Eggplant Plant: How to Grow Eggplant and When to Harvest It

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Start eggplant seeds indoors 6 to 10 weeks before you plan to set the plants out, and move them into the garden only after night lows hold above 50 F. Eggplant is much less cold hardy than the tomato, and plants that are chilled may never recover to bear fruit. Keep the soil evenly moist, and cut each fruit off with shears, pruners or a knife while the skin is still shiny.

The growing advice below comes from ten extension services at US universities plus one seed company, and the product specs from the makers' own pages; all are listed at the end. For rotation and the pests eggplant shares with tomatoes, peppers and potatoes, see our guide to the nightshade family.

Eggplant at a glance

Start seed indoors	6 to 10 weeks before planting out
Plant out	After frost, once night lows stay above 50 F and the soil reaches 60 F
Light	At least 6 hours of direct sun a day; 8 to 10 is better
Spacing	18 inches to 2 1/2 feet apart, rows 2 to 4 feet apart
Water	1 to 2 inches a week
Ripe when	Glossy skin, and a light thumbnail press leaves a dent

When to plant eggplant

Wait for warm nights, not just the frost date. Hold plants back until overnight lows are consistently above 50 F; set out sooner, and they suffer from the chill and may never recover and bear fruit. Eggplant is a very tender warm-season annual: plant it after the danger of frost, once the soil is thoroughly warm, at 60 F or more. Light frost kills the plants, and they grow fastest at 70 to 85 F.

In central Iowa, plant in mid-May, about one week earlier in southern Iowa and one week later in the northern counties, with June 20 as the last practical planting date. In South Carolina, the window runs May 1 to June 30 in the Piedmont and April 1 to 30 on the coast, where a fall planting can also go in from August 1 to 31.

A cover buys some time. With row covers over black plastic mulch, plants can go out several weeks before your average last frost; vent the covers once the air passes 80 F. Your average last frost date is on our frost dates page; if a cold night is forecast after planting, see how to protect plants from frost.

Starting eggplant seeds indoors

Transplants mature earlier and yield more, and they are recommended for cooler growing areas. Sow 6 to 10 weeks before planting out; about 8 weeks is the middle of that span.

1. Sow shallow and warm. Sow 1/4 inch deep. Hold the soil at 70 to 90 F until seedlings emerge; cool soil keeps the seed from germinating. A heat mat does the job, but it speeds drying, so watch the moisture closely. Once seedlings are up, grow them at 65 to 75 F.
2. Give strong light. Hang cool white fluorescent tubes 2 to 3 inches over the seedlings and keep them lit 14 to 16 hours daily. Without bright light directly overhead, the seedlings lean over.
3. Thin or pot up. Once true leaves form, thin the seedlings to 2 to 3 inches apart, or move them into 2 to 3 inch pots or plug trays.
4. Pinch early flowers. Eggplant may start to flower indoors; pinch the flower clusters off until the plants go into the garden.
5. Harden off. Cut back on water and set the plants outside with wind protection and a couple of hours of sun, add sun over the next week or two, and bring them in on nights below 55 F. Or hold them at about 60 F, with less water, for about a week.

Buying eggplant transplants

Pick plants that are sturdy and up to a foot tall, with stems at least as wide as a pencil and no spots on the leaves. Pass over plants already in bloom: blossoms slow a transplant's growth once it is set out and may lower yields.

Planting eggplant: site, soil and spacing

Choose full sun: eggplant needs direct light for at least 6 hours a day, and 8 to 10 hours is better. Choose a bed that has not grown a nightshade lately, meaning no peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, tomatillos or eggplant there within the last three to five years; the 4 to 5 year end of that rotation also helps avoid verticillium wilt.

Eggplant wants fertile, well-drained soil. The pH targets run from 5.5 to 7.5, and the narrower ones fall between 6.0 and 6.8. A soil test tells you where your bed stands.

Space plants 18 inches to 2 1/2 feet apart, in rows 2 to 4 feet apart. On plastic mulch, plants can go in 2 rows, 18 to 24 inches apart.

• Plant at the same depth. Water the plants well first and set each one with its shoot at the soil line, as it grew in the pot. In a peat pot, bury the rim: an exposed top edge acts like a wick and draws moisture out of the root ball.
• Water in with a starter solution. Mix two tablespoons of an all-purpose fertilizer (10-10-10, for example) into a gallon of water and pour 1 to 2 cups around each plant.
• Add supports now. Put the plant supports in at planting time.

Mulch. Most gardeners set eggplant through black plastic mulch: it warms the soil and cuts root damage, and black plastic or black landscape fabric gives earlier harvests. Hold off on straw and grass clippings until the soil is above 75 F.

Watering and feeding eggplant

Uneven soil moisture can make eggplant bitter, and poor moisture can also cause blossom-end rot. Water deeply and infrequently so the soil stays moist at least 6 inches down, using drip irrigation if possible; plants want 1 to 2 inches a week. Whenever rain gives less than an inch in a week, give the bed at least one thorough soaking that week; very sandy soil may need water more often. Watering unevenly, too little or too much, can cause root rot or tough, leathery fruit. Moisture matters most while the fruit sets and develops.

Go light on nitrogen: too much leads to bushy, leafy plants that are slow to bear, often with only one small set of fruit. Eggplant needs moderate to high amounts of nutrients. Base any preplant fertilizer on a soil test, then side-dress in one of these ways:

• By the plant: 1/2 tablespoon of 21-0-0 for each plant, 4 weeks and again 8 weeks after planting, set beside the plant and watered in.
• By the bed: 1/2 pound of calcium nitrate per 100 square feet at three to four weeks after planting, and the same amount three to four weeks later, kept 4 to 6 inches from the plants.
• By the crop: once the first fruits form.

Staking and pinching eggplant

Eggplant may reach 2 to 4 feet, with many branches. Support it with cages or a trellis, put in at planting time, to prevent lodging, which is the plants falling over. Plants may also be staked and pruned so the fruit grows straight. Pinch out the growing tip once plants reach 12 inches, so they branch.

Eggplant varieties: Italian, Asian and specialty types

There are dozens of types. Italian types typically bear glossy, purple-black, tear-shaped fruit 6 to 10 inches long, while slender Chinese and Japanese types are thinner-skinned, with a more delicate taste. Some miniature varieties bear fruit only 1 to 2 inches long.

Eggplant types and varieties

Type	Fruit	Varieties
Italian	Oval, glossy, purple-black, typically 6 to 10 inches long	'Santana', 'Epic', 'Black Magic', 'Night Shadow', 'Dusky', 'Classic'; 'Black Beauty' (purple-black and oval, 6 to 7 inches long)
Asian	Elongated, oval or round; thinner-skinned, with a more delicate taste	'Kermit' (green and white, round), 'Calliope' (white and purple, oval), 'Ichiban' (purple, narrow, 12 inches long)
Specialty	Other shapes, sizes and colors: red, orange, white and green among them	'Casper', 'Ghostbuster', 'Gretel' (white); 'Hansel', 'Millionaire' (purple); 'Rosita' (rose pink and teardrop-shaped, 8 inches long); 'Bambino' (oval, 1 inch long)

Growing eggplant in containers

Grow one plant per container. For a full-size plant, the smallest minimum is 4 to 5 gallons, 8 inches deep, and the largest is 8 to 10 gallons in a pot 12 to 16 inches deep. A dwarf variety needs 4 to 6 gallons or more, in a container 8 to 12 inches deep. A plant can do well in a 14-inch pot, no shorter than it is wide.

Eggplant pollen needs nights above 55 F to develop, and long-season crops such as eggplant may need light feeding every 2 weeks in containers. For pot types, mixes and daily watering, see how to grow tomatoes in pots.

Eggplant companion plants

• Cilantro and dill. Both are partners for eggplant: they help control Colorado potato beetles by increasing the beneficial predator insects that eat them.
• Curly parsley. Interplant curly parsley with eggplant to make the most of space; both crops get what they need.
• Small flowers. Dill, cilantro, fennel, rosemary and sweet alyssum draw in parasitic wasps and flies, which prey on aphids, caterpillars and stink bugs.

Eggplant as a trap crop. The Colorado potato beetle prefers eggplant, so it can serve as a trap crop, but in on-farm trials run by the University of Minnesota in 2020, trap crops of eggplant did not help cut beetle numbers. Many gardening articles name marigolds as a beetle deterrent, but multiple studies have found the claim untrue.

What to keep away. Keep the other nightshades off the bed, as in the rotation above, and keep eggplant away from black walnut trees: walnut roots, buds and hulls contain juglone, and tomato, pepper, eggplant and other potato-family plants are especially sensitive to it. For more pairings, and how strong the evidence is for each, see our companion planting chart.

When and how to harvest eggplant

Eggplant should be ready to harvest about 55 to 80 days from transplanting, varying with the variety; started from seed, it may take about 100 to 133 days. Each fruit reaches its fully mature size 10 to 20 days after flowering.

• Size. Cut fruit anywhere from about two-thirds of its maximum size up to full size, which is generally 6 to 8 inches long. Large oval types can be picked from 2 inches wide through 4 to 6 inches wide, and Japanese types may be ready at the size of a finger or a hot dog.
• Shine. Ripe fruit is firm, with very glossy skin.
• The thumbnail test. Press the side of the fruit lightly with your thumbnail. If a dent remains, the fruit is ripe.
• Too late. Over-ripe fruit is dull in color, with brown seeds; over-mature fruit is soft and seedy and tastes bitter. Discard it.

Cut, do not pull. The stems are tough, so use hand pruners, sharp shears or a sharp knife; pulling is likely to damage both fruit and plant. Wear gloves, since the stems and the undersides of the leaves carry small prickly thorns.

Keep picking. Harvest typically comes at least once a week, sometimes twice: mature fruit left on the plant reduces overall productivity. Eggplant can keep up to a week at 45 to 55 F with 90 to 95 percent relative humidity, though fruit is subject to chilling injury if refrigerated.

Also in our shop: harvest tools.

Eggplant pests and problems

The pests on eggplant run from flea beetles and the Colorado potato beetle to aphids, whiteflies, hornworms, stink bugs and spider mites. Flea beetles are eggplant's most common pest in home gardens, and their damage is most serious while plants are small, with just a few leaves. Eggplant is also a favorite of the Colorado potato beetle.

Common eggplant problems and what to do

What you see	Likely cause	What to do
Many small, round holes in the leaves	Flea beetles	Row cover draped over hoops, not resting on the plants, and secured to the ground; clear away garden debris where adults overwinter
Leaves stripped; orange egg clusters under the leaves	Colorado potato beetle	Hand-pick adults and larvae into soapy water and crush the eggs; row cover over new transplants; a thick straw mulch
Bleached, bronzed or yellow-stippled leaves, sometimes webbing	Spider mites, in hot, dry weather	They may become a pest especially after broad-spectrum insecticides are used
Lower leaves yellow and wilt; stem browned inside	Verticillium wilt, the most common eggplant disease	Rotation; soil solarization can help. One extension guide says no variety resists it, while another advises disease-resistant cultivars
Whole plant wilts suddenly; pith reddish-brown	Bacterial wilt	No tomatoes, potatoes or eggplant in the bed for the previous three years
White or dried, unevenly colored patches on fruit	Sunscald	Large plants well covered in leaves suffer less sunscald; keep soil moisture even
Few flowers or little fruit	Drought, heat above 90 F, or nights under 60 F or over 70 F can cause poor flowering	Too much nitrogen also slows fruiting

Hold back on sprays. Broad-spectrum insecticides kill beneficial insects, so avoid them unless absolutely necessary, and heavy nitrogen can make plants a bigger draw for aphids; our aphids guide covers those. Take row covers off when the plants reach them or when the first blossoms appear; our row cover buying guide compares cover weights.

Eggplant seeds and supplies

For an indoor start you will want a heat mat; in the garden, a cage or stakes, and pruners or shears at harvest. For pruners, our pick is the Felco 2, whose bypass blades cut stems up to 0.98 inch, the maker's rating (for more, see our pruning shears buying guide); the seed, mat, cage and pruner are on Amazon.

VIVOSUN's 10 by 20.75 inch mat comes with a thermostat it rates from 68 to 108 F, a span that covers the 70 to 90 F the seed is held at until it comes up. Gardener's Supply makes its powder-coated cage of 10 gauge wire, 24 inches high once installed.

What you'll need for eggplant and when to harvest it

Picks on Amazon

• Park Seed Black Beauty Eggplant Seeds Check price on Amazon
• VIVOSUN Seedling Heat Mat and Digital Thermostat Check price on Amazon
• Gardener's Supply Pepper and Eggplant Cages Check price on Amazon
• Felco 2 Bypass Pruner Check price on Amazon

Sources we used

Every eggplant figure here comes from the pages below, each one saved in October 2026 at the time we read it.

• "University of Minnesota Extension: Growing eggplant in home gardens" (reviewed 2024), plus its Colorado potato beetle, flea beetle and companion planting pages
• "University of Maryland Extension: Growing Eggplant in a Home Garden" (2023), plus its flea beetle, Colorado potato beetle, companion planting, container and container care pages
• "Clemson Cooperative Extension, HGIC 1310: Eggplant" (2023) and "HGIC 2224: Eggplant Insect Pests and Diseases" (2025)
• "Utah State University Extension: How to Grow Eggplant in Your Garden" (2020)
• "Iowa State University Extension: Growing Eggplant in the Home Garden" (reviewed 2025)
• "NC State Extension, Plant Toolbox: Solanum melongena"
• Penn State Extension: "Herbs Make Good Plant Partners and Companions" and "Container Vegetable Gardening: Four Keys to Success"
• "Virginia Cooperative Extension: Vegetable Gardening in Containers" and "Colorado State University Extension: Vegetable Gardening in Containers"
• "Illinois Extension: Plants that inhibit other plants" (2018)
• "Johnny's Selected Seeds: Eggplant Key Growing Information" (a seed company)
• Maker pages: Felco 2, Park Seed, VIVOSUN and Gardener's Supply

Related guides

• Nightshade family vegetables, on rotation and the pests eggplant shares with its relatives.
• How to grow peppers, a crop with the same 50 F night rule.
• How to grow tomatoes, from seed to harvest.
• How to grow potatoes, another host of the Colorado potato beetle.
• How to grow tomatoes in pots, for container mixes and watering.
• Companion planting chart, with the pairings and the research behind them.
• Starting seeds indoors, for lights, timing and hardening off.

Frequently asked questions

When should you plant eggplant outside?

After the danger of frost, once overnight lows stay above 50 F and the soil reaches 60 F; chilled plants may never recover and bear fruit. For central Iowa, that falls in mid-May.

How long does eggplant take to grow?

About 55 to 80 days from transplanting, varying with the variety; started from seed, it may take about 100 to 133 days. Each fruit reaches full size 10 to 20 days after flowering.

How far apart should you plant eggplant?

Set plants 18 inches to 2 1/2 feet apart, with 2 to 4 feet between rows. On plastic mulch, they can go in 2 rows, 18 to 24 inches apart.

How do you know when an eggplant is ready to pick?

Its skin is very glossy, and a light thumbnail press on the side leaves a dent. Pick from about two-thirds of full size up to full size, generally 6 to 8 inches long. Dull fruit with brown seeds is over-ripe.

Why is my eggplant flowering but not making fruit?

Drought, heat above 90 F, or nights under 60 F or over 70 F can cause poor flowering, and pollen development needs nights above 55 F. Too much nitrogen often gives large, bushy plants with only one small set of fruit.

Can you grow eggplant in a pot?

Yes, one plant per container. For a full-size variety, the minimums given run from 4 to 5 gallons, 8 inches deep, up to 8 to 10 gallons; a dwarf variety needs 4 to 6 gallons or more.

What should you plant with eggplant?

Cilantro and dill draw predators of the Colorado potato beetle, and curly parsley interplants well with it. Keep other nightshades out of the bed for three to five years, and keep eggplant away from black walnut.