Options for eggplant planted late

Q. I planted my eggplant late. Can I transplant my eggplant from the garden into a container to bring into the house?

Katie from Lowellville

A. Eggplant is a very tender annual that requires a long, warm growing season. The plant can be killed by light frost and also can be injured by a long period of chilly, frost-free weather. An eggplant takes 75-85 days to produce fully ripe fruits after the plants (not seeds) have been put into the garden.

The fruits of eggplant can be eaten from the time they are one-third grown until they are totally ripe. A ripe eggplant has shiny skin and the seeds inside should not be brown or hard.

So, our gardener has a few choices. She can pick the small eggplants and enjoy them; use a cover over them (a sheet, blanket, or towel – but not plastic) overnight to protect against the frosts; or try to bring in the plant inside and allow them to mature there.

Many people prefer to eat the smaller tender eggplants rather than letting them grow to full size. So they can be picked early. Covering plants when the temperature dips allows some extra maturing time for the eggplants. The covers must be taken off in the morning to allow the sun to warm the plants to continue the ripening process.

Trying to transplant a mature eggplant from the garden into a container may be a little tricky. As I stated earlier, eggplant is an annual. Planted in the spring it has lots of energy to grow and adapt to its new environment. Now, the plant has almost come to its demise.

Adapting this late in its life cycle to a whole new growing environment may be difficult, but not impossible. After carefully digging around the plant to loosen the soil, lift it to get all the roots, being careful not to chop them off. Your container must be at least a 5-gallon size to have enough soil and room for the roots to spread out. Eggplant needs adequate sunlight to grow, so the container must be placed in an area that it will receive at least six hours of sunlight daily. Watering is very important. Do not allow the roots to dry out.

So, there are options. My suggestion, if more than four or five plants are involved, is to try all three options. All of them will work if done properly. When dealing with growing plants, nothing is guaranteed, though.

To learn more about growing eggplant, go to http://go.osu.edu/eggplant.

Barb Delisio is an OSU Extension master gardener volunteer in Mahoning County. Call the office hot line at 330-533-5538 to submit your questions. Clinic hours are Mondays and Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon, through October.