Brown Thumbs
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Eggplant

I still don't have any blooms or fruit on my eggplant. Posted this last month and everyone basically said have patience. It's now July in Mississippi and I sure would'a thought it may at least a bloom by now. The plant is about 18 inches tall and looks healthly. I'll just keep watering it and waiting. :?

gardenvt
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What variety are you growing? Did you fertilize it? Does your fertilizer have a lot of nitrogen in it? If so, give your plants some bone meal which will beef up the phosphorous necessary for blooming.

I use the same fertilizer that I use for tomatoes (same family of plants) and they like that a lot - 5-6-5. I plant mine in containers because it isn't as warm as eggplants like here but yours should be producing by now.

I'm in Vermont and I started my plants in mid-March and planted them out May 27. They are 18-24" tall now and still growing. Ours have lots of blooms and a few eggplants will be ready to harvest in about 10 days or less. I am growing Beatrice and Rosa Bianca.

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Ruffsta
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I grew an eggplant plant all winter indoors... brought it outside this year - it seemed like it was dying then all of a sudden it came back to life with all new leaves and it's flowering - but still no eggplants.. :?

Brown Thumbs
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gardenvt wrote:What variety are you growing? Did you fertilize it? Does your fertilizer have a lot of nitrogen in it? If so, give your plants some bone meal which will beef up the phosphorous necessary for blooming.

I use the same fertilizer that I use for tomatoes (same family of plants) and they like that a lot - 5-6-5. I plant mine in containers because it isn't as warm as eggplants like here but yours should be producing by now.

I'm in Vermont and I started my plants in mid-March and planted them out May 27. They are 18-24" tall now and still growing. Ours have lots of blooms and a few eggplants will be ready to harvest in about 10 days or less. I am growing Beatrice and Rosa Bianca.
I think it is called an American eggplant based on my internet search. It should produce the big purple fruits. I planted it with my other vegetables this year and that was probably mid to late April. The plant looks healthy and has nice leaves, but no flower has been seen. I initially put a little 13x13x13 around it not long after planting, but haven't added any fertilize since. I put some grass clipping around the base and water every other day or so. It gets approximately 6 hours of full sun each day.

I've noticed some mornings the leaves will be pointed almost straight up toward the sky. Does this mean anything? Later in the day they come back down to normal looking; I wondered if I over watered when it does that.

gumbo2176
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Brown Thumbs wrote:I still don't have any blooms or fruit on my eggplant. Posted this last month and everyone basically said have patience. It's now July in Mississippi and I sure would'a thought it may at least a bloom by now. The plant is about 18 inches tall and looks healthly. I'll just keep watering it and waiting. :?
It's odd to not have even flowers by now beings how you are in the deep south. I've been picking eggplant for a few weeks now and put them in the ground around mid March if I recall correctly.

I never grow the type you mentioned with the large purple fruit. I know them as Black Beauty and they are the most common found in supermarkets. I find they don't do as well for me as other varieties.

I've had good success with Ichiban and the green and white variety similar to it. They grow to look similar to a cucumber. I've also grown the White Globe eggplant and a green and white variety that get between the size of a baseball and softball. These produce very well for me.

Mine also get 12 hours of sunlight a day. Perhaps that is an issue if they are only getting 6 hours of direct sun daily. As for your watering, that is about how I do mine when we are getting little to no rain.

gardenvt
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BT, eggplants tend to close up a bit at night. It is an interesting habit.

My plants get about 7 hours of sun - not much more than yours.

Since they aren't blooming, it wouldn't hurt to try some of the bone meal. It might be all that is needed. If that doesn't work, maybe try something different next year.

Good Luck!

Brown Thumbs
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gardenvt wrote:BT, eggplants tend to close up a bit at night. It is an interesting habit.

My plants get about 7 hours of sun - not much more than yours.

Since they aren't blooming, it wouldn't hurt to try some of the bone meal. It might be all that is needed. If that doesn't work, maybe try something different next year.

Good Luck!
I made my post one day too soon! We finally have a bloom; I noticed it yesterday afternoon when watering. It appeared over night and hopefully will develope into our first fruit of the year. How long does it usually take an eggplant fruit to grow before ready to pick?

Thanks gardenvt for letting me know about the leaf habit. Glad to know I didn't over water or something!

gardenvt
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It depends on the size of the fruit. Beatrice takes about 2-3 weeks from bloom to harvest. It is a medium to small size - about 4-5 inches in diameter. Rosa Bianca takes a bit longer and is a medium to large fruit.

Patience. Now that you have one bloom, the plants will begin producing more. Suddenly, you will have a lot of eggplant. But, IMHO, you can never have too much eggplant. The two I am growing are so rich and creamy.

We grill it, roast it, use it in fritatas, on grilled pizzas and in rattatioulle. I tried blanching it to freeze it one year - yuck! This year, I am going to roast, then freeze it. I'll freeze just a bit of it to start - just in case. :lol:

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jnunez918
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I've gotten about 3-4 of my rosa Bianca that were approx 3". I'm nt sure how they do in heat cause not its peetering,it and instead of lavender they are kinda brown

Lianne
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I feel like my eggplants did NOTHING for over a month and then all of a sudden were covered in flowers and began producing. Hopefully yours aren't far behind!

my fairy tale eggplant is blooming like crazy. I've already picked 3 full grown ones off of it, and the next to probably be picked off that plant is a set of twins, 2 growing out of the same stem! I also spotted another young fruit forming on it today.

I have two other varieties but I forget what they are. One is a small, dark variety, growing a fruit right now about the size of my thumb with another on the way. THe other is probably one of the classic types with the large, dark purple fruit. That one has a big'un growing on it that I can't wait to turn into eggplant parm :)



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