Eggplant: People Pleaser Forms Rainbow Coalition
For edible landscaping, few plants are prettier than the eggplant. These 2- to 3-foot bushes grow just as wide with big, often lobed leaves and drooping violet flowers. Easy to grow, they thrive in the garden and do well in a container on the patio.
Like their cousins the tomato and pepper, eggplant are heat lovers. Now is the time to plant them, says Gary Matsuoka, president of Laguna Hills Nursery in Lake Forest.
This tropical vegetable, native to Asia, comes in a variety of sizes and colors. Many gardeners are familiar with the traditional large eggplant with its inky black, shiny skin and oval shape. Some common varieties include Black Beauty, Early Beauty and Burpee hybrid.
Less well known, but becoming increasingly popular, are the Japanese eggplants, which tend to be longer and thinner. One miniature variety is Little Fingers, which bears clusters of finger-like fruit that can be picked from 3 to 7 inches long.
There are also small, round eggplant varieties, some actually resembling eggs. The newer types of eggplant come in a number of colors such as White Beauty. You’ll also find them in shades of lavender and rose. There are even yellow, red and green eggplant.
To have luck growing eggplant this spring and summer, keep the following tips in mind:
* Choose a location that gets a full day of sun in an area with fertile, well-draining soil. If the soil is poor, consider planting in containers.
* Prepare in-ground soil by working in homemade or bagged compost at a rate of one part compost to two parts soil.
Or try the new planting technique suggested by nursery professionals. According to Matsuoka, this entails adding a 2- to 4-inch layer of mulch on top of the soil and planting directly in this. For this planting method, you can use planter mix or a combination of one-third compost and two-thirds planter mix.
* For container plants, use at least a 15-gallon pot. Fill with high-quality potting soil and add a well-balanced granular organic fertilizer, according to package directions. Mulch with compost or planter mix to help keep the plant’s roots cool and the pot from drying out quickly.
* Ensure heavy production by feeding eggplant once every four to six weeks with a well-balanced organic fertilizer.
* Keep eggplant evenly moist, as allowing them to dry can cause cracked fruit and slow plant growth. Depending on the weather, containers will require watering every two to three days and in-ground plants will need a drink about once a week. Water in-ground plants with a slow, deep soaking.
* If you want large fruit on the traditional varieties, pinch out blossoms, leaving just one blossom on each main branch and three to six per plant. If you wish to harvest small, tender eggplant, let the plant produce freely. Most Japanese varieties don’t need to be pinched.
* Harvest eggplant when it is still shiny and firm but gives slightly when squeezed. If you wait until it has become dull and soft, it is overripe. When harvesting, cut, don’t pull, the fruit from the plant.
