How many eggplant plants per person
Utah State University Extension recommends 1 to 2 eggplant plants per person for fresh use, depending on the fruit shape, size and variety. The calculator uses the middle, 1.5 plants per person, and rounds up to whole plants for the household: a family of four needs 6 plants, which take 11 ft of row or about 6 square feet of raised bed.
Plants = people × 1.5, rounded up
Eggplant for 1 to 6 people
| People | Plants | Row length | Raised bed space | Expected harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 ft | 2 sq ft | about 4 lb |
| 2 | 3 | 5 ft | 3 sq ft | 5 to 6 lb |
| 3 | 5 | 9 ft | 5 sq ft | 9 to 11 lb |
| 4 | 6 | 11 ft | 6 sq ft | 11 to 13 lb |
| 5 | 8 | 14 ft | 8 sq ft | 14 to 17 lb |
| 6 | 9 | 16 ft | 9 sq ft | 16 to 19 lb |
Row length puts the plants 21 inches apart, the middle of the 18 to 24 inch in-row spacing from Virginia Cooperative Extension and Colorado State University Extension. Bed space gives each plant one square foot, as the UC Master Gardeners square foot guide does, and the harvest uses Virginia Tech's 10 to 12 lb per 10 ft of row.
Utah State gives no separate amount for preserving eggplant, so the Fresh and Fresh + preserving columns in the table above are the same.
The low and high end of the range
Utah State ties the range to fruit shape, size and variety without setting a figure for each type. At the low end, one plant per person, a family of four grows 4 plants; at the high end, two per person, it grows 8. The calculator's 6 sits between them.
Utah State picks fruit when it is full size, glossy and 6 to 8 inches long. Clemson Cooperative Extension gives 65 to 80 days from transplanting to the first harvest, so a zone 5b plant set out on May 15 starts bearing around Jul 19 to Aug 3.
Where the plants go
Six plants fit a 4 × 8 ft bed with room to spare; at 21 inches each way the bed holds 8. In containers, Virginia Tech and Colorado State call for one plant per pot of at least 5 gallons, 8 inches deep, so a household of four needs six 5 gallon containers. The eggplant spacing calculator counts plants for any bed, row or pot.
Next questions
- When do I start the seeds? Indoors 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost, out 2 weeks after it; see eggplant seed starting.
- The rest of the garden? The garden size calculator sizes eggplant together with tomatoes, peppers and the other staples for your household.