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How to Grow Eggplant
Eggplant can be a beautiful add-on to your garden . Eggplant enjoy a long maturate time of year , but you could extend your season by start plants indoors .
Time of Planting
It is sound to seed eggplant indoors 7 - 10 weeks before transplanting outside . Start eggplant inside 3 - 4 weeks before the last frost . Transplant outside 4 - 6 weeks after the last frost into a affectionate and cheery location .
Spacing Requirements
Sow eggplant seeds ½ column inch deep . distance plants 18 - 24 inches apart .
Time to Germination
10 - 14 days
Special Considerations
Make certain outdoor soil temperature are at least 55 - 60 degrees F before transplanting garden egg .
Common Pests and Diseases
Eggplant can suffer damage from aphids , cucumber beetles , flea beetles , anthracnose , and Tobacco Mosaic Virus . To protect against insect depredation , transplanting can be wrangle - cover up in the spring .
When and How to Harvest for Food Consumption
When harvest eggplant for clean eating , clean yield when they are large but not too firm to the touch . Keep in psyche that mad apple needs to continue growing far past market maturity if you want to save seeds .
Eating
mad apple can be blackguard , grilled , pureed into baba ghanoush , or fry up as a master course . Its meaty texture withstands long preparation times . Try thisSteamed Eggplant – Hunan Stylefrom Eric Hsu , a stave appendage at Chanticleer Garden , adapt from The Woks of Life , or thisEggplant , Onion , and Feta Tartfrom Janine Gilbertson .
Storing
Eggplant fruits can be stored for about a calendar week in the refrigerator .
How to Save Eggplant Seeds
Life Cycle
Annual
Recommended Isolation Distance
Separate varieties by 300 - 1,600 feet .
Recommended Population Sizes
To assure viable seeds , save seeds from at least 1 plant . When maintaining a variety over many generations , economise seeds from 5 - 20 plants . If you ’re save seed for genetic preservation of a rarified variety , salve seminal fluid from 50 plants or more .
Assessing Seed Maturity
At seed maturity date , eggplant fruits generally change color , claim on a yellow or dark-brown mold , and their glossy skin become dull . Their flesh will moderate and ripe fruits easily separate from the plant when pull .
Harvesting
Simply root for mature fruits from the plant .
Cleaning and Processing
Seed - mature eggplants can be extracted by cubing the yield and sue them in a food processor with a small volume of H2O to make a slurry of seeds and figure . To forestall seed damage , utilize a dough blade instead of a chopping brand .
After blend , rain buckets the seed slurry into a larger container and add more water . agitate the watery mash will dislodge semen from the pulp and permit the feasible seminal fluid to settle to the bottom of the container . Repeated decanting will remove most of the pulp and any immature germ . The mature seeds that remain can then be transferred to a strainer and rinse with a secure stream of water .
Immediately after rinse , seeds should be disseminate in a flimsy stratum on screens or coffee filters to dry out in a warm , well - ventilated space .
Storage and Viability
Store eggplant come in a coolheaded , sullen , and dry place in an airtight container . When put in in these weather condition , eggplant seed will remain viable for 4 - 6 years .
take more about storing seed .
mad apple is a terrifically diverse craw eccentric that can be addictive for chef and ejaculate savers likewise . Though its spongelike flesh makes seed removal a flake more complicated , saving seed from this ego - pollinating Solanum is fairly straightforward . determine this video to learn how you may produce and maintain many dissimilar change in your own backyard .
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