Eggplant has been getting a lot of attention lately: Glycoalkaloids produced by this member of the nightshade family are similar to two cancer chemotherapeutic agents, vincristine and vinblastine. Individuals who have never cultivated eggplants before are investigating their health benefits…and wondering whether they can grow eggplants in their own gardens.
Whether eggplants have any influence on cancer remains to be seen. What is more certain—and what many people have yet to learn—is that eggplants are the basis for some delicious recipes. So, while the jury is still debating the cancer issue, why not include some eggplants in the garden this year?
Eggplants can only be started outdoors in areas with long growing seasons. In most areas of the United States, they must be sown indoors and transferred to the garden when nighttime temperatures get above 60º. Anyone who has started tomatoes or peppers on a windowsill can do the same with eggplants.
Eggplants come in a wide array of shapes (globes, elongated teardrops, cylinders, or eggs), and colors include white, purple, black, rose, green, yellow, orange, red, and variegated.
Some cultivars are better suited to specific recipes (i.e., globular eggplants lend themselves well to stuffing). For the uninitiated, the most challenging problem might be choosing which variety of eggplant to grow.
Technique for Starting Eggplants Indoors
- Choose a site where young eggplants will get plenty of light and warmth. A shelf near a sunny window, a table beneath a fluorescent light, or a specially-designed growing unit are all suitable. Just make sure that artificial lights can be adjusted to keep them two to three inches above growing seedlings; this keeps the plants from getting leggy.
- Well-drained flats or pots should provide just enough room to allow young eggplants to grow at least two sets of true leaves, but should not be so small that seedlings will require repotting to larger containers before they’re transplanted to the garden (this represents an unnecessary intermediate step). Two-by-two-by-two inch pots—or flats whose cells are about that size—should be sufficient.
- Use a sterile seed starting mix, rather than potting soil, as the initial sowing medium. Many potting soils are too heavy—and compact too readily—for the fine, delicate roots of infant plants. Fill pots (or a flat’s cells) to within 1/8 inch from the top.
- With a pencil or small dowel, make a ¼-inch-deep hole in the center of the pot, and drop a single seed into the hole. Pinch the starting mix together over the seed, and water gently.
- Bottom heat is useful—but not essential—for encouraging germination. This is best achieved with a thermostatically-controlled cable or heating mat placed beneath the pots. Therapeutic heating pads are usually too warm. Bottom heat should be discontinued when the majority of seedlings have developed their first leaves.
- Keep soil damp, provide 12-16 hours of light daily, and protect seedlings from cool drafts. Fertilizers are usually not necessary before eggplants are transferred to their permanent homes in the garden.
- A few days before transplanting (when all danger of frost has passed), seedlings should be “hardened off” by placing them outdoors in a protected location for a few hours each day; leave them outside overnight prior to transplanting.
- After they are gently transplanted to the garden, eggplants can be covered with row covers (e.g., Reemay) to help protect them from insects and unexpected cold snaps.
45 to 90 days after sowing (depending on variety), fruit should appear. That would be a good time to start winnowing recipes, because there probably won’t be enough eggplants to try them all.
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