The Eggplant Long Purple-Japanese/Chinese, 'Solanum melongena', has a milder, more delicate flavor than regular eggplant. The Long Purple has few seeds and a thin skin that makes it easy to cook. Eggplant is a very international vegetable. The unique and tasty dishes cooked in Japan, China, Italy, Russia and other countries make eggplant a useful and tasty vegetable for your garden. Try eggplant dipped in flour and sauteed in olive oil, stir fried with bean sprouts, peppers, and tomatoes, or roasted and combined with olive oil, chopped onions and tomatoes. Long Purple has 8 to 10 inch long, 2 inch in diameter eggplants.
Plant in the spring, 3 to 4 weeks after the last average frost date. Ground temperature needs to be very warm for seed to germinate. If nighttime temperatures drop below 60 degrees, the fruit will not set. Eggplant prefers rich, deep, loose soils with large amounts of organic material. Provide 1 inch of water a week if it does not rain.