Outdoor Gardens
If you have a vegetable garden that gets full sun exposure, you can plant a crop of colorful, tender eggplant. These nightshade plants thrive in warm weather with temperatures ranging from 70°F (21°) to 85°F (29°C), producing fruit for the whole growing season. When planning your garden, leave enough space to plant your eggplant seedlings about 36-inches apart in rows of 2-feet apart. If you’re planting tomatoes with your eggplant, make sure the tall tomato plants don’t shade your eggplants. If you water your eggplants thoroughly every week, you’ll have enough eggplants to share and preserve.
Containers
Growing eggplants in containers is also an option, if you don’t have the space for a garden. Compact, miniature eggplant varieties are great for patio containers, producing 2-inch fruits that you can use in any eggplant recipe. You can also plant larger eggplant varieties in containers, but they’ll need support as they grow, such as cages or staking.
Place the container in full sun, and water the eggplant every day. Keep an eye on the soil because it dries out a lot faster than when you plant vegetables in a garden.
Raised Beds
Raised beds make warm, versatile gardens for eggplants. The following are several benefits of raised beds for eggplants:
- Open at the bottom, allowing drainage, and the open bottom leaves more space for the eggplant roots to grow.
- Doesn’t need as much space as a garden
- Position it anywhere in your yard, finding the sunniest location.
- Fill the bed with soil, and you have an instant garden for your eggplants.
- Holds the heat, which eggplants love.
Other benefits of raised beds or garden boxes are they deter snails, slugs and other pests from damaging your eggplants. They also prevent fungus growth that can winter over in outdoor gardens.
