6' or 6"? Pretty big difference. My eggplants are 2' (feet) and my peppers are about the same or shorter.

You read it right, six feet. All of the fruit is way up high and small. Everything I've seen say that these plants should only be about 24".

What did you feed them? Sometimes excess nitrogen fertilizer will make plants grow too much and not produce a good crop. Also, what variety did you plant?

Sandy

I planted them in Mel's mix with a combination of home, Black Kow & Chicken compost.

I have two varieties. One Thai Yellow Egg heirloom and a purple Burpee Hybrid.

My peppers are very tall too.

Is too much nitrogen something that will fix itself for next year or do I need to augment the soil?

Be honest, Kelly - you're among friends. You side-dressed with plutonium, didn't you?

Shhh! Sqftsteve you found me out.

I have a half dozen eggplants, all from 4-6 feet tall. I also planted them in May, they began producing in July and have been very steady all summer.

They're planted in peat, perlite, mushroom/cow manure compost. I feed them about every other week with a liquid 12-4-8 fertilizer mixed at 1 teaspoon per gallon of water.

Three varieties: Black Beauty, Ichiban and Green Goddess.

Have you fertilized at all? With that growth, sounds like you're watering enough. I see you're in Zone 9 and you say they're getting enough sun (at least 8+ hours?).

Not sure how to help but you might try some different varieties and see if that makes a difference.

In Mel's Mix, they will most likely need a regular feeding schedule but do some research on what they need and be careful about the rate of application.

(Are other things in the same bed growing okay?)

wt

wt - I have not been sided dressing the eggplants -- or peppers in the next bed. All five varieties took a long to to blossom but are now very prolific (albeit small fruits). I blame this on the hot summer and maybe not enough water early on.

Also I raised these indoors from seed -- I wonder if that could have contributed.

As for the rest of the bed, it's been hit or miss but this is my first year gardening so it could be a variety of issues.

I'll try additional varieties next year and just plan on them being tall enough to shade the rest of the square!

That's what makes gardening so much FUN! Ya never know what each season will bring.

The hot summer shouldn't be a problem as eggplants love the heat! Consistent watering might help.

Oh, well, they taste better when they're small anyhow....at least that's what I tell myself when the fruit doesn't get as large as I think it should.

wt

My peppers get tall, too. My eggplant did awesome this year with just fertilizing with worm castings and growing in dirt with lots of compost. I planted in a raised bed with square foot measurements. The 3 plants are about 3 feet tall and have provided enough eggplant for 4 people to eat eggplant parmesan nearly twice a week (every 5 days) and have a few meals of grilled eggplant, too. Only planted 3 plants because until my wife made eggplant parmesan this year, I hated eggplant. Next year we'll plant a lot more.

Anyway, my point is that if you want a good crop of eggplant next year I would start composting with worms. I've never had such great tasting heavy producing peppers and eggplant before using castings regularly. Obviously, you can do it without the castings. This is just my experience.

I have some Listada di Gandia and Lebanese Bunching eggplant seeds am saving. If anyone wants to trade some for a great variety they have, I'm game. Here is my e/mail.. ginodiclemente@yahoo.com