Long Purple Eggplant – 20 Seeds

Long Purple Eggplant is sometimes also called Fingerling or Long Purple Italian. Long Purple Eggplant seeds produce stocky, productive plants that bear four or more fruits per plant. The fruits are dark purple and club shaped 20-25cm long and around 6cm in diameter. The flesh is firm and mild in flavor, and it’s lovely when cooked, taking on the flavors it is cooked with. This old heirloom variety arrived in American gardens back in the 1850s.

In South Africa the plant can be grown as a perennial. The eggplant will fall over once loaded with fruit, so be sure to stake tall plants or use a cage to keep the plants upright. If growing eggplant in containers, stake the stems before the fruit forms. Sow seeds directly or in seed beds/seed trays from spring up to mid-summer. The long purple eggplant can be planted in the garden but is also well suited for growing in containers.