, and a very slender darker lavendar, neither looked like the parent.

Check out my eggplant pics here.

http://nctomatoman.topcities.com/EggplantTable.htm

So what do we do with them? With the large diameter ones, eggplant parmesan (we bake the eggplant, not fry it - peel, slice, dip in egg/milk then breadcrumbs, bake 400 for 15-20 min until browned), with all of them we make Ratatouille, Baba Ganouj, dice it and put into soups, add to our tomato sauces, to Risotto....

Craig

[Catntree]

I like eggplant and want to grow it but...as you write, the flea beetles are tough on the plants. Last year, the potato beetles ate me eggplant to nothing...

So I've not had much lock growing eggplant.

[geoguy_TN]

Craig,

I decided to try an eggplant after reading your website last year - I have never been an eggplant lover, but I was not really aware of the non-black and non-bitter varieties. Anyway, I bought seeds for Fairy Tale since the description said that it was a small plant. I'm planting them in a raised bed near my tomatoes. It's OK to put them out in early April when I plant my tomatoes?

-Pete

[TexasTomatoes]

I have gottn into these the last couple of yrs. Eggplant are easy to save seed from as you can bag the flowers easier and one fruit yields TONS of seeds. I'm trying about 8 varieties this yr, All O.P.

[cosmicgardener]

Love the pics! Love Eggplants! Ours are fruiting up now but the drool worthy options make me want to start some more for next year. Cold climate, but they start off well in the greenhouse and because they don;t seem to mind pots, can be shifted outside for the short summer. Good thread glad someone thought of it!

[Colorado_west]

I like eggplant too and have a kitten that likes it. My mom always soaked the eggplants slices in salt water for an hour or so. Takes out bitter and water does turn black. Drain pat dry and go ahead with it. I plan on 3 kinds this year. Black beauty, white and a long Asian.

[smallfarmer]

Reemay works well for flea beatle protection. I use it every year. It also moderates the climate, warmer at night, a little shading when the plants are just put out, conserves moisture and provides wind protection. It works great--at least in my Central California climate. I used to use organic pesticides but don't need to anymore. Once the plants are big enough the reemay comes off and the plants are tough enough to handle a little chewing.

[TomatoDon]

I've grown eggplants in the past for fun, but no one likes to eat them. Not even me! They are so bland. I love growing them, but have nothing to do with them once they are grown. I know a couple of recipes have been posted here, but do any of you have more?

I just grow the potted ones I find at Wal Mart, etc. Just Black Beauty, I think it is called. Craig may get me interested again, and with peppers too if I hang out here too long!

Give me a good old fashioned Southern recipe for eggplant so I will have a real reason to grow them this year.

Don

[montanamato]

I love to grow eggplant but they are pretty challenging in our climate. When frost approaches I pull off the baby eggplants and grill them whole ....outstanding.
But, I would really like to get some with some size.
I usually grow Ukranian Beauty, Applegreen, and Ping Tung. this year adding White Sword and Round Mauve.

Jeanne

[jerseyjohn61]

I've grown several Cloud Nines the last few years in 10 and 12 in. pots on our south facing balcony. Very prouductive and conveniently sized for containers.

My wife loves these breaded and casserole baked with herded tomato puree and Mozzarella.

[GManess]

I had never really eaten eggplant until 2 years ago when I grew about 4 Black Beauty's. First my wife and I breaded them and fried them like green maters. They were pretty good. Next time we did it we had them as a side dish with pasta and marinara sauce. The combination was so good that now when ever we fry them we place them on top of the pasta before covering it with marinara sauce. Diced up, it also makes a nice addition to tomato sauce. Give it a shot.

This year I am going to grow Rosa Bianca, Udumalpet, Listada de Gandia, and Florida High Bush

[michael johnson]

we love all forms of egg plant but I notice one of the members said he thought they were a bit bland in taste.

To vastly improve the flavour this how to do it ( as shown to me by a local Chinese resteraunt chef ) first put in the pan enough olive oil to cook with then chop up a nice large sweet type spanish onion and fry until quite brown first, then chop or slice the Egg plants (Aubergines) and put into pan together with a couple of slices of smoked bacon on top- toss in a small handfull of chopped mushrooms if you like as well, then place a lid on the top of pan and let steam and cook for about six minutes until egg plant just begin to turn brown, all the flavours of the onion and smoked bacon go into the Aubergine very very tasty and moorish when served with any other form of meat dish or just on its own.

[Althea]

This is great - an eggplant and an herb forum added! I love eggplant. We grew egg plant, Black Beauty for the first time last year. It was delicious. I plan on planting more BB and other earlier varieties this year. This year I'll start the seeds inside because we have such a short growing season.

I didn't know eggplants and tomatoes were in the same family.

[Mischka]

I grow a few eggplants every year to appease my wife; she detests eating tomatoes unless cooked beyond recognition. :wink:

Her favorite dish is eggplant parmesan served with ziti, so that's the only way I prepare it here.

I've only grown "Black Beauty" so I'm excited to hear about other varieties other Tomatovillians have grown.
I have noticed that eggplants are great aphid magnets in my growing area; they seem to congregate in great number on the leaves' undersides.

Althea, you and others here might find this link interesting and enlightening. It details the Solanaceae family in great depth.

http://www.hvanbalken.com/plant.html

[dokutaaguriin]

Eggplants...hmmm.
You can't grow wrong with the deep purple Japanese ones, not the long light purple types.
Grilled whole, peeled and served with soy sauce and freshly grated ginger. Our family times our camping excursions to coincide with when our eggplants ripen so that we can sit around the campsite and gorge ourselves on these treats.
I did grow a Italian variety side by side some Japanese ones and for some inexplicable reason aphids loved the Italian one and not the Japanese. I find the Italian ones to be drier- probably because they can soak up the olive oil.
Jeff