|
| Ichiban eggplants have been one of my successes this year. I have several plants that have produced a truckload of fruit. I've been in zucchini "take 'em, PLEASE!" mode with them for months. The plants are 4 feet tall, healthy and vigorous. As of a few weeks ago, however, they stopped fruiting entirely. That was when the 100F temps hit. Plenty of flowers. Just no new fruit. I'm assuming that's normal response to high temps, just like for tomatoes, and that the fruiting will start up again when the temps drop. But in the meantime, are there strategies that work? I know that "flicking" tomato blossoms can encourage fruiting, by physically knocking pollen down. Does that work on eggplants? Peppers, maybe? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Fri, Aug 29, 14 at 13:09
| No, because in this case the issue is not with pollination but the fact that the pollen is no longer viable. I'm assuming you're referring to dry heat. |
|
- Posted by daninthedirt 8b / HZ10 Cent. TX (My Page) on Fri, Aug 29, 14 at 13:30
| That's true about pollen viability. But I was led to understand that the reason that the tomato pollen became unviable in high temps was because the pollen tubes don't grow as well, so it's harder for the pollen to get to where it needs to be. Of course, high humidity will make the pollen grains stick together, inhibiting fertilization as well. That's why the old wives tale is that flicking the flowers can aid fertilization. My dew point never gets below 70F in the summer, but cooler temps seem to help fertilization. But if the pollen just dies, then there isn't much one can do about it. |
|
- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Fri, Aug 29, 14 at 19:34
| I guess you could try hand-pollinating a few (mark the flowers so you can continue monitoring them) and see if it helps. If the humidity is the bigger issue, then it should help a lot. September is nearly here anyway...you'll probably be drowning in eggplants soon enough :). Almost the end of the season up here - got down to the mid 30s a couple of times already. |
|
| daninthedirt, being in central Texas your growing climate probably resembles mine. I too find that eggplant do decrease and/or stop production in the heat of summer then pick back up again when the temperature moderates. This year I planted Millionaire instead of Ichiban. The fruit is essentially identical but I find the Millionaire plants to be a bit more productive. The Millionaire slowed considerably but just recently started to increase production. However, the heat did take its toll on the plants. One strategy you may want to try is to set out a few late eggplants. I would be fair to call them fall eggplant. I plant the seeds in mid May and set plants in late June. Most other plants would not survive the heat but eggplant generally cope fairly well. Below are fall Ping Tung eggplant. |
|
- Posted by daninthedirt 8b / HZ10 Cent. TX (My Page) on Sun, Aug 31, 14 at 21:15
| Thanks. That makes sense. I think mine are just starting to produce again. Good suggestions about alternative varieties. Of course, Ichiban is going away, so eventually we'll have to give up on them. Not clear about the value of setting out late plants. The original plants are doing dandy, with lots of flowers. The heat hasn't affected them at all. But those flowers just aren't getting pollinated in the heat. Your Ping Tung look marvelous. |
|
- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Sun, Aug 31, 14 at 21:59
| Why is Ichiban going away? |
|
- Posted by daninthedirt 8b / HZ10 Cent. TX (My Page) on Sun, Aug 31, 14 at 22:11
| "Why is Ichiban going away?" http://horticulturetalk.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/bye-bye-mr-ichiban-the-discontinuation-of-ichiban-hybrid-eggplant/ http://thebayougardener.com/smf/index.php?action=printpage;topic=21825.0 The plants we have now are from seeds that were harvested many years ago. |
|
- Posted by Slimy_Okra 2b (My Page) on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 11:37
| Thanks for the information. |
|
| daninthedirt, on the value of having late plants.... Not much or any value if your spring plants are in great shape. So its more of a contingency for if the heat snd/or insects damage the spring plants. Having said this, the fall plants seem to produce a bit longer. |
|
- Posted by daninthedirt 8b / HZ10 Cent. TX (My Page) on Mon, Sep 1, 14 at 13:11
| Thanks. I have no insect pests that I can see, and the plants are always real troopers in the summer heat, compared to just about anything else. Again, nice to see your Ping Tung. I've been considering those as an Ichiban replacement. Heard good things about them. How do you consider them compared to Ichiban? What would you recommend as a replacement for Ichiban (similar color, size and shape)? I seem to remember that you've had a lot of experience with asian eggplant. |
|
| Millionaire is comparable to Ichiban. Our local garden center has been packaging and selling Millionaire as the replacement for it. The Ping Tung are more of a lavendar color and have a firmer and white (vs greenish) flesh. Both of these plus Rosita are staples in my spring garden. |
|
- Posted by conchitaFL 10 Hutchinson Island (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 9:36
| Hmm, well, millionaire is the same color and shape, but IMHO the flavor is vastly inferior to ichiban. |
|
- Posted by farmerdill (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 11:45
| Black Shine has been my best replacement so far. It bears early, looks and tastes like Ichiban. Negative isthat it gives up much earlier than Ichiban. |
|
- Posted by conchitaFL 10 Hutchinson Island (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 12:15
| Thanks, farmerdill. Is Kitazawa the only place to get Black Shine? EDIT To the OP, I've been growing Ping Tung and it's an excellent variety (much better taste than millionaire, IMHO), but one thing I do miss about ichiban is the shape of it--you could use it more easily for western recipes like stuffed eggplant. |
This post was edited by conchitaFL on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 12:17
|
| What do you do to keep the flea beetles away? My eggplants are doing pretty well this year as well, but early dusting with diatomaceous earth cut the flea beetles a lot. Even so, the flea beetles still do a great deal of pokes through the leaves. |
|
- Posted by conchitaFL 10 Hutchinson Island (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 14:34
| Well, I'm extremely limited on space, basically only have the courtyard of my townhouse, so that makes it easier. I just flick them into soapy water, but I can see that would be hard to do if you have rows of plants to patrol. |
|
- Posted by farmerdill (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 15:06
Conchita, I get it from Twilley. http://www.twilleyseed.com/index.html There are several other vendors. For those of you who like Ping Tung, The Taiwan developer KNOWN-You has introduced a hybrid version Fond May.   |
|
| FWIW, like conchitaFL, I too prefer the taste of Ping Tung over Millionaire (and Ichiban). I have not noticed much difference in taste between Millionaire and Ichiban. But in all fairness it's a memory comparison... did not plant these cultivars in the same year. |
|
- Posted by conchitaFL 10 Hutchinson Island (My Page) on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 18:29
| Thanks, farmerdill. |
|
- Posted by daninthedirt 8b / HZ10 Cent. TX (My Page) on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 16:30
| Heh. Here it is a week later and I now have a load of fingerling eggplants on my plants. It has been several weeks since I'd seen any. Now, I think (hope!!) we've seen the last of the 100+ days, and we're now working highs of 95F or so. So I think that's all it took. Fruiting just turns off like a light switch when the high temps are over 100F. Looking ahead, I see it reported that in Solanaceae (peppers and eggplant) pollen production and fruit set is curtailed when nighttime temps are below 55F. I also now read that with regard to shaking flowers to encourage fruit set, that's essentially what bees do in eggplant. They don't move the pollen from pistil to stamen, but their activity just vibrates the flower and shakes the pollen off. So yes, although eggplants self-pollinate, bees can help. |
|
| My experience in AZ is that eggplants slow down fruit set in the extreme hot months but start producing heavy again in the fall.. I had a Japanese style that lived and produced for over four years, until I lost it n am extreme four day freeze. I also had a Black Beauty that lived and produced the same amount of time, in a little crack between the AC unit amd the sidewalk. I mulched them heavily, gave them plenty of horse manure and alfalfa pellets. |
|
- Posted by daninthedirt 8b / HZ10 Cent. TX (My Page) on Sun, Sep 7, 14 at 16:05
| That's a good story about eggplants as perennials. Peppers are the same way. I've kept pepper plants alive for several years, but never tried it with eggplants. This last year we had some unusually cold temps (low 20sF) and I blanketed the peppers profusely. Lost about half of them, but the remainder went on to produce well. Of course, tomatoes are Solonacae as well, an in principle can be perennials, but I haven't heard about a lot of success getting old over-wintered ones to fruit well. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Vegetable Gardening Forum
Information about Posting
- You must be logged in to post a message. Once you are logged in, a posting window will appear at the bottom of the messages. If you are not a member, please register for an account.
- Please review our Rules of Play before posting.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review your post, make changes and upload photos.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- Before posting copyrighted material, please read about Copyright and Fair Use.
- We have a strict no-advertising policy!
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.
Learn more about in-text links on this page here
