Should I give up on eggplant?

[Ridgerunner]

i've always enjoyed learning and collecting bits of this and that in my head just in case they eventually end up being useful.

Thinking along those lines. One trick I've read about is to use trap plants. Find a plant that a pest is really attracted to so it draws them away from other plants. These could be sacrificial plants or to attract them to where you can destroy them. Many people don't want to use any pesticide, organic or otherwise, in their garden but might plant something nearby that they are willing to treat. I've never done this, just something I've read. The devil of how it works might be in the details.

To me eggplant attract flea beetles more than anything else I've found so they might make a good trap plant for flea beetles. It won't protect other eggplant but could protect other types of plants.

I know some people don't have any serious problems with flea beetles, either because of what they grow or where they are. In Arkansas I could not grow eggplant without treating them.

 

[ducks4you]

Have you considering growing eggplant in a large container, like a tree pot?

GardenSmart :: EPISODES :: 2011 show26

Episode pages feature show transcripts from GardenSMART television show and plant lists, 2001 to the present day. Gardening tips are offered for the home gardener, in print and video. Garden/gardening articles are added weekly and questions are answered, all related to gardening in the...

www.gardensmart.tv

Also~

Flea Beetles / Eggplant / Agriculture: Pest Management Guidelines / UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM)

ipm.ucanr.edu

And~

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/eggplant-companion-guide#9-plants-to-grow-with-eggplant

 

[flowerbug]

Thinking along those lines. One trick I've read about is to use trap plants. Find a plant that a pest is really attracted to so it draws them away from other plants. These could be sacrificial plants or to attract them to where you can destroy them. Many people don't want to use any pesticide, organic or otherwise, in their garden but might plant something nearby that they are willing to treat. I've never done this, just something I've read. The devil of how it works might be in the details.

To me eggplant attract flea beetles more than anything else I've found so they might make a good trap plant for flea beetles. It won't protect other eggplant but could protect other types of plants.

...

not much survives being buried in a foot of heavy mostly clay soil.

i've only sprayed once here for some beetles about 15-20 years ago. in the meantime i've done a lot of hand picking to get rid of JBs when they're too much on a single plant but i can never get them all.

too many other bugs here to deal with to worry about any in specific. the bird help i'm sure and we try to keep them around by using birdbaths, but we don't feed them because we do want them to forage for those bugs. we've had a large invasion this winter of bugs that are not squash bugs, but they are stink bugs of some kind. i think in the house we've found a few hundred so far this winter with more likely with the changing weather we've been having. we'll see what they do to the plants this season - i'm not looking forwards to this, but i hope they'll leave most things alone. i didn't see much bug damage last year. we rarely see aphids for long. always lady beetles around.

 

[ducks4you]

I think you are trying to grow another tropical plant, like peppers or sweet potatoes, that are heavy feeders that don't like their feet wet. Here are some more videos that may help.

ALSO, I believe that you may need to amend your soil. I am growing tobacco this year, for DH, and I already have the seeds. I intend to clean up my horse's big poo spot behind the barn, till it lightly, then move it to the bed.
Tobacco, Then corn are Very heavy feeders.
Consider, ALSO, making compost tea and feeding it to your eggplant.

making compost tea - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[Zeedman]

Have you considering growing eggplant in a large container, like a tree pot?

That is another good suggestion, especially if the pots are elevated well above ground.

Eggplant does extraordinarily well in large pots here - so well that I always grow a couple pots worth, regardless of how many plants are in the ground. Fewer bug & disease issues, and they bear earlier (probably due to warmer soil). Some varieties that are problem-prone here in the ground (like Gretel) do very well in pots. DW suggested that I try more than one eggplant per pot... and much to my surprise, the plants were healthy, and the yield per pot was very high. My pots are on an old pool deck, and so far, I've never seen flea beetles there. Not sure how advantageous the higher soil temperature would be in the South, you might even need to shade the pot surface to keep the soil temperature from getting too high.

Diamond, 3 plants

Gretel, in 2021

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Have you considering growing eggplant in a large container, like a tree pot?

GardenSmart :: EPISODES :: 2011 show26

Episode pages feature show transcripts from GardenSMART television show and plant lists, 2001 to the present day. Gardening tips are offered for the home gardener, in print and video. Garden/gardening articles are added weekly and questions are answered, all related to gardening in the...

www.gardensmart.tv

Also~

Flea Beetles / Eggplant / Agriculture: Pest Management Guidelines / UC Statewide IPM Program (UC IPM)

ipm.ucanr.edu

And~

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/eggplant-companion-guide#9-plants-to-grow-with-eggplant

That is another good suggestion, especially if the pots are elevated well above ground.

Eggplant does extraordinarily well in large pots here - so well that I always grow a couple pots worth, regardless of how many plants are in the ground. Fewer bug & disease issues, and they bear earlier (probably due to warmer soil). Some varieties that are problem-prone here in the ground (like Gretel) do very well in pots. DW suggested that I try more than one eggplant per pot... and much to my surprise, the plants were healthy, and the yield per pot was very high. My pots are on an old pool deck, and so far, I've never seen flea beetles there. Not sure how advantageous the higher soil temperature would be in the South, you might even need to shade the pot surface to keep the soil temperature from getting too high.

View attachment 47438
Diamond, 3 plants

View attachment 47439
Gretel, in 2021

Unfortunately they attack potted ones too. If I put the seedlings out on the porch for a few hours for some sun they come back chewed up. We also seem to have multiple generations of the things around here so planting earlier or later doesn’t help much.

 

[R2elk]

I find this all very interesting. The only thing I have seen flea beetles work over here are the radish plants. I have never noticed any damage to my eggplants.

Of course the radishes are pretty much done (direct seeded May 1) by the time I transplant the eggplants to the garden (usually around June 1).

 

[Ridgerunner]

i've done a lot of hand picking to get rid of JBs when they're too much on a single plant but i can never get them all.

Thanks for the giggle. I'm trying to imagine somebody handpicking flea beetles. I know you are talking about Japanese beetles, not flea beetles, but that image of picking flea beetles by hand is interesting.

Speaking of tricks. When I pick Japanese beetles or June bugs I take a two gallon plastic bucket and put an inch or two of water in it, then put a few drops of dishwashing liquid to break surface tension. When I have a cluster of Japanese beetles or June bugs I hold the bucket under them when I start to pick them. The ones that try to fly away usually dive down at first. I lot fly right into the bucket. Not all but a lot.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Thanks for the giggle. I'm trying to imagine somebody handpicking flea beetles. I know you are talking about Japanese beetles, not flea beetles, but that image of picking flea beetles by hand is interesting.

Speaking of tricks. When I pick Japanese beetles or June bugs I take a two gallon plastic bucket and put an inch or two of water in it, then put a few drops of dishwashing liquid to break surface tension. When I have a cluster of Japanese beetles or June bugs I hold the bucket under them when I start to pick them. The ones that try to fly away usually dive down at first. I lot fly right into the bucket. Not all but a lot.

A lot like aphids lol.

 

[flowerbug]

A lot like aphids lol.

some people don't know that some ant species herd aphids. actively.

Thanks for the giggle. I'm trying to imagine somebody handpicking flea beetles. I know you are talking about Japanese beetles, not flea beetles, but that image of picking flea beetles by hand is interesting.

Speaking of tricks. When I pick Japanese beetles or June bugs I take a two gallon plastic bucket and put an inch or two of water in it, then put a few drops of dishwashing liquid to break surface tension. When I have a cluster of Japanese beetles or June bugs I hold the bucket under them when I start to pick them. The ones that try to fly away usually dive down at first. I lot fly right into the bucket. Not all but a lot.

it takes quite a long time for those beetles to actually drown. i'd made the mistake one summer of throwing them at the end of the driveway to encourage birds to learn to eat them only to finally figure out that they were just crawling away. once i realized that i started squishing them with my fingers or stepping on them and leaving them in the gardens hoping to accomplish the same. something was eating them. i don't know what but i suspect that it could have been chipmunks. no proof, i still don't know for sure what is going on out there. birds would be the other suspect, but until i verify it i can't say for sure.

and no, i'd not try to hand pick flea beetles... i'm crazy, but i do have my limits.