an EGGcellent PLANT

Happy snow day!!! While we are all (probably) happy that we got an extra day of no school following four (and a half) days of break, the snow, frost, and just cold in general is detrimental towards the plant we are discussing today--eggplant! Also known as aubergine, this plant loves warmth and sun and basically the opposite of our current weather. In case you were wondering why eggplants are called eggplants, I do not know the exact answer BUT there are varieties of eggplant that are white and...

...I can understand why someone would call something that looked like that an eggplant. Onto the information!!!

Seed

The eggplant seeds should be sowed inside 6 weeks before the last spring frost. For us, we should be planting them in March to early April. They can be soaked overnight to encourage germination and then sown 1/4 inch deep in a loose fine medium like vermiculite. The seedling will appear 10-14 days after you plant them and the soil temperature should be about 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit. When the plant is 3 inches tall, each one should be transplanted to its own pot. It is preferable that the pots are a dark color like black as it will help keep the roots warm. Additionally when the outside night temperature is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, we should start exposing the plants to the outdoors so that they get used to it (AKA put them in the greenhouse).

Planting

The seedlings should be planted outside when it is around 70 degrees Fahrenheit and after when there is DEFINITELY no frost. Furthermore, they should be planted during a spell of cloudy weather. The plants should be about 2-3 feet apart from each other although we can (and should) plant them with companion plants such as catnip, marigold, bean, pepper, or tarragon. For more warmth, the eggplants should be grown in a raised bed. However, we could also go the route of container planting where the eggplants are grown in pots and are never transplanted into a bed. It is very important to remember to meticulously weed after planting the seedlings because the weeds will out-compete them. Something else that could help is to mulch immediately after transplanting and keep a layer of hay, shredded leaves, or other biodegradable material beneath the plant. That would both help to prevent weeds and increase warmth.

Greenhouse/Container

Our weather in the past few years have been...wacky to say the least. Therefore an idea to keep in mind is that we can grow the eggplant inside the greenhouse until we are absolutely confident that it is okay for them to be outside. If we are to do this, then we would be growing the eggplants in pots that should be five-gallon or have a 1 foot diameter. We also would need to make sure that we open up the greenhouse, whether it be the door or the windows, so that pollinators can come in. Another thing to keep in mind is fertilizer. It is suggested to fertilize around every two weeks and also because of this, salt might begin to accumulate in the container. Thus what we should do is, every two weeks, drench the container with clean water to leach out salts and then add fertilizer.

Maintenance

Eggplant needs to be watered regularly without excessively soggy soil. Like tomatoes, eggplants need to either be tied to stakes or have a small tomato cage because they are prone to falling over due to the weight of their fruit. The soil should be fertilized before the plants are transplanted, 6 weeks after planting when the plants bloom and the first fruit emerge, and again in late summer when there are heavy sets of fruit. Once the plant is 1 foot tall, the main growing point should be removed in order to encourage lower branches to develop. In this vein, when the first set of flowers emerge, they should be pinched off so the plant develops several fruiting branches.

Pests

The biggest concern for eggplants is the flea beetle. While it is not a big issue for bigger, more developed plants (aside from having holes in their leaves), they are an issue for the weaker, just starting out plants. A plausible solution has to do with simply keeping the eggplants in the greenhouse until they are sturdy. When their roots fill a 4-inch pot, then they should be sturdy enough that the flea beetle is not an issue. Another issue is the verticillium wilt. This will cause the plants to wilt and die and has no cure/treatment. The only method is prevention and that means crop rotation and making sure the soil is healthy.

Harvest

This is the part that everybody is waiting for! When we harvest, we need to make sure that we harvest them when they are just right! If they are underripe or overripe, then the eggplant tastes bitter and we do not want that. We can tell when the plant is ripe by testing it with a fingernail. If the eggplant's skin fails to rebound when we apply pressure with a fingernail it is ripe. We can also tell based on if the skin is glossy, the fruit stops growing larger, and small seeds when the eggplant is cut open. If there are no seeds, it is immature and if there are hard dark seeds, then it is overripe. When we need to harvest, the eggplant must be cut with shears as it will not come off when tugged. It should be cut so that the cap and one inch of the stem is intact on the fruit.

Sources

Here are all the sources I used to gather the information you just read! There are technically more, but once the information started repeating and there was no more new information, I decided to call it a day for research.