Eggplant, AI TSAO 4
For my Early Eggplant project, I trial some reportedly early varieties, more or less widely available, some early hybrids, and some lesser-known varieties available as seed samples from genebanks (seeds kept in long-term storage in order to collect and save as much plant diversity as possible) just like this one! The goal is to use the varieties that performed best as parents into my breeding work. This one is PI 418975 from GRIN-USDA, named Ai Tsao 4. Original seed was collected in China and described as ‘very early maturity’ with high yield. Slender fruit, short, more or less egg-shaped, purple. Some variation is to be expected as many of the genebank accessions I trialed were quite diverse in phenotype (variations in shapes and colors). I found this one to be stable enough to describe here and offer as a sample too if you wish to experiment or simply have some quite early eggplants to grow in your garden!
Please note that it is a short season (not cold season) variety, better wait until the weather is warm to plant them out, along with tomatoes, squashes and similar tender plants.
Solanum melongena
min. 25 seeds/pkt Reg
min. 10 seeds/pkt Mini
Lot:2023
%germ. on latest test : 93%
Notes
Availability: we will be adding more as needed. Most items listed as OUT OF STOCK may only be temporarily unavailable - We will be adding more soon, unless *LAST ONES AVAILABLE * is mentioned.
Our seeds are packaged by weight. The actual number of seeds indicated per packet may differ, but we do our best to include at least (generally more) the quantity mentioned. The quantity depends on the seed germination scores so as to include the right number of viable seeds.
Seed Starting
Sown indoors in March to April depending on your climate, they love warmth. Transplant as frosts are well over and soil has warmed, end of May to mid-June .
