Tips on sprouting eggplants?

I'm trying to start two types of eggplant from seed (which I hear is really hard to do) - Listada de Gandia and Japanese White Egg. All of my Listada sprouted today (hurray!) after a few days of teasing that they were going to, but none of the others did. Any tips on getting them to sprout? (Other than patience...I don't really have that. )



And yes....I did get them only because I thought they were cute...

How long have you had them planted
I find eggplant to germinate pretty much like peppers.
I wonder if perhaps the two varietals perhaps have totally different germination rates.
Some things take way longer than others.

Perhaps you need to "tease" those ones as well

Tips for growing eggplant:

Soak seeds in room-temp water overnite. Bottom heat should be 80-90*F for them to sprout in 8-10 days. When the individual plants reach 3" they need to be transplanted into their own individual pots. When outside temps are 50*F or higher at NIGHT its time to harden them off gradually for 10-14 days. Keep plants in larger pots until outside air and soil is at least 70*F. Eggplants like heat. If the nites are going to drop below 60* then you need to cover them so keep row covers handy for a few weeks.

They are very sensitive, so transplant outdoors very, very carefully.

I have this nice little spreadsheet that tells me when to plant things....but I tend to get impatient. And evidently not record things very well. So, I want to say I planted them around forever ago. But it was probably about the 5th (it was supposed to be the 10th). And I wasn't teasing them - they were teasing me! That point where you can see they're starting to come up, but haven't decided they want to completely yet.

Bottom temp...well, that makes me think I should probably have a more sophisticated setup. They get a soda bottle of hot water under a blanket every couple of days. In an unheated room. Should I open the vents in the room I keep my seedlings in so they all stay warm? It doesn't get super cold in there - it's just a closed off bedroom. It might get down to 50 though. I've never actually checked how cold it gets at night; I just know it's cold when I wake up!

I'm beginning to think I'm unusually cruel to these little guys...

Sounds like it's a little on the cool side in that room.

Might want to consider upgrading your warming mat. One option is to tuck a strand (or two) of Christmas lights under a cake pan.

It still took over two weeks for my eggplants to sprout. 70* house and a small heater in the seedling room part of the day. And I'm still waiting on some peppers. Got a tease on a pepper this morning.

Kay

walshevak wrote:It still took over two weeks for my eggplants to sprout. 70* house and a small heater in the seedling room part of the day. And I'm still waiting on some peppers. Got a tease on a pepper this morning.

Kay

I'm right there with you. I've been waiting and waiting for my pepper n eggplant seeds to germinate, too. A couple just started to break through.

Warmer means sprouting faster. Cooler means you wait a bit longer for them to sprout. But once outside and there are cool nights, the production drops down quite a bit.