Plant Library
Patio Baby Eggplant
Solanum melongena 'Patio Baby'
Height: 20 inches
Spacing: 20 inches
Sunlight:
Hardiness Zone: (annual)
Brand: PanAmerican
Description:
A perfect compact selection to add to any container or vegetable garden; early to produce and high yielding; deep purple, egg shaped fruit, produced season long; best harvested when they reach 3 inches; mild flavor, perfect for roasting, dips and salads
Edible Qualities
Patio Baby Eggplant is an annual vegetable plant that is typically grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces small deep purple oval eggplants (which are technically 'berries') with creamy white flesh which are typically harvested when mature. The eggplants have a mild taste and a firm texture.
The eggplants are most often used in the following ways:
- Eating When Cooked/Prepared
- Cooking
- Baking
- Freezing
Planting & Growing
Patio Baby Eggplant will grow to be about 20 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 22 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 20 inches apart. This fast-growing vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop.
This plant can be integrated into a landscape or flower garden by creative gardeners, but is usually grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.
Patio Baby Eggplant is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
