Egg plants do not need support.I have been growing egg plants without providing support.

I always end up staking my eggplant by late summer, when the plants get heavy with fruit. One stake per plant is enough to keep them upright. Don't touch those suckers, because eggplants grow like determinate tomatoes; they push out a bunch of stems at once, and a heavy fruit set in late summer. Generally, grow like tomatoes. Lots of sun and warmth, and constant light moisture. I keep mine under tulle covers to keep flea beetles off of them.

Agree - I always stake mine too. It gets a load of fruit and a good wind comes along - whop! broken, laid over plant with bashed fruit. Once it happens to you, you'll stake from then on.

Those 3 ring things they sell for tomato cages that don't do anything for tomatoes can support the average eggplant fairly well but I prefer a stake.

Dave

yes if things go good the fruit often pulls them over, i usually tie them to a stake, helps a lot at keeping the slugs away from the fruit. sounds like you have a dusky or close relative, i have had best luck with oriental varieties in my marginal eggplant climate. millionare rankin best so far, enjoy they are very attractive and yummy too.

bcomplx1

Do you keep them covered ALL the time? Are they self-pollinating? I'm thinking of covering mine, too, since they are a bit holey, but wondered how long I should keep them covered.

Eggplants and peppers are what you use the wimpy tomato cages for. It's not the weight of the produce that bends the plant. It's the weight of the produce being pushed by the wind. Breaks those stems everytime.

Just push a cage over it and keep on gardening.

Pic. of my eggplant from last summer.

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Mine seem to always need a bit of support..

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Fabulous, grandad!!! You give me hope, that's for sure! What are you feeding these babies? I always plant the Ichebana and are successful. Now I believe I'll try the globe type after seeing your success. Good job!!!

Aulani, the ones pictured above are Rosita. They are an heirloom variety. (The Neon hybrid variety is similar but I don't usually plant it.) I also plant Ichiban, the plants don't get nearly as large as the Rosita. The Rosita has a white-as-paper flesh (while Ichiban is slightly greenish). Neither Rosita or Ichiban are bitter.

grandad,

These plants are completely alien to me - where do the fruits appear? Just at the top, or is this end of season? Also, what kind of yield did you see per plant?

(I suspect that whatever variety I have, I'm not going to see anywhere near that sort of growth, here in zone 5/4)

queuetue, these are end of the season plants. Actually, this could probaly be called the "grand finali". The plants were set out in April, began producing in early to mid June, produced heavily in July, stopped producing in the heat of August, got a second wind in September and started flowering again, then produced in late September into early November. The plants were only about 3 feet tall when they first began setting fruit. As you can see by the photo they were about 7 to 8 feet tall when they set their last fruit. Our long growing season allows for 6 to 7 months of growth. However, when my plants stop producing in the hot days of August, perhaps yours might not.

I agree that the wimpy tomato cages are perfect for eggplant. I get more wind than I want here, so I also secure my cages to a piece of rebar at one of the legs. Makes for a nice and sturdy cage.

queuetue....I'm in zone 5 (Salt Lake City) and grow eggplant just fine. They got put into the ground June 1st.
This year I'm growing Ichiban again and crescent moon.

Plants I grow hardly reach more than 3 feet in height.I have similar observation about the eggplants grown by my neighbour.Our growing season is hardly more than three to four months.Plants are set in the back yard garden by first week of June till September.That gives a month or so for harvesting time.
7-8 feet tall plants and 6-7 months of growth period is not achievable at my place as grandad has posted.
I think smaller plants in my garden is the reason why I do not need any support for the plants.

Just to clarify (I am a newbie as well), you DO NOT pinch the suckers? Or do you like you would a tomato plant?