Hi All,

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?

Just out of curiously, how soon will it take
to turn into food. I figure a have a bit to come
up with a suitable story to tell the plant what
I am about to do with their offspring. I think
I will use the "ride in the country" story I used
on my zukes last year. They seem to have bought it.
Plants is "so" stupid.

-T

Todd wrote:
Hi All,

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?


There are many beautiful flowers of plants that are grown primarily for
other purposes.

Just out of curiously, how soon will it take
to turn into food. I figure a have a bit to come
up with a suitable story to tell the plant what
I am about to do with their offspring. I think
I will use the "ride in the country" story I used
on my zukes last year. They seem to have bought it.
Plants is "so" stupid.

-T

It depends on the cultivar and conditions but they are generally not fast to
grow and mature - say 2 to 4 months.

D

Todd said:
Hi All,

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?

I've had people visit my veggie garden stop in shocked admiration
at how lovely a healthy, blooming eggplant is. I've seen eggplant
used in a rather whimsical ornamental/edible garden along with
colorful amaranth, kale and Swiss chard. Some varieties of eggplant
have a purple wash to the leaves, and there are varieties with a bright
violet color rather than the classic deep, deep purple purple fruit.

Just out of curiously, how soon will it take
to turn into food.

That's entirely up to the weather and your choices. I need to
grow my own eggplant so I can pick it young, before any seeds
form. So it can be only a matter of days or a week or so before a
faded flower yeilds something I can use. If you are growing a
large-fruited variety and can tolerate a bit of seediness, maybe
a month or so before you get the eggplant of your dreams.

Cool weather slows them down. They really like it warm.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored

On 07/07/2014 06:28 AM, Pat Kiewicz wrote:
Todd said:
Hi All,

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?

I've had people visit my veggie garden stop in shocked admiration
at how lovely a healthy, blooming eggplant is. I've seen eggplant
used in a rather whimsical ornamental/edible garden along with
colorful amaranth, kale and Swiss chard. Some varieties of eggplant
have a purple wash to the leaves, and there are varieties with a bright
violet color rather than the classic deep, deep purple purple fruit.

I was surprised when I first saw them. Classic 5 pedal dicot
and iridescent purple/violet. They rival my classic dicot 5 pedal
hollyhocks.

On my food plants, I am use to little, unsightly flowers, like
those on my tomatoes. Also, use to the flowers on my Zukes,
which a downright prehistoric looking!


Just out of curiously, how soon will it take
to turn into food.

That's entirely up to the weather and your choices. I need to
grow my own eggplant so I can pick it young, before any seeds
form. So it can be only a matter of days or a week or so before a
faded flower yeilds something I can use. If you are growing a
large-fruited variety and can tolerate a bit of seediness, maybe
a month or so before you get the eggplant of your dreams.

Cool weather slows them down. They really like it warm.


Thank you!

-T

On 07/07/2014 03:04 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Todd wrote:
Hi All,

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?


There are many beautiful flowers of plants that are grown primarily for
other purposes.

Buzz kill.

How often do you see pretty flowers on food plants?


Just out of curiously, how soon will it take
to turn into food. I figure a have a bit to come
up with a suitable story to tell the plant what
I am about to do with their offspring. I think
I will use the "ride in the country" story I used
on my zukes last year. They seem to have bought it.
Plants is "so" stupid.

-T

It depends on the cultivar and conditions but they are generally not
fast to grow and mature - say 2 to 4 months.

D

Thank you.

Hopefully, more like two months. When the nursery guy asked me
which ones I wanted, I told him the ones that produced the
soonest. I forget what he called them.

-T

PatKiewicz wrote
Todd said:

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?

I've had people visit my veggie garden stop in shocked admiration
at how lovely a healthy, blooming eggplant is. I've seen eggplant
used in a rather whimsical ornamental/edible garden along with
colorful amaranth, kale and Swiss chard. Some varieties of eggplant
have a purple wash to the leaves, and there are varieties with a bright
violet color rather than the classic deep, deep purple purple fruit.

Just out of curiously, how soon will it take
to turn into food.

That's entirely up to the weather and your choices. I need to
grow my own eggplant so I can pick it young, before any seeds
form. So it can be only a matter of days or a week or so before a
faded flower yeilds something I can use. If you are growing a
large-fruited variety and can tolerate a bit of seediness, maybe
a month or so before you get the eggplant of your dreams.

Cool weather slows them down. They really like it warm.

Eggplant being in the nightshade family does most of it's growing at
night... needs hot sunny weather during daytime when it stores energy,
then at night it uses that energy to grow. There are many types of
eggplant, I mostly grow the Chinese and Japanese eggplant, they have
thinner skin and far fewer seeds, I also like their configuration
(long/thin) for grilling.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Eggplants.html
Occasionally I'm treated with a 'girly' eggplant:
http://i57.tinypic.com/2hplwjt.jpg

On 07/07/2014 12:15 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:


Eggplant being in the nightshade family does most of it's growing at
night... needs hot sunny weather during daytime when it stores energy,
then at night it uses that energy to grow. There are many types of
eggplant, I mostly grow the Chinese and Japanese eggplant, they have
thinner skin and far fewer seeds, I also like their configuration
(long/thin) for grilling.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Eggplants.html
Occasionally I'm treated with a 'girly' eggplant:
http://i57.tinypic.com/2hplwjt.jpg


Hi Brooklyn1,

I have been told by someone that tomatoes only
ripen at night when it is nice and hot. Is this
the case? It has been 95 F in the day and 65 F
at night.

Many thanks,
-T

Todd wrote:
On 07/07/2014 03:04 AM, David Hare-Scott wrote:
Todd wrote:
Hi All,

This is my first year at "trying" to grow eggplant.
I have never seen an eggplant flower before. Is it
just me, or is that flower the most beautiful purple
dicot flower on the face of this earth?


There are many beautiful flowers of plants that are grown primarily
for other purposes.

Buzz kill.


I take this to mean I am some kind of party-pooper. I don't know why you
would say that, beauty is all around. How is my observation of that
destructive of your observation of one case?

How often do you see pretty flowers on food plants?


Often. Try passion fruit, quince (not the so-called flowering quince the
fruiting one), feijoa (pineapple guava), apple, pear, globe artichoke, many
stone fruits, many cucurbits. The first three are as attractive as the
eggplant in my (subjective) opinion. Google some images and don't be so
insular.

D.

Todd wrote:
On 07/07/2014 12:15 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:


Eggplant being in the nightshade family does most of it's growing at
night... needs hot sunny weather during daytime when it stores
energy, then at night it uses that energy to grow. There are many
types of eggplant, I mostly grow the Chinese and Japanese eggplant,
they have thinner skin and far fewer seeds, I also like their
configuration (long/thin) for grilling.
http://www.foodsubs.com/Eggplants.html
Occasionally I'm treated with a 'girly' eggplant:
http://i57.tinypic.com/2hplwjt.jpg


Hi Brooklyn1,

I have been told by someone that tomatoes only
ripen at night when it is nice and hot. Is this
the case? It has been 95 F in the day and 65 F
at night.

Many thanks,
-T

I suggest both of these ideas are somewhat faulty.

Plants do have two major cycles to their growth, one that makes sugars via
photosythesis the other that turns sugars into new tissue. The first only
happens under light the second any time the sugars are available. So tissue
construction does happen at night but there is no reason to think that those
of the nightshade family grow mainly at night. Sheldon may have some fact
to contradict me or may just reply with abuse as usual.

On the tomatoes they do like it warm but not too warm. If the temperature
gets too high it interferes with correct flowering and fertilisation and so
with fruit production. I think this idea of ripening at night may be a
distorted view of that, because it isn't so hot at night they do better
then, or something like that. As said before tomatoes will be doing tissue
building and other metabolic processes at night but I don't think that
translates to ripening only or even mainly at night.

In any case it makes no difference as night and day will happen regardless.

D

In article
"David Hare-Scott" writes:

In any case it makes no difference as night and day will happen regardless.

http://xkcd.com/1391/


--
Drew Lawson | I'd like to find your inner child
| and kick its little ass