How to Grow Eggplant from Seed to Harvest
Find a video version of this growing guide on my YouTube channel HERE.
Did you know that eggplant is perennial? Plant once and enjoy harvesting for several years. It is part of the night shade family like tomatoes and peppers but they live much longer.
I have to admit that I did not like eggplant until I started growing it myself. I don't like mushy vegetables, but when you grow your own, you control when to harvest. So I like to harvest when they are still firm, which means they have a better texture when I cook with them.
Some of my favorite ways to eat eggplant include, grilled, deep frying in a crunchy panko bread crumb mix, make eggplant parmesan, and baba ganoush (puree/dip).
Cultivar Selection
There is a wide variety of eggplant cultivars. Make your choice based on what you would like to do with them.
⦁ Differences in color - Comes in a range of color from green, white, black, and purple.
⦁ Differences in shape - The standard market eggplant is round and oblong. These are great for making eggplant parmesan or baba ganoush/dips. Other cultivars are long and thin which are best for stir-fries and grilling. Some are tiny like the size of a grape. The grape sizes are awesome for skewers.
When to Sow Seeds or Transplant
⦁ They take forever! I recommend to start them in doors, 12 weeks before your last spring frost date. Sow them in solo cups which will house them for 12 weeks without having to pot up.
⦁ Transplants - Plant transplants outside as soon as all danger of frost has passed.
⦁ If your in zones +8 - you have two opportunities to sow seeds, spring and fall. For a fall harvest, start seeds in June to transplant in September. Just know they have to be protected during the winter. I'm in zone 9B and I did not cover mine at all. They survived several brief cold fronts down to 30F.
How to Sow Seeds
⦁ Sow 2 seeds per solo cup.
⦁ Place the solo cups over a heat mat. They require warm soil temperatures to germinate.
⦁ They require light once they germinate. Place them under some grow lights or 5000K (daylight range) shop lights.
⦁ Start fertilizing once the first set of true leaves appears, with a liquid fertilizer at half strength.
Site Selection
⦁ Sun Requirements - 8 hours of full sun.
⦁ Soil Requirements - composted organic matter, does well in raised beds or larger containers. If grown in sandy soil you must fertilize to keep nutrients consistent and stay on top of watering.
⦁ Some of the taller cultivars might need to be staked so they don't fall over, or branches break under the weight of fruit.
⦁ Spacing - plant 24 to 36 inches apart. They get big and bushy. Give them more space especially since they will live a long time in your garden.
⦁ If it rains a lot in your climate - like me here in Florida when it rains like a monsoon every day. I find that eggplant and peppers don't like all the extra water. I recommend planting them in raised mounds/beds or even better, grow bags to keep the soil more on the drier side.
Now that the plants are growing
⦁ Make sure to add fertilizer into the transplanting hole. I like to add something high in potassium and phosphorus to encourage more flowers instead of a lot of leafy green growth.
⦁ Water Requirements - regular watering, allow the soil to dry out a little in between watering.
⦁ Growth Habit - Bushy, long stems, similar to peppers.
⦁ Pruning - remove dead, old, diseased leaves & stems when ever possible to prevent spread of diseases and not attract pests. Just like tomatoes - prune the bottom most leaves to prevent pathogens that live in the soil from splashing up onto the leaves.
⦁ Fertilizing - I recommend to fertilize them weekly with small doses of organic fertilizer to keep nutrients consistent. When the plants start flowering, switch to something higher in potassium and phosphorus.
⦁ Mulch the base - Just like when you grow tomatoes, mulching the base helps prevent pathogens from the soil, back splashing back up onto the leaves of the plant. Also helps maintain consistent soil moisture.
Pests
⦁ Be prepared if you get worms. The leaves will look munched on or you will find small orange/green/black balls on the leaves (worm eggs and poop). You probably wont find the worms because they tend to be nocturnal. Spray with BT (bacillus thurigensis) or Spinosad. Both are considered organic. Find the same BT spray that I use from Amazon HERE.
⦁ Aphids - They tend to attack new growth. Spray them off with water. Treat the ants with green spike ant traps. Make a spray with neem oil or strong smelling essential oils like peppermint or rosemary. Plant a lot of trap crops like nasturtiums, kale, and southern peas..
⦁ Spider Mites - Microscopic spiders. The leaves look like there are lots of tiny white spots. Might even see some fine webs. Can treat with BT/spinosad, or insecticidal soap. Treat asap because spider mite populations increase rapidly and can spread to other plants in your garden.
Diseases
⦁ Leaf diseases such as powdery mildew, blight, or leaf spots. Spray with 1C hydrogen peroxide (3%) per gallon of water.
Harvest
This will vary depending on the cultivar.
⦁ Large round and long/thin eggplants - harvest as soon as they give way a little when you press with your fingers.
⦁ Little grape sizes - harvest when they are about 1 inch in diameter.
⦁ A glossy coating on the fruit is a sign of readiness. Dull coatings or seeds that have turned brown indicate overripe fruits.
⦁ Cut the eggplants from the stem using scissors. Don't twist or pull the eggplant, as this can damage the plant.
How to Winterize Eggplants
⦁ If your in zones +8 where it doesn't snow, you might have to cover plants on the colder nights to get them to survive.
⦁ In zones where it snows - trim the stems and leaves to make the plant go into dormancy. Gently pull them out of the ground conserving as much of the root ball as possible. Place the plant in a temporary pot, and bring in doors for the winter. Plant them back outside once all danger of frost has passed. This is the same process for peppers. Plant them in grow bags to easily bring them in doors.