Finally interested in growing eggplant

[OmahaJB]

Hah! I doubt it would even start growing one with my weak lighting, but it would be funny if I grew one inside that ended being hundreds of pounds. Would be a mess trying to break it down. I did try growing Georgia Rattlesnake, Orangeglo and Charentais indoors while in Omaha. Ended up with alot of vines but no melons. Didn't think it would work. Funny seeing how big these pumpkins seeds are. Hope to grow at least 1 pumpkin, then bake the seeds with salt. Should make a nice snack.

[nctomatoman]

If people wish to play around with some interesting eggplant, I like to save seeds from hybrids and grow out subsequent generations. Here are the hybrids from which I have quite a lot of saved seed:

Machiaw, Lavendar Touch, Calliope, Bride, Cloud Nine, Orient Charm, Orient Express, Snowy, Purple Rain, Green Goddess, Ichiban, Slim Jim, and Zebra.

I've grown some of these out - sometimes they are very much like the parent, sometimes not - but are fine, as flavor differences amongst eggplant are not particularly distinct.

PM me if you would like to try some of these "experiments" out!

[newatthiskat]

I am going to try egg plant for the first time (to eat) I grew one lone egg plant in a church garden several years ago. Not sure which vatiety I will grow. At the mercy of local plants. Hope they taste as good as everyone makes them sound!
Kat

[nctomatoman]

I find all eggplant pretty much taste the same - it is what you do to them and how mature they are that make the biggest difference. I didn't like it (found it bitter) until I grew it myself and my wife make Ratatouille....and we've taken it from there...now an indispensible veggie for us.

[Nightshade]

Kat, grow a bunch!

They are tasty sliced, breaded, and fried in bacon grease! (jk ...about the bacon grease, anyway).

I wasn't a big eggplant eater, either, but all i knew was the big Florida Market variety from the supermarket. Then I found some sliced and breaded frozen eggplant at Trader Joes, and it was yummy.

The fresh-from-the-garden kind are very good sliced and brushed with olive oil and thrown on the grill when you are cooking out. Old cookbooks tell you to salt them and let them sweat out the bitterness, but I haven't found that necessary at all with young and tender homegrown varieties.

Jan

Originally Posted by newatthiskat

I am going to try egg plant for the first time (to eat) I grew one lone egg plant in a church garden several years ago. Not sure which vatiety I will grow. At the mercy of local plants. Hope they taste as good as everyone makes them sound!
Kat

[nctomatoman]

Even better (or at least healthy!) - we eat these as an appetizer quite a bit in the summer, or use them (if we have big ol slabs of them) to make eggplant parmesan....

Peel a globular or teardrop eggplant - slice into 1/4 inch or thinner slices - dip in egg, then in seasoned breadcrumbs - sprinkle grated parmesan reggiano on each, spray with a bit of Pam, and bake at 400 until browned. They end up crisp on the outside, kind of fluffy on the inside and are addictive! Even eggplant haters would eat these...

[AK110682]

Well all up my eggplants seem to be up.... with the exception of Louisianna Long Green. One of the black beauty seedlings has 3 leaves instead of 2... not sure what that means though.

I planted Red Marconi, Golden Marconi, and Giant Marconi at the same time as I planted the eggplants, but none of them have popped up yet. Do they usually take longer to come up compared to eggplant? I'm starting to get worried! But it's only been about 11 days. Patiently waiting....

-Amber

[OmahaJB]

Amber,

I don't think you have anything to worry about yet since it's only been 11 days. If you're using bottom heat (like a little Jiffy Greenhouse) you should see germination soon if you have fairly fresh seed. Good luck with them.

[AK110682]

Yay a couple of the Red Marconi Pepper seedlings have popped up today! No signs of Louisianna Long Green Eggplant, Golden Marconi, or Giant Marconi. Still patiently waiting...

-Amber

[AK110682]

I was getting really impatient waiting for my Golden Marconi, and Giant Marconi seedlings to come up.... so I started poking around inside some of the jiffy pellets.

I discovered that the seeds had rotted. Maybe I had too much water? But if that is the case--why did the Red Marconi, Listada de Gandia, Long Purple, and Black Beauty all come up?

Haven't had any luck with any of these... Rosa Bianca, Louisianna Long Green, Golden Marconi, or Giant Marconi. I planted some additional Rosa Bianca seeds tonight, Hopefully they do better than the first batch. Unfortunately I used all of my seeds for Louisianna long green, golden marconi, and giant marconi--if any of you have some extra seeds to spare, I'd love to get my hands on some... I will gladly send a SASE.

Thanks,
Amber

[OmahaJB]

Amber, I don't have the ones you are asking for at this point, but I'm expecting seeds from SSE to arrive today. Included will be Rosa Bianca & Diamond. If your RB doesn't germinate or you want some Diamond seeds feel free to send a PM. SSE is sending 50 seeds of each so I'll have plenty to share if you or someone else here would like a few. If you haven't already you might want to start a thread on the "Want" forum for seed sharing for those you are wanting now. Curious, how old are your Rosa Bianca seeds?

[AK110682]

Well actually I recieved Rosa Bianca seeds from 3 or 4 different people. I believe one packet says 06', one says 07' and two of them say 08'. The seeds that did not germinate happened to be from one of the 08' packages.

I replanted more seeds... this time, a few seeds from each packet. Hoping for better luck this time If I don't manage to get any Rosa Bianca seedlings, no big deal..... Black Beauty, Long Purple and Listada de Gandia all had 100% germination, and I probably planted way too many to begin with LOL

-Amber

[montanamato]

Amber...Are you using bottom heat?...I use an old heating pad on low or medium heat...Most peppers like 85 degrees for germination and eggplant also...With additional heat my last eggplant germinated this morning at 6 days and my other varieties germinated at 4 and 5 days...My oldest seed also germinated quickest...Peppers can be more variable...Some of my Chile de Comida took 9 days , but most up in 5 -7 days, with bottom heat...
Just don't let them dry out if you add bottom heat....
Jeanne

[AK110682]

I don't have a heating pad, so I couldn't use bottom heat. I had jiffy pellets inside zip lock bags with a couple air holes poked into them. They were sitting in a windowsill, with a space heater pointed their direction. It was the best I could do....

Because I knew that most people used bottom heat for peppers and eggplant, I really didn't think I would have any germination at all. So even at this point, I guess I'm doing better than I expected

-Amber

[BattleOfBennington]

Ok, I have read through here, and you have convinced me. I too shall try eggplant this year. I had it ince as a kid and hated it. On the other hand I never met a squash (both summer and winter) that I did not love.

my wife loves eggplant - and misses it.

So based on all you guys are saying, that home grown is much better (dur - thats why I grow my own veggies) - I am in.

Now much space, only room for 3-9 plants total, what kind shall I get? (I prefer Heirloom/OP)

I know it is a late start to get the seeds started in Indiana.

Suggested locations to secure seeds quickly at this point?

Thanks
W