Terung Panjang in Malay, Brinjal, Aubergine or Eggplant (Solanum melongena) as they were called in various parts of the world has many variety. The ones that I tried is of the long purple variety.
Started from seeds and easily sowed either direct on to the growbed or in sowing pot they are equally easy to germinate. Seeds very much looks like chili seed and can be easily mixed up within the two.
After about three days the seed germinate and after ten days from sowing it will look like above, too small to tell the different from other plants. It grows very well in Aquaponics and a fast grower too. Below after about 20 days.
It will start to flower quite early, but its best if the plant is small to remove all flower to let the plant grow. This is always the case when seedling were bought from nurseries where they already grown in poly bag and you will not be sure of its age like below.
It is best to grow from seed, they will be stronger and grow at a faster rate. They will start to flower after 45 to 60 days and bear fruits once flower started to drop off.
In Aquaponics set, the initial batch of flower may not turn to fruits may be due to system not mature or not enough nutrient. This plant will recover even through the growbeds are not mature during initial planting. Once they recover they will produce many fruit for the home kitchen which ready for picking after about 3 to 4 week after flowering.
I'm trying out six plant to a growbed that I normally use, its a bit over crowded but trying out. If there is problem I'll reduce to four per growbed. Its recommended 18 inches between plants.
White flies and aphids are the main culprit here, and I use Neem spray on my set to get rid of them. Ladybugs do a good job to to keep those pest at bay. Even spider is a good pest control to rid the white flies. Caterpillar don't seems to like this plant, so far only white flies making under leaves their homes.
This plant is a good vegetable for Aquaponics, it's easily grown quite resistant to pest and produce many fruits during it life cycle.
Trying out Brinjal (Terung Panjang) this round.
Since its not leafy vegetable, need to see how well it do in Aquaponics
Asparagus after shade provided shows some improvement. Those shade that I put up is just in time for a very hot weather over here.
Nothing else happening on the planting side, just have to wait and see..
