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How We Plant Eggplant
 Eggplant is a relative of the tomato and the pepper and requires a long, hot growing season to be successful. You grow eggplants the same way you would grow peppers, the best being under black plastic. To make sure the temperature is proper, take a garden thermometer and stick it 4” in the ground where you are going to plant the eggplant and notice the temperature at 8:00 AM in the morning. It should read 65 degrees F or higher before you plant it.
To plant, cut a hole in the plastic, dig out a good size chunk of dirt, add some fertilizer to the hole and mix with surrounding dirt, trim top of peat pot and place peat pot into hole. Cover with soil and water good. Plant eggplants at 12” to 18” intervals.
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Do not wait too long to pick the eggplant, as they can become overripe quickly. Begin to harvest when the skin is shiny and fruits are about 1/3 to 1/2 their maximum size. If fruits become dull, then they are past their prime. Also, if the seeds inside are brown, then the best eating stage has passed.
We normally only grow one or two eggplants per year, which is more than enough for us.
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