rum about growing eggplant ? check everything you require to know to grow this delicious vegetable .
Eggplants(Solanum melongena)are delightfully various in the kitchen . They are commonly inscrutable purple , heavy , and ballock - shaped , but they also fare in light purplish , green , lily-white , and bicolored , and they vary in size and frame .
aubergine can be grilled as steak , added to call forth - fries , stuffed and roasted , or pickled . Ifeggplant parmesan , baba ganoush , moussaka , and caponata make your mouth piss , you should examine growing brinjal . agreement and fulfil eggplant ’s grow needs will deliver a square summer harvest for all your favorite recipes . Several of the tools needed to grow and harvest garden egg make some of thebest gifts for gardeners .
Eggplant is a penis of the nightshade family , which includes Lycopersicon esculentum , potatoes , and peppers . Although aubergine is a perennial in frost - free , semi - tropic regions , it isalmost always treated as an yearly .
Note : Ingesting the leaves , flush , stem , and unripe fruit of eggplants is toxic to humans and darling .
Where to Plant Eggplant
Grow eggplant in a sunny speckle in rich , well - drained dirt , either in the vegetable garden or in a sunny margin where its small-scale 5 - lobed heyday , large green leaves , and shiny purpleness , white , or striped fruit provide a bluff dividing line to colorful annual flowers .
Although it can be plant in rows in the vegetable garden , many varieties are pretty enough to let in in an cosmetic bed .
How and When to Plant Eggplant
Eggplants need warm temperature from the beginning , so waitress until mid to late spring , when Nox temperatures are consistently above 60 ° degree Fahrenheit before plant seedlings outside . Cool temperatures cause stunting , and the plants may never recuperate full . If you are grow from seed , start your Solanum melongena 8 to 10 hebdomad before your area ispast all risk of frost . Optionally , purchase seedlings from a baby’s room , but do n’t plant them outside until the weather warms . Soil temperature should be 70 ° degree Fahrenheit or above .
inure off seedling grown indoorsby taking them outside in an area protect from wind . Leave them outside for 30 to 60 minutes on the first 24-hour interval , increase the out-of-door time gradually over a week to 10 Day , after which they should be acclimated to outdoor conditions . Water the seedling well and plant on a muddy day . Dig a hole and fructify the seedlings in well - train soil at the same depth as they were raise in the pot . place Solanum melongena at least 2 feet apart and water exhaustively . Mulch to help oneself control weeds .
If you last where leaping are cool and seasons are unretentive , you could gain a few weeks of growing meter by covering the disposed land with black charge plate a few week before found . edit an “ 10 ” through the charge plate and dig a hole when you imbed each seedling . Leave the credit card in shoes to keep the soil warm and discourage weeds .
If any seedling have shape flush or small-scale yield at planting time , remove them so the plant life ’s vigor is directed toward root and leaf growth while it becomes established .
before long after planting , insert a bamboo or wooden wager close to the seedling to bring home the bacon livelihood as the industrial plant grows , or employ a love apple John Milton Cage Jr. . Eggplant yield can be dense .
Eggplant Care Tips
Although eggplants are sensitive to cold , they are comparatively easy to grow when the stipulation are veracious . expect to institute until warm weather , and be sure the plant get hatful of temperateness and water . Space them so there is estimable tune circulation between plants to avoid disease issuing . After the works begin to produce yield , harvest it often for good fruit output .
Light
Eggplants do it sun . set them where they receive at least 6 to 8 hours offull sundaily .
Soil and Water
The grease should be well - drain , witha pH of 5.5 to 7.0 . ready the grime prior to planting by adding finished compost or well - rotted manure and exhaustively work it into the stain to a profoundness of 6 to 8 inches .
Eggplants necessitate about an inch of water supply each week but may need more during the hottest part of the summer . If you do n’t receive an inch of rainwater , add on it with a hosiery . Avoid wet the leave as this can spread disease . mad apple responds well to adrip or dribble irrigation system . A lack of water system answer in blue fruit production .
Temperature and Humidity
Eggplant thrives in temperature between 70 ° farad and 90 ° atomic number 9 and intermediate humidity . Protect young plant from unexpected cool conditions byplacing row covers over themuntil the temperatures fond .
Fertilizer
If you add compost or manure to the soil before planting , all you need to apply at planting fourth dimension is a mild liquid fertilizer such as fish emulsion . you could reapply Pisces the Fishes emulsion every three or four weeks if the plant seem to need a cost increase . debar any fertilizer that is high in nitrogen because this stimulates vegetive growth at the disbursal of florescence and fruiting .
Pruning
Pruning mad apple is n’t usually necessary . However , if you see suckers sprouting from the base of operations of the plant , pinch them off so the plant will apply its energy to grow enceinte fruit .
Potting and Repotting
Eggplant is agood choice for container , and it often escape common pest trouble when it ’s grown outside the vegetable garden with good zephyr circulation around its container . Select a large mickle — a 5 - gallon pot is a good choice — and habituate a high - tone potting commixture . Add some slow - release fertilizer accord to the label instructions if the mix does n’t arrest fertiliser , and be certain the container drains well . Position the eggplant in the container at the same level it was growing in its seedling stool . range it in a cheery location and keep the grease moist but not soggy . Eggplant is usually acquire as an yearbook , so it does n’t ask repotting .
Pests and Problems
mad apple are susceptible to several pests ; however , if your industrial plant are healthy and vigorous , they can usually resist most of them . Provide good air circulation by right spacing . If you have the way , you may desire to site the eggplants in an area away from other vegetables . The most usual plague is theflea beetle — a flyspeck bootleg or brown beetle that jaw midget holes in leaves . A significant plague can set back young plants , so it is a unspoilt idea to insure them with a floating row cover until they are sturdier . Mature plants can usually withstand the beetle feeding on them without much damage .
Aphidsandspider mitesare sometimes a problem . A surd flow of cold water usually concentrate the population , so they cause minimum equipment casualty . Like other nightshade crop , eggplants may be attack by Colorado white potato beetles . Hand - picking is the just fashion to ascertain them .
aubergine occasionally endure from a few disease , including verticillium wilt — a dirt - yield fungus . dodging is the samara . Use a high - lineament seedling mixture when start out seeds , and do n’t plant where tomato plant , peppers , potatoes , or eggplant bush have develop in the past three year .
Another fungous disease , anthracnose , causes dark deep-set spots on overripe yield . Harvest the fruit as before long as it ’s mature to avoid the job . Remove any yield with symptoms so the disease does not spread .
Harvesting Eggplant
harvest time eggplant when the fruit is close to its full size of it , which varies among miscellanea , and the hide is bright . expend a knife or snip to cut the yield base so you do n’t wound the plant . Do n’t lease ripe fruit remain on the plant because it will become bitter , and fruiting will slow . The more you harvest , the more you ’ll get .
How to Propagate Eggplant
The good fashion to start your eggplant is tosow seeds indoorseight to 10 weeks before you need to transplant them into the garden . habituate a eminent - quality seed start mixture and sow two or three seeds to a mess , cover them with about ¼ in of grease . apply a estrus mat for best results because eggplants need warm land . Keep the medium moist but not soggy . Seeds should shoot in one to two weeks .
Once the seeds sprout , absent the heat lustrelessness and place the seedling under brilliant grow lights for 12 to 14 hours a day . Keep the brightness about 6 inch above the tops of plants while they spring up . After they have a span of pairs of leaves , flimsy to the strongest seedling . Fertilize with ½ specialty fish emulsion every 10 24-hour interval unless your growing mix hold fertilizer . If the seedlings outgrow their pots , transplant each one to a magnanimous deal , hold care to disturb the roots as little as potential . Be certain to harden off the seedling before you transplant them outside .
Types of Eggplant
Eggplant varieties differ in the size of the plant and the sizing , shape , and color of its yield .
‘Black Beauty’
‘ Black Beauty ’ eggplant is an heirloom variety that develop large , gloomy purplish fruit , complete for grilled eggplant steak or eggplant parmesan . plant life grow to 2 feet tall , and the fruit begins to mature about 74 days after transplantation .
‘Summer Emerald’
‘ Summer Emerald ’ carry long , fluxing lime - green yield that has very few seed and thin skins on plant life that grow up to 3 feet improbable . Its 7 - inch yield begin to grow within 65 Day of transplanting .
‘Gretel’
‘ Gretel’is a heavyproducer of 3- to 4 - inch ashen fruit on 2- to 3 - metrical unit works . The non - bitter fruit is excellent for caponata and begins to mature in 55 days .
‘Fairy Tale’
‘ Fairy Tale ’ gestate 2- to 4 - in - retentive fruit on thickset plants that hit 18 to 24 inches tall . The yield is speckled purple and white and is not bitter . It matures in 65 solar day .
Eggplant Companion Plants
Eggplants are susceptible to the usual garden pests , but the damage can be minimise by planting them with French marigolds , oregano , mint , and othercompanion plants .
Oregano
Bees and beneficial insects areattracted to oregano flowersand serve as efficient pollinators for nearby aubergine , increase the yield . Oregano also repels other harmful pests and insects , include the cabbage butterfly and cucumber beetle .
French Marigolds
French marigoldsrepel several coarse eggplant pests , including nematodes . When in bloom , they also attract good insects , such as lacewings , which prey on aphid .
Mint
Theunmistakable scent of mintprotects eggplants from flea mallet and aphid , and the plant ’s blossom attract pollinators . However , mint can be invasive , so it should be contained in mint positioned near the mad apple .
Frequently Asked Questions
garden egg are unfearing only in the warmest region ( geographical zone 10 , 11 , and 12 ) . Although it is a perennial in these warm zone , it is still normally arise annually , just like it is in cooler region where it is not hardy . New plants are started each year from semen .
Yes . Eggplants are in high spirits in fiber , low in kilogram calorie , and rich in antioxidants . They also contain manganese , folate , potassium , and vitamin K.
Solanum melongena . NC State Extension
