Progress! Eggplant that were planted today in big pots - pics added June 26
 

Finally, I got around to planting my eggplant for the 2010 season.

Casper, Neon, New York Improved, Apple Green, Ripples (my own variety out of Zebra), Rosita, Batu, Rosa Bianca, New York Improved (purplish stem), Casper (purplish stem), Neon F2 (two plants - one with a green stem, one with a slightly purplish stem), and Orient Express F2 (two plants - one with a purplish stem, the other with a dark purple stem).

So a mix of favorites, a check for crosses, and the beginnings of some dehybridization.

Craig:
How many eggplants did you plant in each pot?

One plant per 5 or 10 gallon pot.

Thanks for the info. I am going to try potting mine this year. I have heard they do much better in pots than in a traditional garden.

My theory is that eggplant and peppers like hot roots...I've found both yield much more heavily when in pots when compared to the garden.

Good luck Craig.

After experimenting I only grow eggplants in containers. And I put the containers on asphalt. Ergo, I also think they like their roots being hot. Additionally you can get some decent sized eggplants from growing in containers. hmm. I'm going to start a new thread with pictures and a question I've been meaning to ask for a long time.

Randy

[quote=nctomatoman;169885]My theory is that eggplant and peppers like hot roots...I've found both yield much more heavily when in pots when compared to the garden.[/quote]
Interesting...I have always heard peppers like hot heads and cool feet! I guess I will have to try a few pots this year.

Just a few pictures to show what's going on June 26.

An interesting set this year - regrowing Batu, from Sri Lanka (sort of looks like Bride), Apple Green for fresh seed, and a few stem color variants of saved seed - in this thread, Casper with its normal green stem, and with a darker purplish stem - clearly that one is a cross....also Neon and Orient Express F2, different stem colors.

In order below - Apple Green flower, then fruit, Batu flower, Casper darker stem flower and fruit, Casper normal green stem flower then fruit, Neon flower then fruit, and New York Improved fruit.

Nice pics...I always tell the people that grow eggplant to make sure they take the time to look at their flowers. I think they are the most beautiful ones in the garden.

I grew Thai Green Eggplant in 5 gal buckets last year.
For me they are more productive in the ground.

I think I will go home and cook some eggplant, there are so many ways to cook them. I lost several plants early on, I only have 3 varities left. Mine are not as nice as yours, great job.

Neva

Eggplant is one vegetable that I find intriguing. They look great but they have absolutely no nutritional value and very little taste of their own. Whose idea was it to start eating those things anyway? ;)

Ah, but could you imagine Ratatouille or (obviously!) Eggplant Parmesan or Baba Ganouj without them!!!

I do find that they have a distinct flavor, but when they are not at their freshest (as in home grown), they can get quite bitter and offensive.

First pickings today, 43 days from transplant! Pictured are two that came in as expected (Casper, Neon), and two surprises - Apple Green (looking instead like a large Kermit! This is clearly a hybrid), and a Casper cross (lovely black purple version). The normal Casper has a pure green stem; I noticed in my seedling set that 1 or 2 had purplish stems - and this is what arose!

All four went in to our first Ratatouille of the year (yum!). They were tender and mild - the flesh color of the Casper Cross was very pale green, and the other three had very white flesh.

My applegreen is from sse, and I assume its not a hybrid. Craig, where did you get your seed from? Or are you saying you have crossed seed from your garden-and I know you like those accidental crosses?

Yes, it is saved seed...original seed came from Burpee, I grew it in 2006 - this year it is from that saved seed - and that year it was growing quite close to Kermit! So it very well could be an Apple Green X Kermit F1 cross. Very cool looking....fortunately, it did not have the bitterness of Kermit!

Finally I have a little bud on my eggplant. Apparently it takes forever to grow an eggplant from seed even here in Florida.

It does take a long time, but they are worth the wait. I have 6 plants, I planted them several weeks apart in hopes of having eggplants until frost. They still look good and have made it through the heat and humidity.

Enjoy,

Neva

Update with pics (and a recipe!) here -

[url]http://nctomatoman.weebly.com/1/post/2010/07/pot-plus-eggplant-plus-heat-harvest-eggplant-parmesan.html[/url]

Eggplants are now coming in like crazy (so are peppers....tomatoes? not very many, definite impact of the heat on fruit set).

Below are (left to right)

Apple Green cross, Batu close up, Batu, Casper cross (purplish stem seen after germination), Casper, Neon, NY Improved cross (purplish stem seen after germination - note purplish calyx, fruit very similar, a bit more pale in color) - two pictures; New York Improved, Orient Express F2 (with a very purple stem), and Rosita - along with all of the ones picked today in a basket.

Interesting to note days to maturity from transplant into the pot - four of them in 43 days, one at 50 days, two at 52 days, and two at 54 days.

Remaining to harvest - Ripples (nearly there, fruit on the plant), Orient Express F2 with a less purple stem (fruit set), Neon F2 with a green stem, Neon F2 with a purplish stem, and Rosa Bianca (way behind the others, poor/late germination, slow grower early on).

Very nice! I am getting a few here and there, hasnt been great fruit set. Kamo is my best so far this year.

Funny, Michael - the heat is really screwing with the tomato fruit set. But these eggplant and peppers in 5 gallon pots are amazing - some plants with 20 set eggplant fruit, or 10 or more sweet peppers. And the hot peppers? Just insane.

The good news is that the dwarfs seem to be setting better than some of the indeterminates - perhaps because the flowers are hidden in dense foliage!

Tonight we are grilling a Batu and a Casper cross, along with Souvlaki-prepped veggies and chicken over couscous. Good eats!

NC, how large is the NY Improved? One pic looks large like a Black Beauty, the NY Improved X appears more compact along the lines of a Rosa Bianca? What did you cross it with?
And how would you compare the taste of them to other purple varieties?


As far as my own experience with raising eggplants goes, I've had zero success raising them in the ground. Containers are a must for short season growing, at least for me. I tried again this year to put an Italian (Violina Lunga) variety in the garden. The plants are still struggling to grow. Yet the two varieties I have in containers (Applegreen and Sicilian) are bursting with blooms and fruit.
Part of the problem with the ones in the ground could be a shortage of sunlight hours due to surrounding trees. Again, containers make it possible to go where the sun goes.

My theory on container gardening is that you get much more heat at the root area - I've grown them here in good sun in the soil and they don't yield nearly as much as when grown in pots.

I have no idea what the NY Improved crossed with...though it is something with a dark calyx, I am sure! Will have to see what its neighbors were that year!

[quote=nctomatoman;177594]My theory on container gardening is that you get much more heat at the root area - I've grown them here in good sun in the soil and they don't yield nearly as much as when grown in pots.

I have no idea what the NY Improved crossed with...though it is something with a dark calyx, I am sure! Will have to see what its neighbors were that year![/quote]

Well if you find eggplants more productive even in a climate as warm as N.C., then I'm convinced. No more wasting valuable garden space. It's containers from now on for me.

Eggplant video update -

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbVv1IH7xg[/url]

:) Thanks for taking the time to make a video NC. Very 8-)

[quote=nctomatoman;175448]First pickings today, 43 days from transplant! Pictured are two that came in as expected (Casper, Neon), and two surprises - Apple Green (looking instead like a large Kermit! This is clearly a hybrid), and a Casper cross (lovely black purple version). The normal Casper has a pure green stem; I noticed in my seedling set that 1 or 2 had purplish stems - and this is what arose!

All four went in to our first Ratatouille of the year (yum!). They were tender and mild - the flesh color of the Casper Cross was very pale green, and the other three had very white flesh.[/quote]

the black casper looks more like those japanese eggplants. :). i have a kermit hybrid too but unlike your Apple green, it is elongated. :)

this is one beautiful eggplant.

[IMG]http://tomatoville.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=14186&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1279228412[/IMG]

Craig:

Nice looking, plump fruit on your eggplants!