[habitat_gardener]

I'm growing Mitoyo for the second time, and Millionaire F1 and Kamo for the first time this year. They're all good. I'm growing two plants of each in the ground. I pick my eggplants on the small side, so I'm not sure they ever get to the size described in the catalogs.

I originally chose Mitoyo because I'd read they were sweet when ripe. It's true! even though I don't eat them raw.

Kamo has been widely touted here as a great tasting eggplant, and I finally got to try it this year. It's pretty good, and it's more productive than the other two. My two plants tend to be low and spreading, much "flatter" than any other variety I've grown.

I got Millionaire F1 as transplants because I thought I was going to have extra space in my garden. The plants are, so far, well behaved.

The Japanese eggplants are possibly creamier than the others, but I haven't paid a lot of attention to the differences. Mostly I roast whatever I have and make baba ganoush and eggplant pesto with my eggplants (16 varieties this year), so they're all mixed together.

Also, I'm growing a few Chinese varieties. The plants of Ping Tung Long are smaller than most, and it hasn't produced a lot yet. Chinese String has very long thin eggplants, sort of a novelty. Green Dragon and Xi'an Green were my favorites last year (also sweet when raw), and the plants stayed compact. This year my three GD plants are still fairly small and have produced only two eggplants. (Baker Creek was selling a variety called Shiromaru that looks similar.)