Scientific Name: Solanum melongena

Common Name: Eggplant 'Golden Egg', Eggplant 'Thai Yellow Egg', Eggplant 'Thai Round Yellow'

Family: Solanaceae

Origin:

Golden Egg is a traditional, open-pollinated Thai heirloom eggplant variety, the year it was first grown is unknown.

Culinary Uses:

Golden Egg is an eggplant that is best suited for dicing into chunks for use in stir-fries and curries.  Their golden, egg-sized fruits should be picked young before they turn fully yellow for best flavour.

Growing Tips:

Choose a growing site that receives full sun or light shade, eggplants that are grown in heavy shade will become leggy and produce few fruit.  Prior to sowing eggplants prepare your vegetable patch by mixing lots of organic fertiliser, compost, worm castings and/or well rotted manures through the soil.  Mulch around plants well to retain moisture, keep their roots cool and reduce competition from weeds.  Tie eggplant stems loosely to a stake to support the fruit-heavy plants and prevent them from toppling over in high winds.  Once your eggplants are big enough you can pinch out the growing tips to encourage bushier growth with more flowers.  Eggplants have a deep root system so water thoroughly to reach the deepest roots.  Allow the soil to dry out between waterings as this will reduce the chance of your eggplants catching certain diseases such as verticillium wilt and root rot.   Pick eggplant fruit young and often to encourage further flower production.

When To Sow:

Sow eggplants seeds from September to January in temperate and subtropical regions of Australia.  In tropical regions of Australia sow during the dry season from May to July.

How To Sow:

Sow Golden Egg eggplant seeds 6mm deep spacing plants about 50cm apart to allow room for growth.

Germination Time:

Golden Egg eggplant seeds take between 5 and 14 days to germinate once sown.

Time To Harvest:

Golden Egg eggplants will be ready to harvest 9 to 10 weeks after sowing the seeds.