Newbie Advice
 

I plan on growing eggplants for the first time next year. I am going to try some in a small greenhouse and some outside. I am also planning on growing in 4 gallon buckets(old laundry soap). I am going to grow Black Beauty & Violetta Lunga varieties.

Any advice would be welcomed.

thanks,

Dean

Dean, You may need help from someone in Iowa that has good luck with them, but they don't like cold feet! Definitely use black plastic to warm the ground before putting the sets out in the garden. If they get too cold they will quickly go dormant and slowly start to grow again with warmth. Even here on the desert I don't plant them till a couple weeks after I put tomatoes out. Then they will benefit with good even moisture and fertilize like for your tomatoes. We love them and dehydrate the surplus, they are great used this way all winter in sauces and soups, but most of all they are fun to grow. Here some of the plants will get over 4ft tall, but it takes a very long warm summer. I've tried planting early, but the ones planted later seem to do better and mature faster. 8)