2019 ASHS Annual Conference

High tunnels benefit small farmers by extending the growing, harvesting and marketing seasons of specialty crops. To maximize the benefits, farmers need to efficiently use the space in a high tunnel. Eggplant is one of the important vegetables of great culinary value. Grown in high tunnels, eggplants will add produce diversity and potentially increase profits for small producers. Information on high tunnel eggplant production has been limited. The objective of this trial was to exam the effect of trellising and training on the performance of high tunnel eggplants. Cultivars Clara, Nadia, Oriental Express and Traviata were trellised with either the Florida Weave system (FW) or Tomato Rollerhook^® system (RH). Suckers of plants with FW were removed up to the node of the first female flower. Plants with RH were pruned to one leader by removing suckers all season. On May 25, 2017, transplants were planted into a plasticulture system of 30”-wide raised beds covered with black plastic mulch and with double-row drip tapes, in a 30’(W) x 96’ (L) high tunnel on A&T University Farm in Greensboro, NC (hardiness zone 7). In-row and row spacing were 18”. The trial was conducted as a split-plot design, with the trellis system as main plots and cultivars as split plots. There were three replications, six plants per replication. The trial wrapped up on October 26. Eggplants trellised by FW had significantly higher marketable yield and fruit number (4.0 kg and 23.1 fruit per plant) than by the RH system (1.5 kg and 8.2 fruit per plant). Plants trellised with RH had significantly taller plants ((220.4cm) than that with FW (188.1cm) at the last harvest. The trellis systems did not affect the date of first and 50% flower and the plant height at 50% bloom. Although there was no difference among cultivars regarding the marketable yield, significant differences existed in terms of time of blooming, 1^st harvest, number of nodes at 50% bloom, and plant height at the 50% bloom.