All the eggplants I have grown behave like determinate tomatoes and I treat them like determinate tomato plants. This means I don't prune them at all. Same goes for peppers too, sweet and hot. The only pruning I do for eggplants and peppers is pulling off diseased or yellowing leaves.

Wow, I must be growing indeterminate eggplant types. I grow ROSA BIANCA and Listada De Gandia . They behave exactly like indeterminate tomato and produce all season until frost kills the plants.

Perhaps someone posting here has had this indeterminate eggplant experience and can speak about pruning the suckers on their eggplant plants. Anyone???

Thanks,
DL

DL - I have not noticed any slow-down in production, and I only prune an eggplant if it gets damaged. The suckers are what will produce more fruit later in the year.

Eggplants produce until the frost and so do peppers but their shape is like determinate tomatoes meaning there isn't a main leader (or a few) with fruits and suckers growing from that leader. Rather, they will branch like a tree and the fruits are borne where branching occurs. If you prune off the "suckers" you are pruning off fruits. In my experience, eggplants and peppers need no pruning except for removing diseased leaves. They are quite capable of controlling the balance of leaves and fruits on their own. And the disease pressure isn't as high on them as on tomatoes. I grew Rosa Bianca last year btw.

ikea gw,
Thanks for that detailed explaination. I think I misunderstood your initial post. I'm still wondering about pruning eggplant plants. I will do one of my wacky experiments -- prune some and leave others to their own devices. Sometime in September I will decide what path to take in 2011! :))

Cheers one and all,
DL

I planted my first garden; only 4'x4', but I have asian eggplant, tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers - shishito and bell. So far so good. Deer netting seemes to be keeping the little critters out. The cucumber is climbing a home-made trellis, and the tomatoes and egplant are staked. Thanks for the eggplant tips. I will leave everything alone except bug watch and dead leaves.

How do you reconcile the advice given in this thread about eggplant leaves and suckers with the advice found on the following site which states the opposite:
[quote]
"Cut suckers from the base of the plant as soon as they occur, to prevent them from competing with the main stem and fruits for nutrients. You can pull off suckers by hand if you catch them early, otherwise a pair of pruning shears or scissors is needed to cut them.

"Trim off any suckers that originate in the joint between the main stem and lateral branches of the eggplant. Cut or pull them off as they occur at the point of origin on the main stem."
[end quote]

Here's the link:

How to Trim Eggplant

Sorry forgot to add:

The author on that SFgate.com site also writes:

"Remove lower leaves from the plant to keep the plant open, allowing better light within the plant and increased air circulation."

Just finished a little more reading. Hmm, i'm in a quandary. It seems some reputable sites recommend pruning eggplants while other reputable sites don't.

Here's what Ehow.com says:
"Watch the eggplant plants as they grow taller and larger. The stems of eggplants grow similarly to tomato plants, with suckers appearing between the main stalk and the side branches. If you do not prune away these suckers, they will divert plant energy and you may have fewer and smaller eggplants.

"Position the pruning shears so the blades are flush with the main stem and clip off the suckers flush with the stem."

But MotherEarthNews says:

"Eggplant requires no pruning beyond removing old, withered leaves. As the plants grow tall, numerous side shoots will form along the plantâÂÂs main stem. These side shoots will bear flowers and fruits later in the season. In long-season regions, eggplants can be topped back by half their size in midsummer to stimulate the growth of new fruit-bearing branches."

I'm beginning to think properly growing eggplants is like "properly" managing an economy. Reputable PhD experts diametrically disagree on the right actions to take. Some are Austrian School and some are Keynesians.

This post was edited by ZoysiaSod on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 22:20

Oops, forgot to include this from Ehow:

"Some gardeners choose to remove all but three branches on an eggplant to direct plant energy to the production of eggplants. If you choose this approach, wait until the eggplant plant blossoms and leave the three most prolific branches on the plant, removing all the rest."

Here's what OnTheGreenFarms says:

"Once you have three or four fruits set, it will be time to start removing any further side shoots as they develop. This helps to divert the energy of the plant to where it is most needed.

"Pinch off blossoms 2 to 4 weeks before first expected frost so that plants channel energy into ripening existing fruit, not producing new ones.

Eggplants are heavy feeders, but avoid feeding too much nitrogen. It will encourage lush foliage growth at the expense of fruit."

I agree with OnTheGreenFarms advice.
After certain time, any new growth or flower will materialize any harvestable fruits.

After the plant produce many eggplant fruit, a slow down of production I observe after the massive fruiting. What I did is I prune my eggplant shrubs to eliminate unnecessary spending of energy in other parts of the eggplant. http://bit.ly/34ARCMQ 

sounds like OP is reading bad UK gardening advice about pruning tomatoes and Eggplants.