The oyster mushroom gets its name from its cap which, some say, resembles an oyster. The stem of the oyster mushrooms is perhaps more distinct; it unfurls something like one of those old-time paper lady's fans. The oyster mushroom has...

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Eggplant Growing Problems: Troubleshooting

Eggplant lovers grow eggplant. Eggplant is not an easy-care crop: it demands rich soil, even consistent water, warm temperatures, bonus side-dressings of nutrients, and little or no wind. If eggplants don't get what they want, there are no rewards for the grower. But keep an eggplant happy and out of harm's way and you will grow this vegetable year after year.

Here is a troubleshooting list of possible eggplant problems with control and cure suggestions: (For a full description of pests and diseases and prevention and controls click over to the Pest Problem Solver or the Disease Problem Solver. For eggplant growing details How to Grow Eggplant. (More eggplant growing success tips are at the bottom of this post.)

Seedlings are cut off near the soil surface. Cutworms are gray or brown grubs that hide in the soil by day and feed at night. Handpick grubs from the soil around plants. Keep the garden free of plant debris. Place a 3-inch cardboard collar around the seedlings stem and push it 1 inch into the soil.

Leaves roll downward but there is no yellowing or stunting. Physiological leaf roll, not caused by pathogen; it may be a reaction to temperature or weather. Keep plants evenly watered. No action needed.

Leaves deformed, curled, and discolored; plants are stunted. Aphids are small soft-bodied insects--green and gray--that cluster on undersides of leaves. Aphids leave behind a sticky excrement called honeydew; black sooty mold may grow on honeydew. Spray away aphids with a blast of water; use insecticidal soap; aluminum mulch will disorient aphids. Aphid predators include lacewing flies, ladybugs, and praying mantis.

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Eggplant Varieties: Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow

Give eggplants a warm location, warm soil and keep them evenly watered and stress free and they will reward you with beauty and flavor.

Here are best bet, easy-to-grow eggplants divided into shape and size categories: (1) large oval eggplants; (2) elongated eggplants; and (3) white eggplants.

Keep reading to the bottom of this post and I will give you my tips for sure-fired eggplant growing success. (There is more about eggplant growing at How to Grow Eggplant.)

Large oval fruit:

• Black Beauty. 72-85 days. Fine flavor; holds well. Large round to oval fruit 4 to 6 inches long, 5 inches in diameter; smooth, glossy, purplish-black skin with bright green calyx. Bears 4 to 6 fruits; holds color and quality well after being picked. Medium-tall, bushy plant 24 to 30 inches tall; widely adapted; popular for home gardens. Heirloom. Open-pollinated

• Black Magic. 72 days. Purple-black oval, bell shaped fruit.

• Dusky. 63 days. Firm, very good quality flesh. Uniform, long, oval fruit to 8 inches in length, 3½ inches in diameter; glossy purplish-black skin. Upright plant, 24 to 36 inches tall. High yield. Recommended for home gardens. Tobacco mosaic virus resistant. Hybrid.

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How to Grow Eggplant

Eggplant is very tender perennial grown as an annual. Eggplant requires 100 to 140 warm days with temperatures consistently between 70° and 90°F to reach harvest. Eggplant is best started indoors and later transplanted into the garden; sow eggplant indoors 6 to 8 weeks before setting plants into the garden. Transplant seedlings into the garden no sooner than 2 to 3 weeks after the last frost in spring.

How to prepare eggplant: click here.

How to cook eggplant: click here.

Description. Eggplant is a small- to medium-sized bush vegetable that produces smooth, glossy skinned fruit that can vary in length from 5 to 12 inches long. Eggplants have large, fuzzy, grayish-green leaves and produce star-shaped lavender flowers with yellow centers. The edible fruit can be long and slender or round or egg-shaped fruit. Fruit is creamy-white, yellow, brown, purple, or sometimes almost black. Eggplants can grow 2 to 6 feet tall, depending on the variety.

Yield. Plant 1 to 2 eggplants per household member.

Site. Grow eggplant in full sun. Eggplant is not particular about the soil it grows in but will grow best in well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Eggplant prefers a soil pH of 5.5 to 6.8. Add aged compost to planting beds before planting. Warm the soil in advance of planting with a black plastic cover.

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Eggplant Growing

Aubergine or eggplant? You’ll find this vegetable under either name in cookbooks. Eggplant is the name used by most American speakers. Aubergine is chiefly a British usage.

Eggplant was the name originally given to the white-skinned, egg-shaped variety of the vegetable sometime in the mid-eighteenth century. Aubergine followed about 30 years later. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the term eggplant included the purple-skinned aubergine.

Try any color eggplant stuffed with chopped tomatoes, onions, and garlic cooked in olive oil. This tasty dish is called “The Iman Fainted.” It seems an Iman married a beautiful young girl who brought eggplant and olive oil as part of her dowry. Every night after they were married, she served the Iman stuffed eggplant. When the eggplant was gone, the husband asked his new wife where his favorite meal was. When she explained they had run out of eggplant, the Iman fainted.

Eggplant is always served cooked. You can bake, grill, stew, and deep-fry eggplant. Stuff eggplant and prepare for the Iman to faint.

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Cooking Eggplant

The subtle flavor and meaty texture of eggplant make it especially versatile in cooking. Perhaps that's why eggplant is found in so many cuisines around the world.

One of the strengths of eggplant is its ability to absorb the flavor of whatever it is cooked with and at the same time add a creamy bulkiness to a dish.

The dark purple, bulbous, egg-shaped eggplant (called 'aubergine' almost everywhere but in the United States) is the most recognizable eggplant in most markets. But the long Oriental types are catching on, and other varieties--such as the tiny green Thai eggplant--can be found on occasion.

You can't eat eggplant raw, but you can cook eggplant in many ways: boil, steam, sauté, stir-fry, braise, bake, deep-fry, grill, broil, and microwave.

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Oriental Eggplants

Of course you know the large somewhat bulbous purple eggplant (called aubergine in Britain and many other parts of the world). But there are many other shapes and colors of eggplant: long and thin, egg-shaped, pale purple, yellow, and white to name a few.

Oriental-type eggplants are primarily slim, tapered or pointed elongated fruits that may remind you somewhat of a skinny, smooth and shiny cucumber. Oriental eggplants are mild, tender-skinned, creamy-fleshed, and quick-cooking eggplants.

The Oriental-type eggplants can be divided into two groups: Chinese eggplants and Japanese eggplants.

Chinese eggplants are lavender-blushed white, amethyst, and red-violet colored. They are delicate and low in seeds. The Chinese eggplant has a purple calyx, or stem cap.

Japanese eggplants are dark violet to inky-purple and are usually heavier and firmer than Chinese eggplants. The stem cap or calyx of the Japanese eggplant is bright green.

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Eggplant

The mild flavor and light, spongy texture of the eggplant make it a good match for other vegetables, browned and chopped meat, cooked fish or shellfish.

The eggplant can be sliced and simmered, sautéed or stir-fried, pan-fried, deep-fried, baked or boiled, and broiled and grilled.

One small or medium-size eggplant split lengthwise will make two shells perfect for stuffing as its own casserole dish. Just mix the flesh of the eggplant together with bread crumbs, stuff the shells, and bake.

Locally grown eggplants will be at your farm market in mid- to late summer, August through September in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Eggplant

Eggplant? Did you say ratatouille?

At least one of your favorite farm market vegetable growers has got eggplant or sale this week.

And that means your first batch of season fresh ratatouille can not be far behind.

All of the key ingredients for ratatouille are now available fresh and local: tomatoes, onions, zucchini, bell peppers and, of course, eggplant.

When you think of eggplant, you think first of the oval, black-skinned cultivar known as 'Black Beauty.' That is the classic eggplant with its rich, complex flavor and firm texture even after cooking.

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Eggplant: The Fruit

Now, one more thing about eggplant. Just so you have it on the record: Yes, the eggplant is a fruit not a vegetable.

Botanically speaking a fruit is the ripened ovary--including the seeds--of a flowering plant. That means that many foods called vegetables when cooking are actually fruits. That list would include squash, pumpkin, cucumber, sweet pepper, tomato and eggplant.

If you look at that list, it includes almost all of the ingredients for ratatouille, which we recently discussed. Does that make ratatouille technically a kind of fruit sald? No, because culinary speaking, a fruit is usually any sweet tasting plant with seeds. (Did you just flash on the sweet tasting rhubarb? There are exceptions to every rule, aren't there.)

On to the farm market for eggplant!

(Oh, yes: a one-pound fresh eggplant contains 117 callories--about 76 when cooked, 1 gram of fat, 28 carbohydrates, 992 mg of potassium, and 387 international units of Vitamin A.)

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