Of course, you grow eggplant in your veggie garden to enjoy the delicious eating at dinner time, but when your eggplant variety produces magically ornamental plants, like when you are growing Fairy Tale eggplants, it’s an extra bonus. This type of eggplant is as beautiful as it is delicious.
What is a Fairy Tale Eggplant?
The eggplant ‘Fairy Tale’ is a lovely mini eggplant, only 4 inches (10 cm.) long. It is lavender with stunning streaks of white and grows on compact stems. The plant itself is a dwarf, growing only 24 inches (61 cm.) tall. That makes growing Fairy Tale eggplants suitable enough for planting in containers. The fruit is sweet, without any bitterness, and it has few seeds.
How to Grow Fairy Tale Eggplants
You can grow Fairy Tale eggplant from seed or from a transplant from your local garden nursery. You can sow the seeds indoors a few months before the last spring frost. Keep the soil moist and warm, around 75 degrees. Seedlings emerge in two to three weeks and must be hardened off before transplanting to the garden. When you start growing Fairy Tale eggplant, you’ll need to pick a sunny site that offers rich, organic soil. Don’t plant in a plot where you grew tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, or other eggplants the year before.
Space the eggplant Fairy Tale plants about 3 feet (.9 meters) apart. Transplant the seedling into an ample hole at the same depth as it grew in the container. Press the soil into place and water thoroughly. Growing eggplant Fairy Tale in a container is also a good option. Select a pot at least 2 feet (61 cm.) wide and deep. Don’t fill it with garden soil, but rather potting mix. Care for as you would in the garden but keep in mind that container grown plants typically require more watering than those planted in ground.
Just like tomato and pepper plants, eggplant prefer full-sun: 6-8 hours a day.
