Tomatoes & friends
Eggplant
Japanese or Fairy Tale.
- Indoors
- 8 wk (mid Mar)
- Outside
- Transplant late May, nights near 60F
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun in the warmest corner
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July; drought turns fruit bitter
- Harvest
- Jul to Oct, glossy and young
Care
- Water
- Every 3 to 4 days in July and August, about weekly in spring and fall. A long soak at the base until the top few inches are wet, then let it dry before the next. Steady the whole run; a dry spell sours the fruit well before the leaves wilt.
- Sow
- In cells mid March, roughly eight weeks ahead: seeds a quarter inch deep, sown thick and cut to one strong seedling each. Set plants 18 inches apart in the bed, rows 30 inches apart, and stake each at planting, since a heavy plant tips over.
- Start inside
- Mat hotter than the tomatoes, 80 to 85F until they show, then ease to 70F; eggplant is slow and will not sprout in cool soil. Under the lights the moment they break ground, 14 to 16 hours. Outside at the end of May, once nights hold 60F.
- Feed
- A shovel of compost or castings worked in at planting starts the bed. A heavier feeder than a tomato, so side-dress with Garden-tone once the first fruit form, up to a third cup a plant. Too much nitrogen still buys bushy growth and slow fruit.
- Ready
- Cut with pruners while the skin is glossy and firm, at about two-thirds of full size. Press with a thumbnail; a dent that stays means it is ready. Do not leave mature fruit hanging, it stalls the plant.
- Trouble
- Flea beetles riddle the leaves and can stall seedlings: cover the plants until flowering, then uncover for the bees. Colorado potato beetle: scrape the orange egg clusters off the leaf undersides before the larvae get organized.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 5–7 gal bag.
- Water
- Daily in July and August; bags dry far faster than a bed. 30 to 40 sec on the shower dial until it runs from the seams.
- Feed
- Top-dress monthly; every watering leaches the bag.
- Sow
- One plant per bag; a black fabric bag warms the roots this heat lover wants.
Eggplant wants steadier heat than most of this yard's crops, which is why it gets the warmest corner and often a dark bag to warm its roots. Slender Japanese types make the schedule work, picking July to October.
Growing
Sow inside in mid March, eight weeks out, but hold transplants until nights sit near 60F, usually the very end of May; a chilled eggplant sulks for a month and never quite forgives. Set it in the bed, or one to a 5 to 7 gallon bag, staked at planting because a loaded plant leans hard. A dark bag is a real option here, since the black fabric warms the roots the way this crop expects. Pick glossy and young; a dull skin means seeds and bitterness. Steady water the whole run matters as much as the heat, since drought bitterness sets in before the plant ever looks thirsty.
Varieties
Orient Express and Ping Tung Long are quick slender types that keep setting through a cooler summer; Fairy Tale is the small striped one that earns its bag.
Pests
Flea beetles treat eggplant as the best restaurant in the garden and can stall seedlings outright, so net or cover the plants until flowering. Colorado potato beetle moves in too; scrape the orange eggs off leaf undersides before the larvae get organized.
In the kitchen
Thin-skinned Asian types skip the salting step and go straight to a grill or hot pan. Charred whole, the flesh mashes into a smoky dip that eats a surprising number of eggplants.