Hi All

I agree with Mauirose, the best tasting and most productive in my garden last season was Ping Tung

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Silvia

Happy spring, to all!

I'll cast my vote for Pingtung as well. Never bitter, and very productive. Bride has done well for me too. It seems like the white eggplants are sweeter.

Have you all tried roasting vegetables? It's a good way to use up a lot of eggplant. Cut a variety of vegs into 1/2" thick slices (onions for sure, then a choice of eggplant, peppers, carrots or sweet potatoes, fennel, okra, potatoes, parsnips or turnips.) Cut into strips, for the larger vegs. Spread in a large pan or on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with a high quality olive oil, sprinkle salt, pepper and rosemary, plus several cloves of fresh crushed garlic. Oven temperature is flexible, depending what else is baking. 400 degrees may be ideal. Stir every 15 minutes or so, bringing the edge veggies to the inside of the pan. Remove when tender, or when slightly charred even, as my family prefers. Takes up to an hour, depending on temps and your taste.

This freezes well, and reheats without mushiness (unless you use potatoes.) It also keeps at least a week in the fridge.

Hepatica

I have one ping tung seedling, after the recommendations and pictures, I think I will start more.

I second all recipe recommendations. Grilled (whole) until soft, peeled and sliced with a little olive oil drizzled in, and topped with finely minced garlic and parsley, simple and delicious. Eat as it is or use in a sandwich!

Do not get discouraged by folks canning caponata. I have never canned it and I make it often. It is a delicious sicilian salad. Google it for your favorite version (I can post if you want the version I make).

Ratatouille is delicious, and convenient dish in mid summer when tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and zucchinis are bursting out of the harvest baskets. Baba ganough is always nice, and a good way to use lots of eggplants. I do not care for tahini so I leave it out of mine. Eggplant parmesan is great too, a little known fact, you can broil the slices and layer the bread crumbs instead of frying, to cut down on the fat. It tastes delicious and better to me, less oily.

Nine times out of ten when I ask my partner how would he like to eat the eggplants that we harvest he requests this dish. It is not well known (so I will post this one here) but simple and delicious. You will need the following:
Eggplants, fresh ginger root, light colored miso paste (the lighter the better for this dish), and sesame seeds. Mix equal volume parts of grated ginger and white/yellow miso. Broil the eggplants until they are almost done. Leave skin and ends. Make a lengthwise slit and mix some of the ginger/miso paste with the eggplant flesh. How much? maybe a tablespoon per medium eggplant. Sprinkle sesame seeds and put under broiler again with slit up until the seeds are golden. This works well for the long skinny types. If you have the globe type, or even the rosa biancas, cut thick slices, broil both sides, and spread the ginger/miso on one side like buttering bread. Sprinkle sesame seeds and broil that side. This tastes so rich and decadent it is hard to believe it is healthy, but it is!

Flea beetles hide under pebbles and debris on the soil surface. Also, the larvae live on the roots of the host plants. I've seen people trap a good number of flea beetles inside their row covers. But, be that as it may, with a windy and exposed location for the eggplants and a good many of the plants, as well, I haven't taken the row cover route.

Instead, I spray. It seems to work well to spray the soil surface as well as the plants with pyrethrin. It doesn't last long, tho'. I spray, at least, twice when the flea beetles show up.

This spray will kill the Colorado potato beetle but doesn't seem real effective. Btt works but doesn't work quickly. It also must be applied again in about a week. I believe the one that specifically says Bt"t" or Bacillus thuringiensis tenebrionis, is for the Colorado potato beetle. It isn't the same as the Bt for caterpillars.

digitSteve

Rosa Bianca is my perennial favorite. In '08, I preserved them in oil, according to a recipe on allrecipes.com, and we coined the product "Pizza Magic." The little preserved eggplants are so delicious on pizza or in pasta. Sadly, last year I tried growing my Rosa Biancas in a big Rubbermaid tub, and they only produced a few small, bitter fruits at the end of the season. Partly, I think that was due to being in a container instead of raised bed, but also, the seedlings were stunted due to poor drainage in their cups, and an attack of aphids. This year, my seeds just aren't germinating, but I'm hoping I can buy some plants at a local organic farm. RB has the most wonderful, delicate, slightly nutty flavor, very few seeds, and thin skin. I just adore it.

Last year a friend gave me a HUGE beautiful lavendar eggplant from unknown seed. It made a delicious eggplant "lasagna" and I saved some seed, but not of it germinated. They are growing out a couple plants from seed for me this year. I've also got an Ichiban plant started.

I think eggplant is under appreciated because it's not the easiest vegetable to work with. I am still trying to perfect the pan-seared eggplant I had at an Italian restaurant in Portland several years ago - too hot and it chars, too cool and it just sops up the oil. But when it's used correctly, it's quite delicious and unlike anything else.

I don't care for the Turkish orange, or some of the other oddities, like the small green eggplant, as both seem to have an inordinate amount of seeds, and are more difficult to work with.

Usually it's not too hard to grow in this climate, though the larger, longer-season eggplants only produce a few fruit towards the end of the season unless we get a lot of heat. I've found them to be fairly trouble-free, and grow them right along side my peppers with the same culture practices and usually get good results. I find the thinner Asian varieties to be more productive.

My aunt made a kind of eggplant parm on the grill.

Took the eggplant, sliced it lengthwise and scored the "meat" side and brushed it with oil. then dice up some tomatoes, garlic and little olive oil and salt and moun it on top. Then grate some good parmesean, or pecorino romano on top. or maybe some mozzerella. Then put it skin side down on the grill and cook it until it's soft.

Also stuffed egplant is awesome. Cut it in half, boil it until soft, let cool and scoop out the inside. Reserve the shells on a cookie sheet or baking dish. Mix the eggplant with some tomato sauce, good parmesean, or pecorino romano, minced garlic, and bread crumbs...then stuff it back into the skin and bake.

We also make pickled eggplant in olive oil.

I'm trying eggplant for the first time this year. I picked up a variety put out by Ferry Morse called Early Long Purple. I definitely think I planted them outside too early, but they are starting to recover now.

I know they like the heat, but will they continue to set fruit when temps get into the mid 90's? I wonder if they are as heat sensitive as tomatoes are here in Texas. Anyone have experience with "Early Long Purple"?

Thanks for the tips.

Pete

Hey, donnabaskets:

I can give you the best recipe and also the best variety to grow that I don't think anyone has mentioned. NEON!! Look no further--I think I've grown every eggplant know to humankind, and the best tasting, prettiest, and most prolific is Neon. I think Tomato Growers Supply in Florida, or some such company has the seed. You guys should give them a try and see if you agree.

I grow for market, and everyone who's ever grown Black Beauty knows that it only sets 4 or 5 eggplants per plant. I've had Neon set 8 or 10 at a time--and after they were picked off, set 5 or 6 more.

Also, here in the watershed of the Chesapeake Bay, this is our favorite eggplant recipe. Deep fry them in oil to cover--you can do it in a frying pan with about and inch of oil. All the cooks on the forum know that if you get the oil very hot, it quickly fries the eggplant and the oil does not soak the flesh. Use an egg dip and your favorite bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, and cut them in small chunks, about 1 inch by 1 1/2 inches--just bite size pieces so you don't have to divvy up slices. Then dip the cooked chunks in Crosse and Blackwell Cocktail Sauce: it HAS to be Crosse and Blackwell (and I don't sell seafood sauce)--it has the right amount of ketchup and the right amount of horseradish. Or make your own seafood sauce with the amount of ketchup and horseradish you prefer. But here in Maryland we think Crosse and Blackwell has it figured out. Check this: the eggplant tastes just like fried oysters when eaten in this manner. People can't stop eating them. It's an old Chesapeake Bay recipe that my mother figured out many years ago. Sooooo good. Watch an entire large eggplant cut in about 40 chunks disappear in a hurry!

(Of course if you're not a seafood afficianado and you don't dig fried oysters, just omit the Crosse and Blackwell Cocktail Sauce and you've still got the best deep-fried egglplant you've ever tasted. Just cook it long enough to brown the batter--overcooking makes eggplant tough.)

I grow eggplant every year. 3rd year growing Thai Green, very productive.
Also growing Black Beauty because don't want to waste leftover seeds
from 2008. New to me this year is Rosa Bianca. I like to have a bigger
sized eggplant for eggplant parmesian. Too much work trying to do
it with the asian ones. I do have problem with flea beetles and usually
dust them with a little sevin dust when they are small only. Don't
really like to use it. I have read, maybe in GardenWeb, that someone
interplants Basil and marigold's with the eggplant to deter them.
I'm going to try that.
Pete--My eggplants produce, even in 90's temp. It gets hot and humid
here.

I'm growing Black Beauty for the second year now.

Let me tell you what I do with it. I pickle it!!! By far my favorite way to enjoy eggplant, and I've never had a friend dislike it.

Peel and slice the eggplants, either into rounds or strips, it really doesnt matter. Boil them for about 30 - 60 seconds in straight vintage. I use cider. Also, I donÂt really boil them. I put in a handful of eggplant, and take them out when the vintage gets back up to a boil.

Layer the eggplant in a mason jar with garlic, oregano, crushed red pepper, or whatever spices you think. Fill the jar up with Olive oil. Your done! Its DELICIOUS!!!

I see a lot of people talking about how eggplants like it hot. I live in the bay area, which is 10 degrees warmer than the city of San Francisco. In summer we'll have perfect, consistent low-mid 80s during the day and mid-50s at night. Low humidity as well. I'm wondering if this will be warm enough for eggplants?

Last year I tried to grow some bell peppers and they didn't show up until much later in the seaon, and the plants only got to about 2.5-3 feet tall with 4-5 bell peppers, which I guessed was due to a lack of heat.

I have rosa bianca, black beauty, and turkish orange (looked fun!) started indoors already.

Hi,

IÂm going to try eggpants this year. I just learned about grow bags and IÂm excited to use them. I have a rooftop garden with plenty of sunlight. I have to water more often than others might because of the heat coming up from the tarred roof. Two summers ago I did a pot of tomatoes and they werenÂt too bad for my very first time.

IÂm concerned about the size of the plants. The landlord will turn a blind eye to the gardening as long as it doesnÂt get out of control. The lovely pictures of your plants make me worry about the unruliness of eggplant plants. Worst case scenario, I can just prune them down but IÂd like to know what IÂm in for before I go get my seedling and start digging in. Any suggestions for varieties that donÂt grow above, say, three feet?

This one is not really my own I just pieced it together from other sources.

Peel eggplant

- cut in 1/2 inch slices
- spread coarse salt over each slice front & back, use sea salt or kosher salt not table salt
- layer the slices in a colander or bowl, place a plate on them and add weight to the plate. I use real weights, but you can use cans.
- Let sit for about 30 minutes, this will help take the bitter out of the eggplant.
- Rinse and pat dry.
- cover with corn meal and fry or bake
- I use my George Foremen Grill, less fat and oil.

Cut a pita in half and toast
- spread the toasted pita with Hummus that you made with Habanero
- place slices inside and add your own condiments, i.e.

Sliced tomato
Onion
Hot peppers raw or roasted
Pickles
Picked turnips
Or whatever

Very good recepie. Thanks.

But most eggplants grown in US are not bitter. I mostly grow Chinese/Japanese varieties.
They are not bitter at all.

Another way to get the bitternes out is to put them in brine, for a while
then drain and rinse. It it the same idea; salt absorbs water
That is how it causes high blood pressure! (grin)

Just checked in to this thread after awhile. I love the sound of so many of these recipes! (More pasting and printing.) You all are so generous to share. I do believe this is the most active forum on Garden web.

This all made me remember a dish I loved when we lived in New Orleans 21 years ago. It was served at Copeland's restaurant. It was called "Eggplant Pirogue". It had a thick slice of eggplant that had probably been breaded and fried. Then a hollandaise sauce that was filled with shrimp and a light touch of pepper was poured over it. I don't suppose anyone has a similar recipe to that?....

Yes, too much salt can be bad. That is why I do not keep a saltshaker on my table, and I do not add any extra to the recipe with the corn meal. I also use my George Foreman Grill to cut down on fat. Then I add lots of vegetables, pickled, to the sandwich, which makes it healthier. Not to mention using Pita bread with less carbohydrates and smeared with Habanero Hummus, wooo!, that's better than aerobics, more sweat less work.
John - always health conscience, sometimes I am not even aware I am eating so healthy. I believe, as long as you eat the strawberry topping too, and not just the cheesecake, you are getting your daily serving of fruit. > I am Joking, smile

My wife hated eggplants before she tried this recipe for "Baingan Bharta" (Eggplant mash)

2 Medium sized or 1 large Black beauty type eggplants.
2 large onions
5-6 green chillies
2 medium sized tomatoes ( meaty types work really well)
2-3 slices of ginger chopped finely
small bunch coriander leaves finely chopped
4-5 tablespoons vegetable oil

Prepare the eggplants for grilling by slathering oil on top. 35-40 minutes on medium heat and the skin should become crisp. Set them aside to cool down and then remove the skin. Also remove the tough portion near the stem. If you don't have a grill you can also do this directly on a gas stove, rotating the eggplant periodically till the skin is charred all around. A little messy though.

Coarsely chop the onions and the tomatoes.
Heat oil in a pan and add the onions along with ginger and chillies and saute on medium heat till translucent.
Add the tomatoes along with the eggplant. If the eggplant is not tender/has lots of seed then you can mash it or cut it with a knife before adding to the pan.
Season with salt and red pepper powder and cook uncovered on medium low heat for 20~25 minutes or till well mixed.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with pita bread or naan.

Not as healthy as John's recipe above but still finger licking good ;)

I've been doing patio container vegetable gardening for a few years now, and this year on a whim decided to try adding some eggplants. Unfortunately my whim hit a little late so my seeds were planted towards the end of April (a month later than I should have). I used a heat mat under them and all the seeds germinated by day 6, which was a bonus.

We love stuffed baby eggplant (in a Béchamel sauce - yum!), so I'm growing two smaller, stuffable varieties: Twinkle and Fairytale. Both have shorter growing seasons and do well in containers. My west-facing patio gets incredibly hot through the summer, too hot for many past plants, so if all goes well we'll be doing a lot of eggplant cooking.

Another recipe we love is just grilling eggplant slices (brushed with evoo), then combining them with tomato and cucumber slices and a balsamic vinaigrette. Simple and yummy!

Question for those of you who container garden: I'm planning on putting two eggplants into one 5 gallon trough-shaped container. I've heard eggplants need about the same amount of container space as peppers, which is a little less than tomatoes - is this correct? I'm not doing final transplanting for a few weeks (still using my heatmat with small pots for warm soil), but am hoping my info is correct. ;^)

Cynna Leaf, I am not familiar with Twinkle and Fairytale and have never grown them, but I have grown other varieties in containers (principally Black Beauty) and I found that each plant needs at least a 5 gallon container. I used three gallon containers one year and the plants failed to thrive or produce very much. Subsequently I transplanted a couple plants to the vegetable garden and they vastly improved. All of my eggplants have historically gotten much larger than my peppers (either hot or sweet), and I have been able to do peppers in only two gallon pots.

I like eggplant. I like the wife's eggplant parmesan even better. :) I have been trying to grow eggplant in this cool(er) zone 8 climate for a couple of season's now. Last season was not bad growing the Ichiban. I got some fruit but it was well into August. I want to try other types like the lavender colored ones and white ones (both the egg shape ones and the long white ones) if I can find them in my area. Seems like Ichiban are the only ones up here.

My Long Purple eggplants have had lavender colored flowers on them for about two weeks but none of the seven plants has set any fruit yet. Is this normal? Do the flowers have to be pollinated by bees, as I haven't seen any bees visiting them?
Night time temperatures have been in the high 40s to low 50s for most of this time except for the last few days when its getting up to the high 50s and low 60s. Could temperature be the problem, if this is a problem?
Also, some stuff I read say Long Purple is an Italian heirloom, and other stuff seems to imply its an Asian eggplant. Anyone have an opinion on this?
Also, if someone planted a purple eggplant and a white eggplant like Casper in the same garden could they cross?

Californian in my short experience with eggplant flowers seem to drop off or not set fruit if night temps fall below 55*. Last season my ichiban set flowers by early June but refuse to fruit till sometime mid-late July. Our night temps in the summer hover around 52-60* all summer long. They are very finicky.

All hail the mighty eggplant!! I love them. This year I am only growing 2. Rotonda Bianca and Rosa Bianca. The Rotonda is more purple and the Rosa is more pinky lavender. Both are mild and 'sweet' with no bitterness. I grow in EarthBoxes and find that one plant per EB does better than the EB companys recommended 2 per EB.

Thanks to those who posted the beautiful photos.

DL

Reporting from the garden:
My eggplants are doing fine this year, especially th ICHIBANs. They have fruits the size of my littlte finger.
I have also pink stripe that are commong along, Hansel(1 plant), Gretel(1 plant),and a small Italian seeding maching along.

ABOUT RECEPIES:
I think eggplant parmesan is a classic eggplant dish. You grow your own eggplants and tomatoes, then all else you need is parmesan cheese, +. Of course, you will need some oregano , basil and garlic to make it real ITALIAN.
So, here is my plant: the first eggplant harvest is reserved fo
eggplant parmesan,.I have plenty of oregano, garlics and basil too.

Happy gardening!

cyrus

Thanks tomtuxman, I'm still torn on this, but think I might have to go with using a 3.4 gallon pot for each of the eggplants if I can fit them in. Twinkle only grows up to 24" high, and Fairytale 18-24" high; I'm not sure they're quite comparible to Black Beauty's needs, so 5 gallons each seems a bit much, but this is my first time trying eggplants so I really don't know.

My growing space is really limited and I don't want the extra weight of bigger pots (soil, etc) to become an issue with balcony structure...if only I could have resisted planting these eggplants! ;^)

You're welcome, Cynna Leaf. If Twinkle and Fairytale are truly more on the miniature side, then you'll probably be fine with the 3.4 gal pots. Gardening is a learning experience anyway. My advice is never to apologize for not resisting a new plant. there's no substitute for homegrown anything. I don't know whether it's psychological or the freshness or the satisfaction of doing something onesself, or all three, but something out of one's own garden is always the best, even if you get only one eggplant fruit from the plant.

First time eggplant grower! I have 2 black beauties, and was wondering: can anyone explain the pros, cons, should-dos, or should-not-dos about staking eggplants?

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Potager, staking will prevent eggplant fruit from touching the ground and potentially rotting or getting eaten by critters there...very simple. Yours looks beautiful and almost self supporting. When it gets bigger and has more fruit, perhaps you will have to stake to prevent the weight from dragging the plant or some of its branches to the ground. It is similar to tomatoes, but eggplants need a lot less support than tomatoes. More like peppers actually. To me the whole idea is to keep the fruit off the ground.

I'm on my first two plants, second year. One is a volunteer that came up late fall and has just started fruiting. We eat meals off the first " japanese eggplant from HD about once a week. I planted it next to our dryer vent and it loves the hot, humid air. We just ate our third meal of the season last night. It's been flowering all winter but fruit hasn't matured past a few inches.
We eat it in low fat ways. Grilled with olive oil, fennel seed and garlic. Sometimes seared and then baked with marinara sauce. Never peeled because the skin is tender and sweet. Never breaded or fried.
Last night we had it sauteed on high heat with garlic, fennel seed, garlic, olive oil and green onions, garlic and onions also from the garden. Fresh basil on top.
When all else fails due to heat I can count on basil and eggplant!

Potager,
I agree with cabrita - eggplant are more like peppers than tomatoes in structure. When they are full of fruit the branches get so heavy they can break off, so I always support them. You can tie the main branches to a stake or use the circular tomato cages (that are pretty useless for tomatoes). I find the cages very easy - just set them over the transplants and forget.

Agree. Staking is necessary. Tomato cage is also a good idea.
I stake mine the same time that I plant them, so the roots will not
be injured in the future. I also have some extra stakes to do sort of FLORIDA WEAVING.

BTW, I had my first pick of two ichibans yesterday. I picked then early because
they were laying on the ground and some critters were trying to eat them. But beat them, I mean the critters . lol

cyrus

Mine are Early Long and Dusky Hybrid, and all are attacked by flee beatle. I read somewhere on the forum that eggplants can be kept under row cover all season - is it true? I have a lightweight cover that is covering them now.
Should I spray them with Bt or some oil?

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Great thread, I am very interesting in trying them. Thanks for all the great tips and info.

so, June 4-5 I noticed no more flee beatles anywhere. Do they just stop eating and go away at this time of the year? I am wondering if I need to adjust my plant out date for eggplants. Otherwise, all have very sick looking leaves.

i squished all my flea beetles and they haven't been back since! I had some aphids show up and they got the same treatment. I also have cucumber beetles on the melons and they also receive death.

Last year I grew Lavender touch, Fairy tale and Millionaire from seeds (Burpee). I don't put them out in the garden till later part of may in zone 5. I planted them in a new patch I made and the harvest was so bountiful that even me, an eggplant lover had way more than I could handle. The lavender touch remained tender and tasty even when it got quite large.

Thanks for all the tips and recipes. I saved a lot of the clippings and can't wait until my eggplants a ready to try some of the recipes. Thanks Everyone

I am trying eggplant for the first time this year, Ichiban and Black Beauty. I hope to try all of these recipes, they sound great!

I just put some lavender touch eggplant in my garden last week that I found at a local nursery. I've never seen pink eggplant so I had to try them. I'm glad to hear others have had good experience with them!
I'm also growing black beauty and ichiban. I had a good experience with black beauty last year, the crop came late, but I got so many I blanched and froze them. I just finished my last batch of eggplant parm last week! I was pleasantly surprised that they froze well and weren't mushy.

I just found this thread again....Have little thumb-sized eggplants forming on my 2 plants. Assuming that others have fruit setting too, thought it might be good to bump this up since it has such wonderful info on growing and cooking "the forgotten ones".

I sure am looking forward to trying these wonderful recipes! Thanks again to you all.

You are getting set.If they are like thumb size, not fat, then probably
you have some slim variety. In another week or so they should be ready.
I have found ICHIBANs most early and productive. I also have HANSEL and GRETEL(one of each)
that have thumb size fruits. But I have been harvesting ICHIBANs for weeks now. I have another variety(grown from some store bought EGGPLANT SEEDS ) that looked like Italian EP,
They are now setting fruits also.
Eggplants love heat and flea beetles love their leaves. But once they are established
they will be fine. Luckily, the fleas like the lower older leaves not the young ones.
With the tomatoes ripening, it is time to make lots of eggplant parmesan, an italian tradtion.
ENJOY THE FRUIT OF YOUR LABOR!

CYRUS

Here are some of my fairytale eggplants, I am also growing ichiban, millionaire, neon and cloud nine ... the flea beetles have been relentless on the poor leaves even though I have sprayed several times with insecticidal soap but now they are loaded with baby eggplants... thank you all very much for the great recipes on this thread ... hoping to start trying some of them in a week or so when some of them are ready to pick ;-)

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I'm glad to see some people can grow great eggplants. I haven't had a decent crop since I built my garden 5 years ago.......and I live in NJ, one of the best eggplat growing area's of the country if not the world. I planted starts and they just do nothing, they don't grow, they don't flower they don't produce. Everything grows around them while they do nothing. It sucks.

fmart, maybe you should try different varieties. I have experienced that ICHIBANs are the most productive.
Hansel and Gretel are also doing fine. But I have some other(seeds taken from store bought) that are twice the size of ichibans but no fruits yet
while I have been harvesting ichibans for three weeks now.
Another thing is that EPs like as much sun as they can get, more than tomatoes and peppers.

cyrus

Y'all will be sick of hearing from me. :)

We had an all garden supper tonight: Miss. Cream Cowpeas, Smothered Costaluto Zucchini, sliced tomatoes, Cornbead, AND...
I picked my first Ping Tungs today. SO delicious! I peeled them, sliced them into rounds, sprayed them heavily with Pam type olive oil, sprinkled with garlic salt and black pepper and broiled them in the oven for about 10 minutes until lightly browned on each side. Couldn't be eaier.

My mother in law is so picky and she even liked them! YAY! Thanks all for the inspiration. I have tons more coming so will be trying many more recipes. (I'll try to resist reporting on each and every one. :)

For the first time in my life, I'm proud to say I have an eggplant almost ready to pick from my greenhouse. A nice Fairy Tale. Several other Fairy Tale and Calliope, Orlando F1 and Baby Rosanna plants are flowering. But they took a LOT of TLC during the first two months! I was unemployed this spring. I don't think I can devote so much attention next year. I have 19 plants in the greenhouse (15 in ground, 4 pots), 7 in a small hoophouse, 7 in a raised bed outside, and 5 in containers on the patio. The greenhouse ones are way ahead of the rest.

This is Nubia my trial variety for this year. Pretty very uniform, taste is not as good in my opinion as the Asian types but good for the oval type.
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I must have had my head in the sand. An eggplant Thread! Who knew? I love eggplants. The DH hates them. So far I've had better luck growing them in pots than in the ground. I think it's because the containers heat up faster. I really like Casper & Diamond. For a change this year I'm trying Cannibal, Ukrainian Beauty and two mystery ones whose tags I lost!

Planted eggplants into self-watering containers and got good results, especially when I added extra calcium. Understand they require lots of calcium. This prevented blossom drop. Got one very interesting fruit... whatever would cause this?

Here is a link that might be useful: Aubergine Eggplant with a nose

WE LOVE EGGPLANT! I am so glad I found this thread. Great recipe idea's. I have grown Black Beauty and Ichiban. This year I am growing Iciban and something similar in white (not sure of the name....sorry)......I like to make eggplant parmesan with the big fruits and we grill Ichiban with salt and olive oil until soft. Then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.YUMMMY!!! That is our favorite use.
I also use the recipe from "Fannie Farmer" called Eggplant caviar. Also very tasty.
I have used eggplant in ratatouille also...prefer grilled.

This year my eggplant have not been so productive but are covered with ants. If I lift a leaf, there are many insects and ants...lots of ants. I am not certain of the other insects because they are so small but I assume they are aphids but they are underneath the leaf.
Not sure if I zhould worry....suggestions will be appreciated. I sprayed Safer but they are still there a couple days later.