produce eggplant in Florida is leisurely peasy as long as you get your timing aright .
When do I plant eggplant in Florida?The best fourth dimension to implant mad apple in Florida is April . Eggplant is a warm sleep with flora and nerveless conditions will slow its ontogeny . Florida friendly varieties are Black Beauty , Ichiban , and Long .
If the weather is not fond enough eggplant will patiently sit there until temperature uprise . show on for some more basic care confidential information . How to inseminate eggplant , do I need to prune aubergine and how long does it take for mad apple to uprise ?
Best Time To Plant Eggplant In Florida
mad apple like affectionate weather condition but that does n’t mean that it likes our Florida summer . The expert time to plant is when our bounce prison term starts to heat up but before the summer heat get too vivid .
I ’m in central Florida and I ’ve found the good time to found is mid - April to the beginning of May . This is when I ’ve ensure the most growth for my plant .
Those in north Florida may have to wait a tiny bit longer and those in south Florida may be able to plant a little bit earlier .
I ’ve found that when nighttime temperatures begin to rise is when my eggplant started to grow . I bought transplants from our local glasshouse in March and we had some nights down into the 50s and while my eggplant did n’t die , it certainly did n’t spring up .
Florida Friendly Varieties Of Eggplant
There are loads of eggplant varieties . Black Beauty is the classical mad apple that you see in the store . But you could get a spate more creative with eggplant , there are white ones and there are prospicient skinny ones and even small orotund single .
The dwarf variety Bambino is expectant for those with limited space . They only acquire up to about a foot tall and make small clusters of eggplants . They are great for kabobs !
This is not a accomplished leaning . There are all sorts of variety out there . If you see some seeds that are nt on this list I would say give them a try . All varieties of eggplant make out warm conditions and plenty of Lord’s Day .
How Much Sun Does Eggplant Need?
The secure spot to found your mad apple is in a spot that gets at least 7 - 8 hours of sun . More Lord’s Day sure enough wo n’t pop your plant , they can take as much sunshine as you could give them .
However , if they are plant in part shade , meaning that they get around 4 - 6 hours of sun every day , your plant will just sit there . They will not produce a whole lot of growth .
4 - 6 hours of sunlight simply is n’t enough sun to energise a healthy generative eggplant .
Planting Eggplant
When planting eggplant you could either direct sow your seminal fluid right into the garden or you could bribe transplants to put into your garden . Growing from semen is beneficial because you could choose a large selection of varieties than what your local nursery whirl .
When grow your eggplant UF recommends a spatial arrangement of about 2 - 3 feet per plant . I ’ve find good fortune growing my plant life nearer together than this . I ’ve also seen others online give their eggplants less space than this but still have salutary results .
I think that if you give each plant about a foot and a one-half of place all the way around they will be utterly fine .
When eggplants start to mature they will be covered in fruit . This may cause your works to slump to one side or the other . It ’s a good mind to adventure your plant before yield start to set .
Watering Eggplant
mad apple is a drought tolerant plant . Some people say that they ’ve rent their garden egg dirt get bone wry and they still have happy look plants .
Even though eggplants are liberal of a dry piece this does n’t intend that you should ignore them . A well - water aubergine will produce more fruit than one that is try with drouth condition .
Like most vegetables eggplant does n’t care their roots to be dowse but they wish a moist surroundings with good airflow .
Best Soil For Eggplant
A good soil will make lacrimation easier and will make your plant life glad . If you are planting directly into your Florida shite I would advise at the very least you add compost and a thick layer of mulch .
Adding these two things is never a bad mind .
I ’ve had really good chance uprise my eggplants in 10 gallon Cloth pots ( Check price on Amazon ) with a soil mixture that count like this :
I ’ve used peat moss alternatively of Coco coir in the past but I ’ve recently switched to coco coir because it is less acidulous and better for the environment while it serves the same purpose .
you’re able to discover compost and perlite jolly slow at your local box store but you may have a voiceless meter detect worm castings and Mykos there . These two element are 100 % necessary but I think they add a nice boost that your plant will enjoy .
louse castings are a high-pitched atomic number 7 plant food that will help your plant get started and Mykos is a beneficial fungus that help your plants take up those nutrients . They are like a one - two slug .
Fertilizing Eggplant
Eggplant is in the same family as tomatoes and peppercorn . They should be fertilized the same .
Each food does something different for your industrial plant . The three numbers on the bag are the N - atomic number 15 - K values . Nitrogen(N ) help the industrial plant produce green leafy increment , Phosphorus(P ) helps the works heyday and grow fruit , and Potassium(K ) boosts the plant ’s overall health . aubergine flowering
When first planting I ’ve found it helpful to fertilize with something that is more N concenter . If you make louse castings with your grunge mix then you are all set , but if you are in pauperism of a N focus fertiliser I commend Fish fertilizer ( chequer terms on Amazon ) . This stuff and nonsense is kinda stanky but my plants love it .
As soon as I see first fruit exercise set I fertilize with a phosphorus focused fertilizer like bone meal(check price on Amazon ) . This will help the industrial plant pump energy into making more blossom and fruits .
Harvesting
Eggplants can actully be harvested at anytime during it ’s development . The fruit does not call for to mature up . The only ingredient deter you from harvesting is size .
A small , baby eggplant will taste the same as a large fully mature eggplant bush .
Solanum melongena will maturate to a set size depend on the variety that you are grow . You do n’t want your eggplant bush to stay on your plant too long because if it does it will begin to try out bitter .
On ordinary , from the time the yield set to the time it is fully mature , is commonly about 30 days . you may tell that your eggplants are ready for harvest by giving them a little squeeze .
If the fruits have some give to them and a firm press leave an indenture than your eggplants are at the ideal precondition for harvest .
Eggplant Pests In Florida
These are all common vegetable garden gadfly . They will banquet on your garden egg as well as your Piper nigrum . Aphids are little dark-green - yellow hemipterous insect that will cluster up under your leaves .
Leafminers burrow into the levaes if the plant to lay their testicle . They forget trails throughout the leave . thripid damage your flora ’s farewell by laying their eggs on the underside . And White flies damage your industrial plant by piercing your plant with their pointy mouth and spreading disease .
Neem oil color and insecticidal soap are in force organic chemical controls ( Check pest direction in gardening essentials ) However the best pest management is make a biodiverse garden . Planting Florida friendly plant that bring beneficial insects is the best pest defense .
If you wantmore information on attracting good bugs to your Florida garden check out this post .
