Eggplant 2020

[zipcode]

Picked some from all of them, and the Xi'an green sure seems like a winner, it is a very generative plant with big fruit (in my book big fruit is good for all growers, it saves you from picking it too late waiting for it to grow). I expect the Green Dragon is just a selection of this one, with slightly more elongated fruit (quite slightly) and more straight fruit, less productive it seems, but possibly a bit better fruit quality.
Mitoyo for now is disappointing in terms of production, and it was really my most hyped one, was wanting it since a few years. The fruit is just small (shape and color match with how it should be), not sure why, it had a lot of pollen and the plant is healthy. Hopefully the second batch will grow bigger.
Aswad is big but not as big as one would expect from those insanely thick fruit stems. What surprised me is how tender the skin is on this one, cooked you can't feel it, which is the opposite of the usual 'black' ones.
Kurume has very good fruit quality, but like all longer ones is again very stingy with fruit, maybe they need warmer conditions or more sun.

In order: Xi'an purple jar (1lb), Xi'an green (1.2lb), Kurume (0.5 lb), 2x Green dragon (a bit less than one lb) vs 2x Mitoyo (no lb ).

[ac21686]

I picked some huge Mitoyos last season and this year they are similar. It’s been incredibly hot and we keep it irrigated and it’s in complete full sun all day long in sandy soil. For me there is no better tasting eggplant but I really only started trying more varieties the last 2-3 years. I am going to ditch Ping Tung next year...it’s producing well but the flavor is just TOO mild for me. It doesn’t really taste like eggplant to me. Has anyone tried Orient Charm? That’s another long one that is supposed to be quite good. We are also growing Rosa Bianca, Listada, and Violetta di Firenza, all excellent so far. We grow partly for a farm stand at our garden center and have been sending the “classic” eggplant to a friend’s deli to basically force people into trying these and we’ve had positive feedback on all of them. I think I’ll try some green ones next season.

[zipcode]

Flavour wise Kurume is probably a notch above Mitoyo which was indeed very good, just small. Commercial aspect is more difficult than Ping Tung, they are not straight and lose coloring where slightly bruised. Ping Tung last year was very mild like you say, and also not a great producer, so I dropped it.
My general observation is that white skinned eggplant is milder than green skinned. I classify eggplant in three 'colors': white, green, and green with pattern (combination of dark green with light, like the small thai ones, Cambodian Giant, Bangladesh Long). The last two categories are probably just one. The various coloring on top of that due to anthocyanin does not seem really relevant to taste profile. The typical eggplant from the store for example is green skinned under. Mitoyo and Kurume also. Rosa bianca for example is white.

[zipcode]

Finally harvested some Aswad, which were quite big indeed, but was not happy how hard/dense they were, again same problem as Kamo last year, meaning they don't cook fast enough for what I need them, some parts just remain kind of hard.
The one in the first picture is over 2 lbs, which I find pretty big. What I find very interesting, and didn't know before is that the fruit actually has that dark green/light green pattern under the dark coloration from anthocyanin (so it looks like cambodian giant underneath). One can see that if they let it go a bit too much. Second picture shows that, it's actually not that brown, it's just the light, it was still edible but it was close to being a bit much (seeds were bigger but not brown yet, only very slight bitterness). When one can start to just see this lighter pattern on the bottom half, it's about the right time to pick them.
The taste I would rate as average, like one-two notches under Xi'an Green (which is one notch under Kurume).

[ac21686]

zip, how is Purple Jar? Any bitterness to it? I think the green would not sell here so that would be mostly for home cooking and use, rather than the market, but I will try it next year.

Kamo tastes good, but it loses its sheen very quickly and looks a bit old and dull to the average customer. I think I will just stick with Mitoyo rather than grow both.

[habitat_gardener]

zipcode, do you know if Green Dragon and Xi’an Green are hybrids or OP? I like them a lot and would like to save seeds if they are OP.

[zipcode]

ac21686, Purple Jar has great looking fruit, but the plant hasn't done great for me, it's just always wilting in the sun, maybe it is sensitive to fertilizer, I really can't figure out what it wants. Taste I would rate as average, less complex than the greens or Mitoyo. Not bitter though.

habitat_gardener, they are both OP. I also think they are really good, possibly the best combination of good traits I have yet encountered in an eggplant, especially the Xi'an green. Productive, early and generative, big fruit, soft flesh, very good taste (about the same as Mitoyo), also not bitter even when old. A bit more plant vigour wouldn't hurt, which is why I'll try grafting next year.

[zipcode]

Finally a big Mitoyo, at 650g (~1.5 lb). Still picked a Xi'an Green (580g) and a Kurume (313g, which was the biggest), and that seems pretty much it for the season, only a couple of flowers left on some plants, not sure they will make anything, the nights are getting cold.
Got 19kg from 6 plants, so a bit over 3 kg per plant which is decent but nothing special. Not sure why the plants seem to suddenly lose steam at some point, maybe some grafting on tomato rootstock would help.

[zipcode]

Well, in garden things have stopped since quite a while now. No frost, just too cold, dark and basically rains all the time. Again, have to remind, the garden is just a place to see what can grow, because the conditions are not at all good for eggplant there (like 3 weeks total of the year when nights are not cold or very cold).
The Kashalot and Diamond were different than what they should have been, I don't think they were crossed, just something else completely. Kashalot was a tiny white one, not sure what the dominant genes are but I doubt it's the white. Diamond made some strangely shaped things that were hard as a rock all the time. Needless to say, both were massive disappointments.
Irene F1 again showed decent vigour, managed about 3 or 4 decent fruit (about 250 grams each maybe). Good taste while young, becomes somewhat bitter when old.
Applegreen was a very healthy plant, good vigour, plenty of qualities. The problem is the fruit is small (50-200g), which makes it less practical and also you will probably pick it too late. Good taste while young, becomes extremely bitter if too old. Got like 6-7 smallish fruit from it.
The clear winner is Xi'an Green, the first one to actually make big size fruit in the garden, about 300-500g, so it definitely tolerates cold better than most. One must cut the first flower, maybe even more, because the plant is just too generative, let the plant grow first, or else it will remain small, and production will suffer. Sweetish taste, not at all bitter even if old.
Also, the transparent-black plastic mulch most surely helped. If your conditions are a bit cold, make a raised bed and cover it with it.

[zipcode]

To finish the thread, just like last year, with the production in containers on the balcony (most had about 5-6 gal of potting mix available). Again, just one plant of each, so not exactly statistically significant.

Green Dragon: green fruit around 300-350g, oval-ish, 3.8 kg (8.3 lb). Early.

Xi'an Green: green fruit around 400-600g, oval-fat, 3.5 kg (7.7 lb). Early. Very compact plant, sets very well. This and green dragon are quite similar in most respects, except fruit size.

Kurume: long thin purple fruit (up to 32 cm, 200-250g), quite straight, green skin under, japanese style with purple calyx, color depends a lot on sun exposure. 2.2 kg (4.8 lb), reasonably early, very soft flesh in all conditions, thin skin.

Xi'an Purple Jar: purple calyx, oval fat fruit (400-600g), a somewhat different shade of purple, very beautiful fruit, dense meat that needs longer cooking but otherwise good, color depends a lot on sun exposure. 2.5 kg (5.5 lb)

Aswad: standard color, black with green calyx, big and a bit ribbed, 400-900g, a bit more dense flesh, 6kg (13 lb) (this one also had a bigger pot), rather late. Huge leaves and high vigor.

Mitoyo: purple calyx, darker shade of skin than others which is less affected by lack of light on the backside, teardrop shape, 200-500g, soft flesh. 3 kg (6.6 lb). Somewhat late with good vigour. An unusual feature is how slow the fruit develops, which can be good in a way since it avoids picking it too late. I'm not exaggerating that it takes to reach the same maturity from flower at least 2 weeks slower than xi'an green (which is one of the fastest).

[ac21686]

I think I will try Xi'an this upcoming season. I bought seeds for a new arrival at Baker Creek called Shiromaru, another green one (just in time, they closed down again temporarily). Sometimes their write ups are a little too much for me (seemingly everything is 1st place in their trials ) , but any eggplant I've bought from them matches the descriptions.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Millionaire for me. I have tried many, but Millionaire is the most productive, and great for all uses, without peeling.

[MrBig46]

I had such an unsuccessful aubergine season last year that I began to think that I would no longer grow them. I had two varieties, the seeds of which are sold in our shop, and I didn't harvest anything from twelve plants (if I don't count the three little ones - what are the three little eggplants, it's not even worth heating a fat). I'd rather buy the eggplant at the store.
Vladimir

[barbamWY]

The only variety that grows well for me is Black Bell. Black Beauty that I have read is a replacement doesn't produce for me. I can still get seeds for Black Bell at Osborne Seeds or Vermont Bean. I'm in Wyoming.
Barb

[zipcode]

Originally Posted by ac21686

I think I will try Xi'an this upcoming season. I bought seeds for a new arrival at Baker Creek called Shiromaru, another green one (just in time, they closed down again temporarily). Sometimes their write ups are a little too much for me (seemingly everything is 1st place in their trials ) , but any eggplant I've bought from them matches the descriptions.

I don't think you will be disappointed in Shiromaru. I wanted that thing for a few years now due to a japanese guy I saw on youtube, what luck that they bring it after I already basically have it (Xi'an green and this are similar in more than just fruit color).

@MrBig46, you need warm soil for eggplant unfortunately, that is crucial, especially at night. I talked about my eggplant experiments in the cold garden in this thread, and the conclusions were as follows:
- black or (even better) transparent mulch over the raised bad made a difference.
- variety matters. Until now Xi'an green has been the only one that made full sized fruit (didn't try any hybrids). I saw in Russian youtube that Bibo F1 seems to do well with cold (I think this one should be easily found in stores, they are popular in all eastern Europe), or maybe Epic F1, an inexpensive common hybrid.
- and then there is the verticilium problem. One might not think they have it but eggplant is so sensitive that you suddenly realize you have it everywhere. If the plant wilts in hot days, fruit is kinda wrinkled, sections of the lower leaves become yellow and die, than it's clear.
-the other point would be grafting on tomato rootstock which should give a lot more tolerance to cold soil and verticilium. This I try this year, I will try on some good op tomato as well as solanum torvum.