What are your varieties this year?
 

I'm trying
kamo
listada de Gandia
tonda bianca sfumata di rosa

I wanted to include a skinny Asian type but don't have the space.

Black Beauty
Diamond
Lista de Gandia
Ping Tung
Rosa Bianca
Swallow

Linda

Not this year but next.
I have tried the shady areas to no avail, I need good long sunlight.
And when I do it will be Florida High Bush and Black Beauty in tub containers.
Both proven winners by me and others for many years.
I have tried the skinny Asian things and to me they suck.:lol:
Eggplant was one of my first ever garden vegetables to grow on my own from seeds when I was in grade school.

In addition to the Violetta Lunga I grow every year, this year I'm also trying Ping Tung and NY Improved.

I wish I knew the name of the one I am growing. I haven't been growing eggplants, just buying them because the past several years the CPB have been so bad and they destroy the plants and fruits.

While out at hardware store they had some Bonnie Plants and I saw one labeled Mini Eggplant. Normally I would just walk on by, but the name intrigued me, so I bought one to try. Came home and took the plant down to bare root and replanted in my type soil.

This is the cutest little eggplant and I haven't seen anything like it before. The whole plant is barely a foot and a half tall. Lots of leaves and at each leaf node it puts out a cluster of 6 to 9 blossoms. I have close to 50 blooms on this tiny eggplant. Thanks to a carpenter bee, it is making fruit like crazy. The fruit is a deep purple, not quite a black and all the eggplants are 2 to 3 inches long and nice and fat. Truly a mini eggplant.

The best thing I like about it, is so far, keeping fingers crossed, not one insect problem. No CPB or flatfooted bugs.

I have no idea if Mini Eggplant is what it is really called, but I do know that I am going to save seeds from it. May not be able to make a big dish from these small fruits, but they taste good seasoned and fried up in some olive oil or fresh on a salad.

[QUOTE=Starlight;647351]the past several years the CPB have been so bad and they destroy the plants and fruits.[/quote]

I discovered that CPBs love physalis species the most--I had them on my ground cherries but not on anything else. Nothing on the eggplants right "next door" to them. And because ground cherries, tomatillos, etc. put out more foliage than an eggplant, I would control them by just snipping off any leaves where I saw eggs or nymphs. Worked well to keep the damage down, and I still got tons of ground cherries anyway.

[QUOTE=Starlight;647351]While out at hardware store they had some Bonnie Plants and I saw one labeled Mini Eggplant.[/quote]

It's probably "Patio Baby". That seems to be the most common mini eggplant variety available to purchase.

Last year, I grew Mitoyo, which was the best tasting eggplant I had ever eaten in my life. Really amazing.

This year, I'm seeing whether Kamo is anywhere near as good. It has similar foliage to Mitoyo and also has black-purple stems and calyx. The fruit is smaller and rounder, though.

I also love the skinny Asian varieties, which are so tender and creamy, but I can buy those easily at markets.

Agree with Gorbelly on Mitoyo. Grew it last year, and it's definitely a repeater!
This is the one they say (BC does) is sweet enough to eat raw. It IS good.:love:

Mine for this year:

Mitoyo
Kamo (just about as good as Mitoyo)
Round Mauve (both Kamo and Round Mauve are softball-size for me)
Kurume (nice OP substitute for Ichiban, but even sweeter)
Listada di Gandia
Rosita
and one Ichiban I picked up at the garden center.

All except for Ichiban are OP.

Like Mitoyo, my Kamo plants are earliest. They all have slightly larger than golf ball sized fruit on them and tons of flowers. Tonda bianca and Listada de Gandia are about neck and neck in terms of flowering, but Tonda bianca is a much larger plant.

Black Beauty
Black King hybrid
Listada d G
Long Purple
PingTung
Rosa Bianca
Rosita
Turkish (with orange fruit but none ripe yet)

All of the others are producing. Black King is a little larger than Black Beauty but the clear taste test winner is Long Purple.

I grew Ping Tung last year too. Hard to germinate and doesn't produce very well for me.

My Ping Tung seeds were other so I need to contact the seller and try again

Edirne is somewhere under the tomatillos * I think * :o
Long Purple is trying but slowed by flea beetle damage
Mitoyo has already given us 3 tasty beauties and is looking great :yes:

Ping tung. Looking to expand with varieties suited to northeast zone 6.
Interesting lists.

[QUOTE=Nematode;652533]Ping tung. Looking to expand with varieties suited to northeast zone 6.
Interesting lists.[/QUOTE]

Nematode, I think the Japanese black-calyx varieties would do well for you. I'm relatively new to growing eggplant, but last year Mitoyo was my early variety, and this year, Kamo is ahead of the pack. As a plus, they're incredibly delicious.

I think I have some seed to spare. LMK if you'd like some to trial next year.

Thanks for the offer, I'll buy commercial. Kamo is on the 2018 list, looks beautiful.

Rosa Bianca
Black Beauty
Little Fingers

I never heard of Mitoya. Looks like it gets rave reviews. I will put it on my must-try list for next year.