"Anyone successful in germinating eggplant? "

I am. I grow at least a hundred of them each year. They need a good steady supply of heat to germinate, almost right up there with pepper seeds. Once they declare keep the soil evenly moist w/out over-doing it or you'll see slow growth.

I'm glad to see some of ya'll are growing Ichiban. Several years ago it was taken off the market; glad to see it is back. It was one of my best sellers. One of my most favored, too, especially thrown on the grilled with a baste of olive oil and garlic!

Shoe

I just buy little plants!

I had one plant of Ichiban last year. This year I was lucky and found one of those veggie six packs. So I will be growing 6 of them this year.

Congrats, Rita. You'll have more'n your share of eggplant this year. How long before you can set them out in NY?

OH probably mid may? Depends but after the tomatoes.

I was able to find a 6 pack of Little Fingers and also Classic so I bought those also.

Okay, thanks. I've never grown Classic or Little Fingers. Hope you take pics and give us a progress report on them!

Shoe (sticking with Ping Tung this year again, they seem to be the most prolific in our heat)

I had Classic last year. It was okay, looked like the typical Supermarket eggplants. I bought the Little Fingers cause it was there but I never had it before.

I was so thankful for the compost this year. That 3'x2'x4' compost bin the roommate made is wonderful. I mulched with a good 3" of straw after topping the last 3"-4" inches of soil with compost from the bin this year, instead of purchased compost when I planted them. I think I covered an area about two inches beyond the length of the largest leaf of each plant. I'll give them all compost tea each week until the compost runs out. Hoping that will get the plants good and strong and healthy for setting fruit. The white egg one is smaller than the Ichiban by more than half, and not as strong, so I only gave all of them a few days of hardening before planting in ground. The little one perked right up. What is the saying, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. I kind of think that having multiples of the same plant/vegetable, is better for the plants. I think they might like to have each others company.

I can't wait to harvest the seeds to be all set for next year. And hopefully have enough seeds to get to practice germinating them until I get some plants. With an earlier start in the year. That seems a long way away, but I like the idea of keeping that in mind. It will cost me less to grow eggplant next year if I am successful. So it will be useful to learn since it is easier to be successful harvesting the seeds, now just need to get to the next level with the seeds I manage to save. Or trade the seeds for different varieties that might enjoy this microclimate. I think part of me is still thinking in terms of zone 5 instead of zone 8. Hard to let go. But I think I have to do more fiddling to get things just right to survive the brutal summer heat.

I do find it a bit challenging for me to grow a lot of things in ground that I was habitually doing in containers so I could rotate plants in and out of the shade. There isn't enough shade here to bother with rotating at the moment. (Am working on ideas for next month.) I'm trying to get used to the idea of eggplant because they are supposed to love heat. So I'm growing them in about the same spot as last year where we had the one successful eggplant - transplant, not seed. But they will have more compatible companions this year also.

I hope to see pictures of everyone's progress. I took pictures the last few days. I think I posted some? I know I got them into my computer, so maybe in the next couple days, if I haven't already.

CKAT, just remember Ichiban is a hybrid and normally seeds won't come back true to the parent plant. Could be fun to grow a few seeds out to see what you get though (but I wouldn't rely on growing many for your main crop.)

Shoe (hopefully setting out tomatoes today!)

Horseshoe said:CKAT, just remember Ichiban is a hybrid and normally seeds won't come back true to the parent plant. Could be fun to grow a few seeds out to see what you get though (but I wouldn't rely on growing many for your main crop.)

Shoe (hopefully setting out tomatoes today!)

Glad you reminded me of that, Horseshoe. It is one of the things I have a hard time getting to sink in. Especially with stuff I don't normally grow. I have to find more vegetables I can grow and harvest the seeds as buying more plants means I have less to spend on stuff like a pressure cooker, canning supplies, frost covers, manure, etc.

I need to take the time to write more notes.

Me, too!

Same as Horseshoe!

Howdy gymgirl/Linda. Hope all is well out your way.

Wishing ya'll a bumper crop this year!

Shoe (exhausted from planting but pleasantly tired....)

Anyone know what the ladybug shaped, rust colored bug that eats eggplant leaves could be? I would take a picture, but they're very small.

Flea beatles love eggplant. They are very tiny, and leave lots of little tiny holes in the leaves. If your plant is strong, they usually do OK.
I battle with these every year.

Linda

I have been removing them each morning and stomping them unto the dirt. Doesn't seem to help, nor does neem, or washing them off.

Is it a beetle with spots? Look up Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis, and see if it's the same. This beetle eats parts of the leaf and what's left looks like the leaf 'skeleton'.

I think the flea beetles are very tiny (the ones I see are black in color) and difficult to catch - they make small holes in the leaves like the leaves were hit by a miniature shotgun blast.

I think this is it:


Doesn't say what they are, though

Those are Colorado Potato Beatle larvae. Mature Lima bean vines will deter them from your eggplants. They don't have to be interplanted as in the photo. As long as they are within about 6 feet it seems to be effective.
I used this last year and after the Lima bean vines got about 8 -10 inches tall they drove the flea beatles and potato beatles away. I made a tea from the lima bean hulls and leaves and saved it to use this spring. MY eggplant aren't in the ground yet so I don't know whether the tea works or not. I plan to plant them sometime this week so I'll try to post an update on the results. Had to use the two finger poison until the limas got big enough. Claud

They do seem to be easy to squash, which I'm trying to do before they can morph or breed

I am still waiting on my order of the Amadeus Eggplants that I ordered from Parks Seeds.