EVP MAN wrote:
I never grew eggplants before so I really don't know what to expect.
I'll be growing Black Beauty which is an old heirloom. I really don't
know how tall the plants get but I'm going to put stakes in just in
case their needed. I'm planting them in the same row as my tomatoes
and peppers. Not sure about production either. Not sure how many
eggplants to expect each plant to produce??? One thing I'm sure
about is the fact that I love them breaded and fried

Rich

Be patient they like a long hot summer and you may not get much growth or
flowering until it warms up. If your growing season is short you may have
trouble getting the fruit ripe before it gets too cold. If the fruit are
well grown on a large cultivar (which IIRC black beauty is) they can be
heavy enough to stress the branches. They will get about 2-3 ft (60-90cm)
high and should not need staking unless it is very windy or you get many
fruit maturing at once. Each plant will make only a limited number of
flowers over a period of time, up to about 15 in my experience, although
this may well vary with cultivar. If you are clever you may be able to get
all of them to set fruit and for the fruit to mature but count on about half
that. They are susceptible to a variety of bugs that like to eat the leaves
(eg 28 spot ladybirds) and bore into the fruit (eg eggplant borer) so keep a
close eye on them. The borer is very frustrating as you may not see the
hole, you cut into what looks like a great fruit and it it just a maze of
tunnels full of shit inside headed by a very fat grub.

David