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Old May 20, 2014   #71
Tracydr
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7
Posts: 3,207
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeedman View Post
"You don't say much about your growing conditions... I tried to grow eggplant for years and had very spotty results due to Verticillium Wilt. Some years the Vert. wasn't bad and I got a decent crop (mostly Black Beauty). Most years, the plants would load up and then the plants would wilt -- at most I'd get an eggplant or two!" (Greatgardens)

That was my experience in Wisconsin for many years - and I tried a lot of varieties, somewhere around 20. I think it is the occasional cool night temperatures here which weaken the plants' immunity, and the wilt attacks them when they are weak... which unfortunately, is usually just as they begin to bear. The same thing happened with many okra varieties, probably for the same reasons.

Fortunately, I eventually found two OP varieties which are highly resistant to wilt; Diamond (purple) and Casper (white). I'm actually surprised that no one has mentioned Diamond in this thread, because it is the most fool-proof & productive OP variety I know of, and is widely adapted. Casper is more temperamental, and some years doesn't set many... but it has a mild flavor and great cooked texture, and actually seems to prefer cool summers, when it really comes on strong. Most years, I generally grow both, and regardless of the weather, one or the other does well.
Casper (left), Diamond (lower right), a Filipino eggplant trial (upper right). (The Filipino eggplant is also very wilt resistant and productive, I've been selecting it for more consistently elongated fruit.)

For those who have mentioned having excess eggplant, don't throw it away - it freezes well. When mine really begin to take off, I steam them whole, allow them to cool, peel them, and freeze them in vacuum bags. The cooked & frozen eggplant maintains its quality well, we use it throughout the winter. Chopped & added to an egg batter, it makes omelets to die for.

(Edit: the forum software seems to go haywire if you try to use both a quote and photo in the same post, hence the quote format at the start of my post.)
Great tip on the freezing. I never thought to add eggplant to an omelet but I may have to try that.
You might try an eggplant fermented pickle.
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