Rosa Bianca
One of our most beautiful eggplants, this Italian heirloom has plump round white fruit blushed with lavender pink. Popular with chefs and vegetable connoisseurs alike, this eggplant has no bitterness, so you get all the flavour with none of the bite.
Eggplants require more heat than tomatoes, but similar conditions, and being slow growing, require a long, hot growing season. In frost free areas, eggplants can be treated as perennials. Their stiff branches will need staking in order to support the weight of the fruit. For maximum yield, pick the fruit as soon as it is ripe, when the skin is easily indented when light pressure is applied.
Germination
Sow Rosa Bianca Eggplant seed from September to January, except in tropical regions where they can be sown from May to July. This variety can be very difficult to grow in cool regions, if you live in a cold area and still want to give them a shot start the seeds early indoors and plant into the garden once you are sure there is no more chance of frost.
To speed germination, soak the seed in warm water for an hour, then sow sparingly in a good seed starting mix. Provide light and ventilation and if you have a heat mat, bottom heat hastens germination. Two weeks after emergence or when 5 cm tall, repot individual seedlings into 10 cm pots.
Use richer-than average soil mix and fertilise seedlings weekly. Eggplants need 8 to 10 weeks to achieve sufficient size to be transplanted outdoors. Prepare your Eggplant bed in a hot spot with good drainage, adding lots of compost and/or well-rotted manure. Plant out when soil and air temperatures have thoroughly warmed. Create additional warmth (especially at night) if temperatures are expected to drop below 12°C by covering plants with cloches.
Cultivation
This variety takes about 12 weeks until harvest. Picking fruit as soon as they are ready will encourage more flowers to be produced by the plant. The number of fruit per plant can be increased by tip pruning the bushes when they reach 20cm in height to encourage branching. They can topple over in heavy winds so it’s a good idea to support them by tying them securely onto a stake.
This Italian heirloom is particularly creamy and tender. Pick on the small side when about 10cm to 15 cm and still brilliantly shiny, before seed formation begins. Rosa Bianca is perfect for stuffing with savory, garlicky fillings such as cooked Italian sausage topped with Pecorino Romano.
