Fairy Tale Eggplant 9/24/21 to 12/23/22 (461 Days)

[Sher]

It's good to learn that they are good for a second crop, lynnee.

l should have been more patient with mine.

[lynnee]

Feb 5, 2022 19:05:34 GMT -5 Sher said:

It's good to learn that they are good for a second crop, lynnee.

l should have been more patient with mine.

Well, I don't want to have two gardens permanently devoted to eggplants, but now I want to know how long they will go on producing!

[lynnee]

The three Fairy Tale eggplants on their second harvest (2 plants in lower photo). There are quite a few more blooms, and some eggplants developing, but they are underneath the big leaves. There would be a lot more blooms showing if I hadn't broken off that big flowering branch. 🍆

[lynnee]

The solo Fairy Tale eggplant (the one that was drastically pruned) is dropping its blossoms. However, The pair of eggplants upstairs have both blooms and developing eggplants.

I'll probably do an R&R on the solo tomorrow. If I can't figure out what's the matter, I'll terminate the plant in another week or two. I'd like to try something else tall in that Farm 12XL.

I turned the thermostat down in the house, so cooler downstairs room temperature may be a factor. Upstairs, I'm trying to cool off the room, as it gets over 80 degrees F. In the late afternoons.

[lynnee]

At Day 155, I terminated the solo Fairy Tale eggplant because it was dropping blooms and I needed the Farm 12 Plus for something else.

The plant had a very healthy root ball that hadn't spread into the pump or float. I tested the nutrient solution and the pH was 7-7.5, so that wasn't too bad.

There were lots of blooms, a ton of leaves, and three developing eggplants. Probably I wasn't getting all the blooms pollinated, because they were hiding under the leaves.

However, I suspect that it was a mistake to give the plant KoolBloom, or else I gave it too much KoolBloom. There were so many blooms, there were probably more blooms than the plant could support as developing eggplants.

There are still two healthy Fairy Tale eggplants growing upstairs. They have both blooms and eggplants. I'm going to keep them until they stop producing, because I want to know how long they'll go on producing.

[lynnee]

First of the second harvest from the two eggplants in the Farm 12XL.



Fairy Tale eggplants don't need staking, so they can be grown in a tall Bounty, a Farm Plus, or a Farm 12--anything with 24" of height will be enough.

[Sher]

I would love to grow them again!  Yours have been fantastic performers!

[Shawn]

Eggplants love you and you have the Eggplant Purple Thumb.

[lynnee]

Omigod, a purple thumb!

I love eggplants, and sometimes talk to them, so maybe that's the secret!

[Sher]

lynnee, I just ordered Fairy Tale eggplant seeds so I will have them the next time I have an available Bounty.

Your photos were irrestible!

[lynnee]

Great, Sher! My two plants have a bunch more eggplants that are about ready to harvest--I really wonder how much longer they'll be producing. They need pruning again.

[lynnee]

Today the eggplants had yet another harvest ready. They have new blooms, too. I did an R&R, and it seems the roots are in pretty good shape for Day 178!



We love the eggplants split, tossed with a little olive oil and low sodium soy sauce, and roasted for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. Today's haul is enough for two large servings for two.

🍆🍆🍆🍆🍆

[Sher]

Sad to admit, lynnee, but I am flat out jealous (and incredibly proud) of your incredible haul.

My seeds should be here this week, and I think I am going to harvest my choi so I can plant them.

[Shawn]

Mar 12, 2022 23:27:46 GMT -5 Sher said:

Sad to admit, lynnee , but I am flat out jealous (and incredibly proud) of your incredible haul.

My seeds should be here this week, and I think I am going to harvest my choi so I can plant them.

Me too

[lynnee]

What I do, is pollinate the heck out of the eggplants. As soon as a bloom develops a yellow center, I start vibrating the center with a kid's toothbrush every day until the blossom (pollinated) or blossom and stem (unpollinated) falls off.

In the 24-pod Farm, I'm adding 24ml AG nutes, 10ml CalMag+, and 3ml KoolBloom every two weeks after an R&R. Until the plants had blooms, I used only the standard AG nutes and amounts.

Sometimes I add extra CalMag+ if the leaves look stressed and it's a week before the next R&R. The + is some form of iron, I think, and whatever it is, it is the antidote to some symptom that the leaves developed a while back that has since gone away.

I will be following your eggplants, Sher. Mine wouldn't have been at all successful if you hadn't taught me about pollinating them!

🍆🍆

[Sher]

Thanks, lynnee! 

[Sher]

lynnee, I did not think I needed to add Calmag here due to the high level of  calcium in our water.

But I didn't think of the iron in the Calmag! That's another great potential problem solver!

[lynnee]

Day 206 (6 months, 24 days). Today I did the biweekly R&R for the Fairy Tale eggplants, which have been totally neglected of late. I never did get to the pruning, because there were all of these eggplants to harvest!

They're too large to roast as a side dish, because they lose their delicate flavor, but I'll make scalloped eggplant tomorrow. I wonder whether some of them pollinated themselves? I suppose not--I haven't been pollinating recently, but the eggplants take a while to develop.

Current biweekly regimen is 24ml AG nutes, 10ml CalMag, 3ml KoolBloom (in 2-gallon Farm bowl). The KB is supposed to encourage fruit as well as blossoms.

[Sher]

WOW!!!!!  You DO have a farm! 

[airscapes]

Peal, slice on a mandolin, dip in Olive garden Dressing, sprinkle with Parmesan Reggiano,  put in air fryer or on a rack in the broiler .. heaven on a plate! (also freezes perfectly)

Sorry, before you put the cheese on, cook the first side, flip, sprinkle, cook again..  Been a while, been eating all my frozen over the winter.