How to Grow an Ichiban Japanese Eggplant

An Ichiban eggplant in its early fruiting stage

Ichiban eggplants are a long, skinny, Japanese hybrid eggplant. Ichiban eggplants are milder in flavor and contain fewer seeds than the common eggplant. Ichiban eggplants are moderately difficult to grow and maintain, but will provide your garden with full foliage, and deep violet flowers and fruits. Ichiban eggplants are heavy producers of fruit, and will supply throughout the summer and into fall.

Things You'll Need

• Seeds
• Flats or seed box
• Transplanting fork or flat stick
• Water
• Fertilizer
• Garden or container

Instructions

1. Germinate your Ichiban eggplant seed indoors, six weeks before the last expected frost date. Plant your eggplant seeds 1/4 inch deep in flats, and keep in a warm, sunny place, keeping the soil temperature between 65 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and if possible between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Place your eggplant on a radiator, or in a small room with a localized space heater to help warm the soil. Ichiban eggplant seeds will not germinate in cooler soils. Sprouting will occur in one to two weeks. Water moderately.

2. Transplant your Ichiban eggplant to your garden or into a large container two weeks after the last frost. Wait for the soil to reach temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Cold temperatures damage the plant and can possibly kill it. Do not water your Ichiban eggplant for the week before transplanting. Use a transplanting fork or flat stick to remove sprouts from flats. Plant Ichiban eggplants where the will be exposed to a full day of sunlight, 1 1/2 to 2 feet apart in rows 3 feet apart, or plant two per large container.

3. Ensure moderate moisture and fertilizer levels for your Ichiban eggplants. Do not use high-nitrogen fertilizers, they will encourage foliage growth rather than fruit. Water your Ichiban eggplants one to two times per week.

4. Rinse your Ichiban eggplants with a full stream of water early in the day to remove them of aphids and other parasites. Look through the foliage for these brown insects and for flea beetles. Pick other insects and insect eggs off the plants daily. Cover your Ichiban eggplants with row covers to protect young plants from pests. Avoid planting Ichiban eggplants in the same spot as the previous year to prevent wllting diseases.

5. Pick your Ichiban eggplants when they reach 8 to 10 inches in length. Picking your Ichiban eggplants when they are slightly smaller will ensure tenderness.

6. Pinch off your Ichiban eggplant's blossoms during the last weeks of the growing season. This will ensure that your Ichiban eggplant concentrates its energy to fruit ripening rather than new growth.

References

• Explore Cornell Home Gardening