A few things about Eggplant...

[cdntomato]

Jeanne, I just checked my eggplant seed stash. First, I misremembered the name. It's Morden Midget; Morden Early is the cucumber.

Second, my seed count is low (shared too much and didn't grow it last year, bad me). I'll order more from Glenn then or another source and share once I have them.

Jennifer, firmly planting MM on her 2006 grow list

[montanamato]

Jennifer,

No problem...thanks for checking. I have already received 2 orders from Glenn and so will sit tight myself until next year.
Just put 4 eggplant varieties into presoak, so that should keep my containers free for the onslaught of tomatoes.

Jeanne

[Raymondo]

I love eggplant and am keen to try more varieties. Our Quarantine Service has just lifted the import restrictions on eggplants (again!) so I intend ordering up big from TGS before they change their minds (again!). I'm keen to try dehybridizing a few and Craig's experiences give me hope that for some at least, it won't be difficult.
Varieties I've tried - Early Long Purple, not a good choice for me, Ichiban, beautiful plant but only gave me one fruit, Lebanese Bunching, very productive and scrumptious and Redskin, very seedy and rather bitter but beautiful fruit with brilliant red skin.

[giardiniere]

Thought I'd post an update on my eggplant. I planted 30 seeds a week ago today. I think it was Wednesday that I started to see germination. I have them under lights right now, and 29 of the 30 seeds have germinated. That's a pretty good percentage. I bought the seeds at Baker Creek, and even though the packet said minimum 25 seeds, there were 83 in the packet. Can't wait to make some Caponata.

[TomatoDon]

These eggplant posts are interesting to me. I'm not an eggplant man, even though I grow some every year. I pay less attention to them than anything else I grow and have beautiful results. I just get the Black Beauty that Bonnie's sells here, plant em, and forget em. Never had a problem with flea beetles that I knew of, and never heard of that till I started reading these posts. I wind up with all the beautiful eggplants that I don't eat, and I can't give them away! Seems like no one here really knows how to cook them to make them taste good. I'll look back over some of the recipes here.

Don

[Sequee]

I like to make simple Eggplant Chicken Stackers. Take slices of eggplant, onion, tomato, and cooked chicken, layer them in a greased pan (in that order) and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and top with grated cheese.

Plae under broiler until the cheese suits your fancy! We like ours slightly crispy, others like it just plain gooey! Quick, easy and very tasty! (It's how i got the kids to like ep. When they were younger I told them they could just unstack them and eat what they wanted. Before long they were snarfin' up the whole thing!)

[tjg911]

i love eggplant and as a vegetarian eggplant is a wonderful additive to many different 'things' i dream up based upon what i just picked.

i grew eggplant for the 1st time last year. i bought 3 ichiban plants from the local greenhouse as that variety had a low dtm and was supposed to produce well based upon feedback from veilchen at gw. i grew each plant in a 5 gallon pail with the same 'soil' mix as for tomatoes in containers, fertilized with osmocote and watered daily. i put the pails on the asphalt part of the driveway so they had plenty of heat! they thrived and produced a lot of fruits.

much to my surprise, flea beetles were never a problem. in the garden they are on mustard, turnips, other greens and i think potatoes so i was not willing to allocate space in the garden just to have the plants defoliated. the plants were about 100' from the garden and the only problem i had was with tiny white flies. not sure what they were and they appeared enmasse over night. some insecticidal soap eliminated them.

i did learn that eggplant do not store well. whether on the counter or in the fridge, in 24 hours they were getting soft and difficult to peel. they tasted the same as store bought so i am not sure that different varieties have significantly different taste. like someone else said, eggplant is like tofu or a sponge, they just absorb whatever flavors they are cooked with.

i intend to grow them again this year and i was wondering if 'they all taste the same'? the greenhouse had several varieties to chose from that i recognized by name. is ichiban as good as any other when it comes to taste or would you recommend something different this year?

thanks,

tom

[Horseshoe]

Tom, yes, Ichiban is a great tasting eggplant. You'll like it.

As for storage, we grow/sell quite a bit of it. What we keep for ourselves is usually stored in plastic grocery bags in the fridge and actually lasts quite a while. When you pick, it is best to ASAP plunge it into cold water ("Hydro-cool") and you'd be surprised how long it helps to keep it fresh and firm by doing so.

Grocery store eggplant is most likely quite a few days old when it gets to the store so I'm sure that may be a reason why it doesn't seem to last long in storage.

[barkeater]

Pick your eggplant early in the morning and put it right into the refrigerator. It'll stay hard for about 3-4 days and usable for about a week.

If you pick it in the afternoon on a hot day, it'll be soft right on the plant. Test it this summer. You'll see.

There is also a big difference between black/purple eggplant vs. white/lavender eggplant. The white has no bitterness and is very sweet.

[tjg911]

well i typically do pick it in the later afternoon like when the temps are 85-90. i'll try picking at 5 am before going to work.

the hydro cooling, never heard of this. could try that.

my ichiban, a black or very dark purple, is never bitter. i was peeling the skin but sometimes left it on. from what i read the older the seeds (and larger/darker) the more likely the fruit is to be bitter. never tried a white, just grew ichiban and just last year.

but my question was - do different varieties taste different enough to try something other than ichiban?

tom

[shelleybean]

The lighter skinned varieties usually have milder flavor, though not always. If you pick the dark purple/black ones at a smaller size, they'll be milder too. Sometimes the ones at the store become bitter because they've let them grow to larger sizes and the seeds get big and that contributes to the bitterness. I think Rosa Bianca has the mildest flavor of all I've grown but I still like the dark ones like Black Beauty at smaller sizes. I also like Louisiana Long Green. I grew those last summer and they had good flavor. And as someone said before, they're kind of like mushrooms in that they take on the flavor of whatever you cook with them. Like a sponge that soaks up whatever is around it.

[matermama]

I wish i was a bit smarter , i have never done eggplant so i tried one vareity Rosa Bianca, i heard it was really good and pretty. Now i wish i had a few more varietys. Hmmm maybe i m not to late to go to the nursery and pick up a few.
How far apart can i have them, 1-3 ft are closer?
i have been attacking with a bit of sevin , i have cuc beetlses massacreing my squash so i have to resort to chemical warfare, its me or them and i choose them.LOL
sue

[shelleybean]

I space mine about two feet apart.

I love Rosa Bianca. It has very mild flavor and is also really pretty.

[twinks]

nctomatoman - I LOVE the Solanum Pyracantha! Especially those spikes. What a stunning plant. Any idea where in the UK I might find seed? Are those fruits edible or is this a purely ornamental plant? Wonderful plant!

This year I'm growing Thai Long Green, mixed Chinese, Black Beauty, a white one whose name I can't remember, and Red Egg. Looking forward to seeing how these fare this year.

[Laurel7286]

I also love eggplant, and have been so discouraged by flea beetles over the years that I had just about given up. This year though I am trying a shiny silver mulch I got from Pinetree Seeds. So far it is doing a great job--very few holes and very lush growth. Those of you who don't have flea beetles have no idea how lucky you are! Not only do they destroy the leaves of the biggest plants and kill small ones, but they also spread diseases from plant to plant, and also between species.

Anyway, my favorites are Listada, Rosa Bianca, Neon, and Ichiban. (what a surprise, )