I got a 4 pack of eggplant to throw in the garden this year but I've
never grown eggplant before. I grow cucumbers in 20 gallon tubs and
they do well. Do eggplants need a similar sized container or can I get
away with 5 gallon buckets?

On Mon, 28 May 2007 20:49:41 -0500, Mark Anderson
wrote:

I got a 4 pack of eggplant to throw in the garden this year but I've
never grown eggplant before. I grow cucumbers in 20 gallon tubs and
they do well. Do eggplants need a similar sized container or can I get
away with 5 gallon buckets?

Five gal. buckets should do you fine, John. Just be sure and drill
drainage holes in the bottom.

Last year I had a surplus of Marconi, and cayenne peppers and planted
them two per five gallon container as a trial and they turned out to
be the most productive peppers on the place and were nice looking
plants on the patio.

I also grow cherry and currant tomatoes in five gallon buckets. Works
great.

I see no reason that eggplants would not do as well.

Let us know how it works!

Charlie

they do well. Do eggplants need a similar sized container or can I get
away with 5 gallon buckets?

5's will do, a little bigger is better. Treat as tomatoes and they'll
probably do fine. Ichiban and similar "Japanese eggplants" do better for me
in containers than their regular globe eggplant counterparts, fwiw.

On Mon, 28 May 2007 20:49:41 -0500, Mark Anderson
wrote:

I got a 4 pack of eggplant to throw in the garden this year but I've
never grown eggplant before. I grow cucumbers in 20 gallon tubs and
they do well. Do eggplants need a similar sized container or can I get
away with 5 gallon buckets?

I have two Ichiban (is that correct spelling for the long eggplants)
in 20 gallon containers. They are doing beautifully. With vegetables
I think the bigger the better. Also make sure you use a fertilizer
which has all the trace elements in it. If you can't find one, water
the plants with liquid seaweed and fish emulsionl

In article says...
5's will do, a little bigger is better. Treat as tomatoes and they'll
probably do fine. Ichiban and similar "Japanese eggplants" do better for me
in containers than their regular globe eggplant counterparts, fwiw.

They're Ichiban but this is what I needed to know. My tomatoes are all
in 20 gallon tubs so it looks like the eggplants will get those too. I
just didn't want to put them in a big container if they would waste the
space. I know people grow tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets but when I
experimented last year with growing them in 5 gallon buckets, the same
tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets produced a lot less than the ones grown in
the 20 gallon tubs.

space. I know people grow tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets but when I
experimented last year with growing them in 5 gallon buckets, the same
tomatoes in 5 gallon buckets produced a lot less than the ones grown in
the 20 gallon tubs.

Very true. But they will produce in 5 gallon cans, especially if
you do something like drip irrigation to help level out the water
applications.

If you're growing just one cultivar, it probably makes sense to grow
fewer plants in bigger containers. If you're growing one plant of
each of several cultivars, it may make more sense to grow in smaller
containers -- you'll get fewer fruit from each plant, but make up for it
with multiple plants.

Kay