Eggplants 2017

gdaddybill · April 26, 2017

Went overboard on eggplants this year. Always grow the Louisiana Oval Green (LOG) eggplant and keeping it separate so that I can save pure seed but had to try some others including Mitoyo, Aswad, Little Green, Little Sailor, Masego. Meatball, Patio Baby, Dancer and Petch Siam. Anyone tried these varieties? Comments?

Bill

TC_Manhattan · April 27, 2017

I grew Mitoyo last year. The plants were huge, as were the fruits if you left them unpicked. Seeds were from BC and sprouted easily and quickly using a heat mat. Fruits looks much like BC's photos of Aswad. Mitoyo has creamy, sweet flesh, never bitter even when let to grow large. Some descriptions say they're sweet enough to eat raw, which I hadn't tried.

For flavor, my three favorites were (are) Mitoyo, Kamo (seeds from Solana in Canada), and Kurume. All three are OP so seed saving is easy, too.

Kurume grows very much like Ichiban (hybrid) but I found it to be even sweeter than Ichiban. So, am not inviting Ichiban back this year, since Kurume topped them and is OP, too.

Listada di Gandia is another variety I like. Looks fancy, purple with white stippling. Not as sweet as the three above. Only other one I'm growing is Round Mauve, which looks different, but tastes much like Listada. Softball-sized round purple with a white star on the stem end.

Hope this helps.

Durgan · April 27, 2017

I get more than I can use over the season from 8 plants. Always perfect.

http://durgan.org/2016/May%202016/24...Eggplant/HTML/ 24 May 2016 Eggplant
Eight eggplant were placed outdoors. Four Dusky and four Black Magic. These grow well in the garden. One pest is the Colorado Potato Beetle, which are manually removed when they appear.

http://durgan.org/2016/August%202016...0Juicing/HTML/ 9 August 2016 Eggplant Juicing
Nine pounds of eggplant was picked and made into seven liters of pressure canned juice for off season preserving. Water to cover was added to the cooking pot.The cooked material was made into a slurry and strained through a 2 mm mesh screen on the food mill. There was almost no residue. Pictures depict the process.

jtjmartin · June 13, 2019

Quote:

Originally Posted by Durgan

I get more than I can use over the season from 8 plants. Always perfect.

http://durgan.org/2016/May%202016/24...Eggplant/HTML/ 24 May 2016 Eggplant
Eight eggplant were placed outdoors. Four Dusky and four Black Magic. These grow well in the garden. One pest is the Colorado Potato Beetle, which are manually removed when they appear.

My first year for Colorado Potato Beetle larvae on my eggplants! I don't think that I've ever had them on eggplant before in Kentucky, Wisconsin or Virginia.

The leaves on one eggplant were really chewed - found about 20 of the buggers on it.

Jeff

jtjmartin · April 27, 2017

This is my first year to branch out to more than just Black Beauty.

I have Black King hybrid, Listada, Rosita, Rosa Bianca, Long Purple, and Ping Tung.

Love to hear some other favorites.

greenthumbomaha · April 27, 2017

You have a good selection. I bought a ton of oddities but they were too small or bitter.

I love Rosa Bianca. Not mushy at all, but it is very late in my zone. Beautiful colors. You may want to cage or use a heavy stake. It is tall.

From what I read, you should have better production with Black King over OP Black Beauty. Burpee subbed BB for their hybrid Black Night on the seed racks. I miss it. Please report back on the hybrid!

There's just something about a purple eggplant that I like more for looks. I grow an OP called Diamond. It is shaped like a cucumber, so it comes in earlier in my climate. I've also grown Long Purple which is similar. Both productive for me.

Ping Tung was stingy for me, nut the others are great. Enjoy.

- Lisa

jtjmartin · April 27, 2017

Lisa:

I'll be glad to post the results! We will finally hit nighttime lows in the 60s so I expect some good growth to happen soon.

Diamond will go on my list to try.

Jeff

green_go · April 30, 2017

After trying many varieties of eggplants, I decided to stick with just 3 hybrids: Classic F1, Epic F1 and Galine F1. Classic and Epic are so look alike that I suspect Epic is just a new name for Classic.
These hybrids are simply the best for our climate (Canada, Ontario) with Galine being the earliest of them all. They produce so many fruit over the short growing season that I grill them and store in the freezer and they last me until next crop of eggplants is ready.

gdaddybill · June 12, 2017

Here are a few that I've harvested so far. Haven't tried them yet so can't say about flavor. Little Green, Masego, Little Sailor, Mitoyo

gdaddybill · June 19, 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by gdaddybill

Here are a few that I've harvested so far. Haven't tried them yet so can't say about flavor. Little Green, Masego, Little Sailor, Mitoyo

The Mitoyo in this series is likely Aswad too. Thanks for the pointing out the discrepancy.

Bill

ako1974 · June 14, 2017

Jealous - those look great!

Zeedman · June 14, 2017

Diamond is very reliable in my climate, and very productive... it is the only eggplant that I grow every year.

Matinik is a breeding project, original seed was a USDA accession from the Philippines. It is low-growing, VERY thorny, and has a strong tolerance for cool weather... surprising, given its source. The eggplant are light satiny-purple, slim finger-sized, and borne in clusters. I found them to be best when pinky-sized, and still showing a little bit of green. To me, the cold tolerance & continuous yield make it worth putting up with the thorns.

Trialing two new heirlooms from SSE this year, Taiwan Long and Tycoon. Both showed great performance when I observed them on SSE's farm, so I hope they will be able to tolerate the wilt which kills most of the eggplant I've tried in the past.

I've grown Casper for many years in tandem with Diamond, and love the flavor; but the yield has been too inconsistent in recent years, so may not grow it again.

gdaddybill · June 14, 2017

Here's a new harvest shot. Somehow I left out Dancer this time.
Top Row: Aswad, Little Green, Petch Siam
Bottom Row: Mitoyo, Little Sailor, Patio Baby, Masego and Meatball

gorbelly · June 18, 2017

Bill, your Mitoyo looks like Aswad to me.

When I grew Mitoyo, the fruit had a black calyx and was a bit skinnier in shape. Still a squat teardrop, but less round and more bottom heavy.

Here you can see a Mitoyo in front at center left (it was a late season fruit that I let go a bit long on the plant) and right next to it an Aswad.

Here are some pics of the plant:

For comparison, here are some pics of my Aswad:

FWIW, both were excellent, just in different ways. Mitoyo was creamy and delicate and the sweeter of the two, and Aswad was really meaty and richly flavored. Neither seemed to get bitter even when left too long.

gdaddybill · June 19, 2017

I may have mixed them up. I was concerned about the calyx color The Mitoyo is a relatively small fruit and it seems the calyx was half green on the small fruits. I'll try again. Picked a bunch yesterday and noticing some spider mites starting to build too. Processed some naked seeded pumpkin yesterday. It was a bit of work and it took all day for the seeds to dry after cleaning.

April 30, 2017	#8
green_go Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Canada, Ontario, z5a Posts: 142	After trying many varieties of eggplants, I decided to stick with just 3 hybrids: Classic F1, Epic F1 and Galine F1. Classic and Epic are so look alike that I suspect Epic is just a new name for Classic. These hybrids are simply the best for our climate (Canada, Ontario) with Galine being the earliest of them all. They produce so many fruit over the short growing season that I grill them and store in the freezer and they last me until next crop of eggplants is ready. __________________ Gala

June 14, 2017	#11
ako1974 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2017 Location: New Jersey Posts: 109	Jealous - those look great! __________________ Arne Zone 6A, Northern NJ

April 27, 2017	#2
TC_Manhattan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Ohio Posts: 457	I grew Mitoyo last year. The plants were huge, as were the fruits if you left them unpicked. Seeds were from BC and sprouted easily and quickly using a heat mat. Fruits looks much like BC's photos of Aswad. Mitoyo has creamy, sweet flesh, never bitter even when let to grow large. Some descriptions say they're sweet enough to eat raw, which I hadn't tried. For flavor, my three favorites were (are) Mitoyo, Kamo (seeds from Solana in Canada), and Kurume. All three are OP so seed saving is easy, too. Kurume grows very much like Ichiban (hybrid) but I found it to be even sweeter than Ichiban. So, am not inviting Ichiban back this year, since Kurume topped them and is OP, too. Listada di Gandia is another variety I like. Looks fancy, purple with white stippling. Not as sweet as the three above. Only other one I'm growing is Round Mauve, which looks different, but tastes much like Listada. Softball-sized round purple with a white star on the stem end. Hope this helps.

April 27, 2017	#3
Durgan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, ON, Canada Posts: 1,341	I get more than I can use over the season from 8 plants. Always perfect. http://durgan.org/2016/May%202016/24...Eggplant/HTML/ 24 May 2016 Eggplant Eight eggplant were placed outdoors. Four Dusky and four Black Magic. These grow well in the garden. One pest is the Colorado Potato Beetle, which are manually removed when they appear. http://durgan.org/2016/August%202016...0Juicing/HTML/ 9 August 2016 Eggplant Juicing Nine pounds of eggplant was picked and made into seven liters of pressure canned juice for off season preserving. Water to cover was added to the cooking pot.The cooked material was made into a slurry and strained through a 2 mm mesh screen on the food mill. There was almost no residue. Pictures depict the process.

April 27, 2017	#5
jtjmartin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2016 Location: Williamsburg VA Zone 7b Posts: 1,110	This is my first year to branch out to more than just Black Beauty. I have Black King hybrid, Listada, Rosita, Rosa Bianca, Long Purple, and Ping Tung. Love to hear some other favorites.

April 27, 2017	#6
greenthumbomaha Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Omaha Zone 5 Posts: 2,514	You have a good selection. I bought a ton of oddities but they were too small or bitter. I love Rosa Bianca. Not mushy at all, but it is very late in my zone. Beautiful colors. You may want to cage or use a heavy stake. It is tall. From what I read, you should have better production with Black King over OP Black Beauty. Burpee subbed BB for their hybrid Black Night on the seed racks. I miss it. Please report back on the hybrid! There's just something about a purple eggplant that I like more for looks. I grow an OP called Diamond. It is shaped like a cucumber, so it comes in earlier in my climate. I've also grown Long Purple which is similar. Both productive for me. Ping Tung was stingy for me, nut the others are great. Enjoy. - Lisa

June 14, 2017	#12
Zeedman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 313	Diamond is very reliable in my climate, and very productive... it is the only eggplant that I grow every year. Matinik is a breeding project, original seed was a USDA accession from the Philippines. It is low-growing, VERY thorny, and has a strong tolerance for cool weather... surprising, given its source. The eggplant are light satiny-purple, slim finger-sized, and borne in clusters. I found them to be best when pinky-sized, and still showing a little bit of green. To me, the cold tolerance & continuous yield make it worth putting up with the thorns. Trialing two new heirlooms from SSE this year, Taiwan Long and Tycoon. Both showed great performance when I observed them on SSE's farm, so I hope they will be able to tolerate the wilt which kills most of the eggplant I've tried in the past. I've grown Casper for many years in tandem with Diamond, and love the flavor; but the yield has been too inconsistent in recent years, so may not grow it again.

June 18, 2017	#14
gorbelly Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Southeastern Pennsylvania Posts: 1,069	Bill, your Mitoyo looks like Aswad to me. When I grew Mitoyo, the fruit had a black calyx and was a bit skinnier in shape. Still a squat teardrop, but less round and more bottom heavy. Here you can see a Mitoyo in front at center left (it was a late season fruit that I let go a bit long on the plant) and right next to it an Aswad. Here are some pics of the plant: For comparison, here are some pics of my Aswad: FWIW, both were excellent, just in different ways. Mitoyo was creamy and delicate and the sweeter of the two, and Aswad was really meaty and richly flavored. Neither seemed to get bitter even when left too long.

June 19, 2017	#15
gdaddybill Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Burton, TX Posts: 294	I may have mixed them up. I was concerned about the calyx color The Mitoyo is a relatively small fruit and it seems the calyx was half green on the small fruits. I'll try again. Picked a bunch yesterday and noticing some spider mites starting to build too. Processed some naked seeded pumpkin yesterday. It was a bit of work and it took all day for the seeds to dry after cleaning.