Eggplant grows best during warm temperatures (between 70 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit or 21 to 30 Celsius) and its growth will slow during cold weather. The pot size is about a gallon and a half. What did deception. Hand-pull them or weed carefully with a cultivator or hoe. Start eggplant inside 3-4 weeks before the last frost. Eggplant will fall over once loaded with fruit! Whatever your preferences might be, growing your own eggplant is a great way to spruce up your landscaping and to become more self-sufficient.

• In cooler areas, it's wise to plant as soon as the weather warms to take full advantage of the warmer months and maximise your returns. Not sure what variety of eggplant you're growing, but a full-sized eggplant looks to me not much smaller than the plants in your pictures. Sunlight: 4-5 Hours for Seed germination & 8-10 hours for proper fruiting. now it is time to see what to do to get lots of fruits in each Plant of an eggplant.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'gardenbagan_com-leader-1','ezslot_6',115,'0','0'])); Pest and Fungal infection is the biggest problem for eggplant gardeners. If your pH is higher than 7, add powdered sulphur to lower the pH. Slow down fertilization from 6th week. How to Grow Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Eggplant can be a beautiful addition to your garden. Thereafter, the plants will require moderate irrigation and a bi-weekly feeding. If plants become infested, spraying Beauveria bassiana or spinosad may knock back the population of flea beetles and save your plants. They infect through the roots. This will ease your work a lot. Obviously, an Eggplant is healthy but my point of interest is the taste- Its really delicious. If you live in a cold climate, consider using row covers to keep the eggplants warm and sheltered. At least, it is not thriving. Else you can collect and harvest seeds from these mature eggplants. You can also use an organic mulch to retain moisture, but don’t apply it until the soil is warm. Check out my previous post about: How to grow Chili Pepper plants faster from seedseval(ez_write_tag([[336,280],'gardenbagan_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',104,'0','0'])); It is a fruit and we call it a Vegetable. Such eggplant is not good for eating. This will prevent pest or fungal attack on the new seedlings.

When harvesting, do not pull the fruit (as it won’t come off). If the skin looks faded and the seeds inside are dark and hard, the fruit will taste bitter. Don’t wait too long to harvest!

Eggplants are also good for container growing, with one plant per 5-gallon pot. The bug in the size of a flea. Different eggplant cultivars bear fruit in 50 to 80 days. You can cut these plants back like peppers if your season is long enough for a second crop. Some varieties are long and thin, others as small as grapes, with colours that range from black to white and even orange. How to Grow Eggplant – Harvesting. Eggplant tastes best when harvested young. Moist it with drinking water. This will lead the plant to become bushier but ultimately reduce the size of fruiting. Exclusive TV sneak peeks, recipes and competitions, This ingredient isn't exactly popular with everyone. Eggplants come in a variety of colors- purple is the most popular other than yellow, white, green, and some striped varieties. This is an incredibly rewarding crop and easy to grow when conditions are right. In fact, harvesting small, ripe fruits more often will yield to a large overall bounty, as it will encourage the plant to put out more blossoms and fruit. A single eggplant can produce 100s or 1000s of viable healthy seeds. Pests seldom go for leaves; like us, they want the good stuff—the produce. To test, press the skin. You should prepare according to your need and availability of resources.eval(ez_write_tag([[250,250],'gardenbagan_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_4',106,'0','0'])); First, start with selecting the variety of Eggplant of your choice. The two most common “standard” eggplant varieties are Black Beauty and Black Magic.. Black Beauty produces four to six large fruits at a time, while Black Magic, Early Bird, Purple Rain, and … Before Starting seed germination lets do the revision. Stay tuned for more updates. Side-dress when the first fruits are about the size of a quarter, using 3 ounces of calcium nitrate per 10 feet of row. Water well to moisten the soil to a depth of at least 6 inches so the soil is moist but never soggy. Native to India, where it grows wild, it has been cultivated in Southeast Asia for thousands of years. This will help provide necessary support to your eggplant as it grows taller, but by installing it before your seedlings emerge or become larger, you won’t have to worry about damaging their delicate roots. It is not intended to prescribe, diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you have followed everything correctly then Your plants are healthy and ready to transplant by 6th week. The plus side of growing in a raised bed is that it will allow you to ensure optimal drainage, and to make sure the soil is nice and warm before you plant. After planting, water well. My wife is a Filipina and I plant the long slender eggplant and the way she prepares it is beyond description. Planting your crop in front of a north-facing wall will provide some of the additional heat they like, and extend your growing season. Eggplants, with dramatic foliage and colorful fruit, are not only a great choice for a veggie garden, but an ornamental specimen as well. Gowing fresh seedlings every season is effective in this situation. Waterlogging is probably the biggest problem with flowering and fruiting in the Eggplants. Eggplant recipes are listed just below the “Wit & Wisdom” section, above. So You can either use a sprayer or a bottom feeder to provide water to the seedlings. Watch out for the small prickles that line the stems and the cap of some varieties, as they are a skin irritant. I know that once cooler weather comes, I take my peppers into the greenhouse and they do well over the winter. Why trust us? Try to keep the soil moist but not soggy. About one inch of water per week is required, but perhaps a bit more during dry spells and when your plants are first getting established. How to Grow Eggplant (Solanum melongena) Eggplant can be a beautiful addition to your garden. Again, staking is necessary to support your plants as they become weighted with heavy frits. Eggplants are perennial in a tropical climate but they are mostly cultivated as annuals. Most of the seeds will germinate within 7 days. Direct, full sunlight is also important. A 4-inch plastic pot will handle the plant for this whole time. There are countless varieties of eggplant you might consider growing. Another issue that many people have when growing eggplant has to do with pollinators. Remove ripe fruit with gardening shears, leaving a small portion of the stem attached.

The ideal temperature for eggplant is, Eggplant like slightly acidic soil. I hope my experience will help you out to grow eggplant from seeds. Would I need a bigger pot? But, In my experience, You should only buy seeds not older than 2 years. Conclusion I hope my experience will help you out to grow eggplant from seeds.

Premature yellowing of eggplant fruit is common with old plants. So before transplantation, you have to care these tiny seedlings for at least 1 and a  half months. Over-ripe fruit is tough and bitter. There’s no particular eggplant seed preparation necessary prior to sowing. Rotate to non-host crops in order to lower the population of bacteria in the soil. If the leaves are falling off of a plant (almost any plant) then it is dying. Submitted by The Editors on June 12, 2019 - 1:06pm, We don’t have expertise growing crops in Kenya but we would think eggplant (known as biringanya or brinjal) would grow quite well in your climate.

Eggplants are native to Asia and a member of the nightshade family, like tomatoes and peppers. Where are the recipes you promised. This is why I prefer a seedling tray with at least 5-inch depth. This will involve putting them outside for a few hours each day, gradually increasing the amount of time they are exposed to the outdoors every day until you are ready to plant. Also, give yourself a head start and plant seedlings rather than seed, which can take up to 3 weeks to germinate.• While slow, eggplants grow readily from seed sown in pots of quality seed-raising mix, and allow you to grow interesting varieties not readily available as seedlings. It means the ideal soil ph for Eggplant is. Keep in mind that you will need to fertilize and water eggplant more often if you are growing it in a container. The other benefit of planting in black plastic is that it will dramatically reduce the number of weeds you have to deal with. You can also use a marinade with a mixture of salt, lemon juice, and vinegar to prevent the pieces from darkening. Sign up to get all the latest gardening tips! Hand picking is also effective for tomato hornworms, 4-inch green caterpillars with white stripes. Sometimes ripe eggplant can turn yellow or orange. 2' apart and are in the same raised bed as Zuchinni & Purple Bell Pepper. They are a common eggplant pest, but luckily, they aren’t too much of an issue on adult plants. This can cause these them to break, which will lead to disease on the plant, and rot on the fruit. Starting seeds indoors is most common, although if you live in an extremely warm, humid region, planting eggplant seeds directly in the garden may work. Pick each eggplant using a sharp knife or a pair of scissors. After all, the two are closely related. apart. The old farmers almanac has been the best resources ever THANK YOU! These are tropical fruiting plants so they can survive in hot summer conditions better than cold regions. Ichiban eggplant is long and slim, a hybrid variety with thin skin. Custom programming and server maintenance by. Try growing eggplants in raised beds, which heat up quickly in spring. Sometimes overheat during summer days can cause premature yellowing of fruit. Hand pick and destroy yellow-and-black-striped Colorado potato beetles and the yellow masses of eggs they lay on leaf undersides. You have to be gentle and really careful while taking each seed out for planting in the soil mix. Place your container in a sunny, warm environment. If you decide to grow from seedlings, begin your plants indoors about four to six weeks before the last anticipated date of frost. Pick eggplant when the skin takes on a high gloss.

You can try pinching the tips of the plant to encourage bushiness; more branches on the plant means more potential for flowers. Wait until the fruit is glossy at the time of harvesting. It is not getting something: proper soil, including pH and drainage quality? Take cuttings from existing plants at the end of the growing … Pinch out the terminal growing points for a bushier plant. Eggplants are in the same family (Solanaceae) as tomato, potato and capsicum, and share many of the same pests and diseases.

You can even dehydrate eggplant! Don't destroy those covered with tiny white cocoons; these contain the parasitic offspring of the beneficial braconid wasp. If you’d rather cook it in a traditional fashion, go for a standard variety, like Black Beauty.