Growing Eggplants
Eggplants are one of my favorite vegetables to grow in the garden which is strange considering that I refused to eat them as a kid. Now I love eggplants in and out of the garden.
There are about twenty plants of a dozen different varieties of heirloom eggplants growing in my garden this season.
Eggplants in the Backyard Garden
One thing that’s captivating about raising eggplants is the variety that this crop offers. They grow in a wide assortment of shapes, sizes, flavors, and colors to decorate the garden or create that favorite recipe. Despite the fact that you’ll only find a couple different varieties for sale at your local garden center, there are many intriguing eggplant varieties.
Everyone is most familiar with the large, purple, “Black Beauty” types of eggplants that you find on the shelves of your local grocer. Booorrring… there are so many unique, colorful, and delicious varieties of eggplants available to the home gardener that I hesitate to plant any of the standard types.
Eggplants can produce round fruits, fat and oblong ones, or slender and elongated fruits. The colors range from shades of purple, black, and lavender, to red, pink, rose, yellow, white, orange, green, and even multi-colored and striped eggplants. You can choose from tiny, marble sized varieties, right on up to giant zucchini sized eggplants.
Cultivating Homegrown Eggplants
All of my heirloom eggplants, with the exception of a couple that were purchased at the Landis Valley Herb Faire, were started indoors from seed and later transplanted out into the garden. Eggplant seedlings can be started a couple of weeks ahead of tomatoes and are transplanted into the garden a week or two after setting out tomato plants.
Other than those slight differences in timing, eggplants can be cultivated in a manner very similar to tomatoes. They will flourish under the same growing conditions, and also prefer a fertilization regimen that favors potassium and phosphorous over high levels of nitrogen, especially when the plants are flowering and fruiting.
I even use small cages to support the eggplants and help keep them upright under the load of a heavy crop of fruit and frequent summer thunderstorms. If you prefer you can tie the plants to stakes, just be sure to provide some type of support as the plants mature, grow tall, and bear fruit.
Tips for Growing Productive Eggplants
Eggplants like it hot so don’t even think about transplanting them out into the garden until after all threat of frost has passed and the soil has thoroughly warmed. A layer of plastic mulch will help provide additional warmth and conserve moisture for your fast growing plants.
Eggplants grow very well in raised beds and can be spaced twelve inches apart in each direction. Healthy plants will quickly cover and shade the bed, eliminating any opportunity for weeds to become established. I usually grow eggplants together in the same bed with peppers since they share similar growth habits.
Flea Beetles are a common and serious threat when it comes to growing a productive crop of homegrown eggplants. This insect pest is capable of quickly causing frustration and disappointment for eggplant growers all over. The next post will discuss eggplants and flea beetles and look at a few organic gardening techniques for dealing with this persistent pest.
Other Related Vegetable Gardening Posts:
June 22nd, 2007 at 9:26 pm
I don’t think that there is any prettier vegetable than an eggplant, but I have yet to find a way to eat them that thrills me. How do you serve yours?
July 1st, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Eggplant is good cooked a variety of ways. One of my favorite things to do with the typical large eggplant is to peel and cut up into big chunky pieces. I then add other things that always seem to compliment the eggplant, like summer or zuchini squash, some smashed garlic, an onion or two and occasionally a pepper or chopped tomatoes and a little kosher salt and pepper. When cooked together this creates a great flavor and can be served alone or over rice or pasta. During winter I add tomato sauce to this and just let it cook together for a long period of time.
My family also enjoys when I slice, bread and fry eggplant and serve with a light sourcream.
July 2nd, 2007 at 10:20 am
My father once prepared eggplant on the grill, and I loved it (I’m not crazy about eggplant).
He halved the eggplant lengthwise and cross-scored the surface of each half. After salting the halves, he propped them scored side down to drain for about a half an hour.
The halves were placed face down on a hot grill just long enough for the cross-hatching to open up a little and for the face of the halves to get that grilled look. He then placed each half bottom side down over the cooler area of the grill and basted each half with EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). The basting was repeated periodically until the flesh in each half was fork tender (I don’t recall the length of time). It was fantastic!
July 12th, 2007 at 3:28 am
Great site. A native way of cooking eggplant is by (1)grilling it, (2)peel burnt skin, (3) cooked it in coconut milk (with onions and salt and msg.) (4) serve.
Just blog hopping to promote my site: PinoyNegosyoTechs. Thank you!
July 27th, 2007 at 10:15 am
Very impressive site for veggie cultivation.
January 6th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
We would like to import a few eggplant trees (white & Small eggplant). Can you send it to HK & quote the price for us?
Thanks!
June 27th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
This is absolutely the yummiest eggplant dish I have ever found. It’s also really easy. Our family prepares it once a week at least. From one of Australia’s top chefs, Kylie Kwong. Trust me, it’s delicious:
This makes a wonderful vegetarian dish. The acidity of the tomatoes adds an element of sharpness to offset the luscious eggplant, and the extra virgin olive oil, while unusual in Chinese cooking, works perfectly with these Mediterranean ingredients. The eggplant and dressing can be prepared in advance, but don’t dress the eggplant until ready to serve or it will go soggy.
convert Ingredients
For the Sichuan pepper and salt
1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
3 tablespoons sea salt
For the eggplant
2 medium-sized eggplants (aubergines)
1 tablespoon sea salt
For the tomato dressing
4 small tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely sliced spring onions (scallions)
1/4 cup finely chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves
2 tablespoons malt vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
2 tablespoons finely sliced spring onions (scallions)
2 tablespoons Pinch of Sichuan pepper and sea salt
Simple Chinese Cooking
Buy the Book
Method
Make the Sichuan pepper and salt mixture
1. Dry-roast peppercorns and salt in a heavy-bottom pan. When the peppercorns begin to “pop” and become aromatic, take off the heat. Allow to cool, then grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle or spice grinder.
Make the eggplant
1. Trim eggplants and slice into 3/4-inch rounds, Place slices on a tray in one even layer, sprinkle with salt on both sides and stand for 45 minutes. Pat dry with kitchen paper to remove any bitter juices.
2. Make the tomato dressing by combining all ingredients (from tomatoes to lemon juice) in a bowl and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a hot wok until surface seems to shimmer slightly. Add eggplant and deep-fry for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned and tender. Remove from oil with a slotted spoon and drain well on kitchen paper.
4. Arrange fried eggplant on a platter and top with Tomato Dressing, Sprinkle with spring onions and Sichuan salt and pepper and serve immediately.
You can use bought Sichuan pepper if you want (and it’s still good without it) and serve it with rice .. really once you’ve made the dressing all you have to do if fry the eggplant .. easy
June 27th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Geoff, thanks a lot for the recipe, I’ll have to give it a try. I love growing eggplants and am always looking for new ways to prepare them.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
My eggplants are growing well. They look very healthy-dark green leaves, no evidence of pests. They get lots of beautiful blooms. Then they fall off! It is mid-July and so far no eggplant. My tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are all doing very well. Everything is planted in large containers on my deck. Can anyone offer any suggestions???
August 4th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Karen, I was only getting flowers myself. I took a tiny brush and started polenating the eggplants flowers by hand every morning. I now have several eggplant fruits.
September 14th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I have beautiful eggplants about 2 1/2 feet high with flowers but no fruit and it’s sept in Rochester, NY.
September 14th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Hi Bill, when did you transplant your eggplants out into the garden, it’s getting late and you’re running out of time to mature any fruits on the plants. There isn’t much you can do to speed them up at this stage, so try to get them in earlier next season even if you have to use covers to protect them from frost and plastic mulch to warm the soil up quicker.
September 26th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Hmmm… don’t peel the skin off that’s where all the vitamins are.. I pick them small so the skin is soft and I chop them up in my scrambled eggs, rice dish, or spaghetti… Like beets you never boil them you shred them like cheeses they cook very fast and you’ll keep more of the vitamins… I add beets to my rice dish…
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
[...] Eggplant, 1 plant, 5-gallon pot [...]
October 18th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Your night temperatures are to low, cover your plants with plastic.
March 7th, 2009 at 9:28 am
I am in FL. My eggplant has been in the ground for 6 weeks. It blooms prodigiously but the flowers fall off and no eggplants are developing. Can anything be done to promote production other than ‘polinating with a tiny brush 2 times’ as suggested by a respondent in August?
May 2nd, 2009 at 9:03 am
I cook eggplant in this way..
1. grill or fry it. then on a hot pan with oil. put the eggplant then followed by scrambled egg. sometimes with ground pork or beef.
adding the ground pork/beef. saute it first with garlic and onion..after saute. mix with scrambled egg in a bowl.
put the grilled eggplant in you pan. (slice the eggplant in the middle after being grilled to make it flat in your pan)
then put the mixed ground pork/beef with egg.
done! enjoy it!
June 17th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I just transplanted my eggplant seedlings yesterday and noticed this white milky color seems to be developing across all the leaves…any idea what’s going on? Am I in trouble?
June 17th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Jen, I am not sure what is going on with your eggplant seedlings but I would keep them watered, give them some shade, and mix a little liquid kelp in with the water. It may just be the stress from being transplanted.
June 24th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Growing eggplant from hanging pot in full early morning sunshine 6/8 hours. Rest of day in shade but daytime temps are now over 100. Any tips for growing in the desert/Phoenix?
June 24th, 2009 at 7:02 pm
Joe, I would experiment with different planting times to determine the best seasons/dates to grow eggplants in your climate. Keep them watered to prevent the containers from drying out too much and the shade during the hottest parts of the day will probably help keep them growing under desert like conditions. Good luck and let us know your success growing those potted eggplants in Arizona.
June 25th, 2009 at 7:31 pm
I’m pretty sure now the whiteness was caused by sun burn! I’m fairly new to plants getting sunburn so I didn’t know what I was looking at, but they seem to be marching along. Thanks for the kelp recommendation! I’m going to try that next time I fertilize them.
July 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I started my eggplant in a clay pot, transfered it to a raised planter a few weeks after it sprouted, and the plant seems to be growing well though no fruit yet. I’ve noticed that I have four stems that have sprouted, which I would assume is from four seeds (?) and I’ve read that I should thin out the plants. How necessary is thinning? Being a novice gardner, I’m concerned with mucking things up and disturbing a good thing. Any advice?
July 14th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
John, if you are sure there are four separate eggplants I would definitely suggest thinning to prevent the plants form crowding and competing with each other. The safest thing to do would be to just snip off the weakest plants to leave only one standing. The other option is to try and remove the spare plants to transfer into separate containers, but if you are not very careful you do run the risk of disturbing the eggplant that you intend on leaving in the original container.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Kenny, thanks for the advice. All four plants look strong and healthy, but I think that I’ll go ahead and snip away. Again, I appreciate you getting back with me and I’ll keep you posted as to the outcome!
July 21st, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Kenny . . . it’s been a week since I thinned out the eggplant and I’m a little blown away by how much bigger the lone plant has become in such a short amount of time. She’s gonna’ be a beaut!
July 25th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Neighbor planted eggplant in her garden but they were not doing very well. I think this is because they were in a very shady part of her yard. We transplanted the eggplant to my garden which gets an average of 8 hours of sun a day. I have watered and watered and talked to them. This has been a few weeks since I put them in the ground. She planted them Im guessing middle of may or so. But they are only about a foot tall if that, and I might be bragging to say that. They have no flowers on them but seem to be healthy. My question is is there a time frame for them to flower and when is that.
Thanks
July 26th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Hi Stephanie, the flowering and fruiting dates can vary a lot depending on the variety of eggplants and how they are grown. This is a vegetable that starts out pretty slowly and takes a while to really come into production. The weather also has an impact as they love warm growing conditions. Eggplants will benefit from occasional side dressing with compost or an organic fertilizer. My plants were transplanted out into the garden about five or six weeks ago and now have lots of blossoms and are bearing fruits.
August 30th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I have been trying to grow eggplant (black beauty) I get lots of leaves but after a while all my leaves get eaten by something but I turn them over and can’t find a thing. Any idea what’s going on? it’s getting late in the game and I haven’t gotten a single flower or fruit…. :-S
August 30th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Hi Yash, flea beetles are the most common pest attacking the eggplants in many gardens. They chew small round holes in the leaves and are small black insects that you would have to look close to see. The flea beetles haven’t caused much of a problem this year but I have also noticed a cream colored bug that is soft bodied with black accents that has been eating the eggplant leaves. They are crawlers, usually found in small groups on the same leaf, and I have been hand picking them and tossing them out of the garden. It is getting late but you still have time if you can get the fruits to set soon. Good luck.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Hello. I have the same problem as Yash and have also just recently spotted those crawlers. I have some good fruits coming in. Am I in any trouble with these bugs and how do I get rid of them? Thank you.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Hi Jon, I would just hand pick the creepy crawlers off of your eggplants and dispose of them if the infestation is not too extensive.