I'm giving up on eggplant growing

[lakelady]

unless someone can tell me otherwise. Last year I grew 4 varieties, and none of them were really very productive. It seemed like an awful lot of work for about 4 fruits per plant. I had Rosa Bianca, and Indian variety, and 2 others that were not too memorable.

I've never done much eggplant growing, and the only one that seemed to really rock out was the little Prince from Renee's Seeds. (hybrid baby eggplant).

Does anyone have a good eggplant that is really productive?

[gryffin]

I have a variety called Swallow that is pretty productive. I got several fruits off of one plant- it produces early and keeps going. Pingtung Long is pretty productive also.

In general, I think that the Japanese types are more productive than the Italian ones- I love Rosa Bianca but I've never gotten more than 4 fruits off of one plant. It could be because New Hampshire isn't really prime eggplant territory!

I'm hopeful that the Dancer I got from Johnny's will produce well. It germinated better than any eggplant I've ever started.

[jerryinfla]

Antoniette - I've had excellent results with the old standard heirloom Black Beauty -- it's all I'm growing this season.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by jerryinfla

Antoniette - I've had excellent results with the old standard heirloom Black Beauty -- it's all I'm growing this season.

If you have never grown Black Beauty you should before you give up all together. I've never done as well with any other variety.

[Worth1]

I'll suggest black beauty too.

Worth

[Farmette]

I've grown Rosa Bianca, Swallow and Black Beauty. Both Swallow and BB produced more than RB...all 3 were very tasty. I had about 6-8 plants and couldn't keep up with them; ended up giving some away. I planted them in an area with some large rocks that held the heat and I think that made the difference; it was my best yr for eggplants.

[saltmarsh]

Ping Tung Long is a magic act. How can 12 inch plants hide 10 inch fruit under their leaves? Then they continued to grow to 3 foot x 3 foot plants and produced until frost. The only mistake I made was planting 40 plants in case they didn't do well.

[FarmerShawn]

I've had great luck for two years now with Fairy Tale, a nice small fruit that my market customers seem to love. For the standard big purple ones, Galina works well here.

[shelleybean]

There are several I like but the most consistently productive variety for me is White Beauty. They've always done well for me but last summer I had two WB's and I picked at least 50 eggplant, no kidding. As we got into fall, they were much smaller, of course, but they just kept blooming and producing eggplant about the length of my hand until frost.

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by saltmarsh

Ping Tung Long is a magic act. How can 12 inch plants hide 10 inch fruit under their leaves? Then they continued to grow to 3 foot x 3 foot plants and produced until frost. The only mistake I made was planting 40 plants in case they didn't do well.

LOL sounds like something I would do. IF I could fit 40 plants in!

I've heard Ping Tung Long is excellent. Probably too late to start seeds now though by the time i get them. Maybe I'll find a plant at the garden center.

[lakelady]

Originally Posted by shelleybean

There are several I like but the most consistently productive variety for me is White Beauty. They've always done well for me but last summer I had two WB's and I picked at least 50 eggplant, no kidding. As we got into fall, they were much smaller, of course, but they just kept blooming and producing eggplant about the length of my hand until frost.

no way! holy cow that's a lot. Okay, next year I'm going to try WB and Ping Tung Long. .

I have too many peppers I sowed this year (and I only wanted about 5 of the 20 varieties I am growing lol). No more room!

[gryffin]

I could send you seeds if you want to try.

[halleone]

Ping Tung Long and Japanese Millionaire, one of each, gave me so many fruits last season, I got sick of them and whacked Millionaire down at ground level. It came right back and started setting fruit again, so I let it be.

This year I am growing Kamo and Ping Tung Long. The Japanese varieties DO seem to keep on pumping out the fruit (and I have grown the Italian ones before with less success).

[Durgan]

From four plants I obtain about 50 or so large perfect fruit. This plant requires almost no care in my garden. I have grown different types over the years, and they were all far to productive for my needs.


http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QETKB 15 May 2012 Egg Plant
Four plants placed in the outdoor garden. These were purchased as seedlings in flats and placed in individual pots for about ten days in the greenhouse to strengthen the roots. I have grown four plants for several years and seldom used the fruit. Now I will use them for making my typical juice. The plants produce an astonishing quantity of perfect fruit. The Colorado potato beetle attacks the leaves and the plants must be checked regularly for eggs or munchies and removed.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?CNAVT 23 September 2012 Juicing Peppers,Egg Plant, and Kale.
Fifteen pound of peppers, five pounds of Egg Plant, and five Pounds of Kale was made into fourteen litres of juice.The fourteen litre jars were pressure canned at 15 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage at room temperature. The process is depicted in annotated pictures.

[zeroma]

I just finished sowing 2 hybrid varitiy, Black King and Millionaire because that is what our garden group purchased...10 seeds of each.

On average, what would you with experience growing eggplant say was a 'good harvest' from one average plant? I think maybe 20 plants will be like having summer squash! LOL