Posts Tagged: eggplant
Nightshade, More Than Tomatoes.
By Cindy Watter, UC Master Gardener of Napa County The Solanaceae, or nightshade family,...
Nightshade vegetables. (naturalhealthtechniques.com)
Jimson weed. All members of the Datura genus are toxic. (natureid.blogspot.com)
Tomatoes. (borntogrow.net)
Soil should be 60 F before planting tomatoes. (cooper-atkins.com)
Solanaceae love all-day sun. (designtrends.com)
Plant tomatoes deeply--they grow more roots. (UCANR.edu)
Provide tomatoes with support. (homestead-and-survival.com)
Tomato hornworm, in case you haven't seen one. Looks fearsome, but just wants to eat tomatoes. (UCANR.edu)
Bell peppers. (snaped.fns.usda.gov)
Plant peppers when night temps are reliably over 55 F. (maudesport.com)
Protection, if needed. (almanac.com)
Eggplant flowers. (cultivatetoplate.com)
Potatoes are also in the family. (jessicagavin.com)
Hilling potatoes. (veggiegardener.com)
Solanaceae family characteristics. (slideshare.net)
Seed Saving Instructions
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Spring Container Vegetable Gardening Video Available Now!
We are excited to announce the UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardener Program has started a...
I Want More Eggplants Next Summer!!
From the Help Desk of the Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County
Client– Thank you for stopping by the Master Gardeners table at the recent Lafayette Harvest Festival with your request for information on increasing your eggplant yield.
To avoid the cold, make sure that you hold off setting out plants for at least a month after the last frost date. For Lafayette, the recommendation would be to wait until after April 15th to plant; just after May 1st is even better. If possible, select a warm, sheltered spot in your yard. However, this can be somewhat complicated by the guidance that you should not plant eggplants (or members of the Solanaceae family… tomatoes, potatoes, etc.) in the same place but once every three years to prevent the buildup of soil pests. A warm spot is particularly important in Lafayette since it typically has cool nights. Early in the season, you may want to use hot caps or row covers to increase the temperature. Note that any protection that covers the plants must be removed when the plants begin to flower.
Make sure that you keep the bed weed free. Mulching will help cut down on the weeds and preserve moisture, although you may not want to mulch too deeply since mulch can keep the soil cool.
Eggplants are moderate users of nitrogen and phosphorus. Fertilizer or manure should be thoroughly mixed into the top six inches of soil before you plant. Recommended fertilizer levels are 10 pounds of dry manure (make sure it is well composted) or 1/3 pound of commercial 12-12-12 fertilizer per 10 square feet of garden. After flowering begins, make additional light nitrogen applications as fruit grows. Maintain moderate nitrogen levels until harvest. Too much nitrogen will lead to excessive vegetative growth at the expense of eggplant production.
Plants will need warm nights and long hot days to ripen the slowly developing fruit. For the standard varieties that yield large, plump fruits, thin the fruits so that there is only one per the main branch, or three to six per plant. It is not necessary to thin the smaller varieties or the Oriental types.
Plants will stop fruiting as fall cool temperatures take effect.
For overviews on growing eggplants, please see:
http://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgnapa/files/153890.pdf
http://vric.ucdavis.edu/pdf/eggplant.pdf
For more detailed information on eggplants, see http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/GARDEN/VEGES/eggplant.html.
Good luck with your garden. Please let us know if you have further questions.
Master Gardeners of Contra Costa County (ECS)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.
Grafting Vegetables
One of the bright spots of winter is all the gardening and nursery catalogs that arrive in the...