Growing CASPER Eggplant

After reading great reviews about CASPER Eggplant I decided to grow it too this year.
It is the slowest eggplant I ever grew.

Picture #1: the front 3 plants are Casper started on January 29. The middle plant is the tallest.
Picture #2: You can seed how small is my Casper compared to the Eggplant on the left (started just a week earlier)
Picture #3 and #4: different variety of Eggplants started on January 11th.

My seeds came from Gourmeet Seeds, but you can see a picture of Casper here:
http://www.territorialseed.com/product/637/eggplant_seed

What is your experience with this variety?

Ive never grown that variety but if it taste like mushrooms, I will have to try it. let us know how it tastes later on.

My Chef instructor at Le Cordon Bleu told me that the white eggplant has the best taste.
I was born in Italy and eggplants are a very common vegetable for us. We can cook it in all different ways.
steadycam3,
did you read in some place that Casper does taste like a mushroom?

I grew one plant of Casper a few years ago (zone 5). I only grew one plant, because I don't eat a lot of eggplant, and previous experience with growing the large eggplants (classic black beauty shape) usually meant I get 7 or 8 fruit from the plant, which was more than enough for me. By the time frost took out the plant, it had a five foot spread, and I was picking 3 to 4 eggplants from it every week. Fortunately I had a friend who was into baba ghanoush that summer and I was able to give away the ones I couldn't eat. The next year, the Casper eggplant I planted got attacked by flea beetles and only gave me a few fruit. Never been able to grow another plant that productive.

drthor, the territorial seed link that you posted said they have "a mushroom-like taste". I love mushrooms so that would be the eggplant for me.

Cybrczch
did you grow your Casper by seed?

drthor, no I bought a plant from a local nursery - it isn't worth it for me to buy seeds to start a single plant.

Casper eggplants are finally growing.
You can see in the picture below, the further 2 plants on the right.
Casper now is as tall as the other eggplants and it has started to make flowers.
I guess it is just a slower plant to grow.

I'm growing something simliar this year called the 'Snowy' eggplant. It also white and has little speckles all over it. Long and oval shapped. If any one is interested in a trade for other types of eggplants I'd be more than happy to share! =)

I just Google Snowy eggplant and it looks beautiful.
Please keep posting your results.
My Casper eggplants are out in the garden now. They are as tall as all the other eggplants now.

My Snowies (haha cute word) are only little seddlings, I believe I'll go ahead and post a photo of those on its plant profile page just to keep record of it.

I was worried for nothing.
Casper had a slow start, but now is producing a lot.
The fruits are just gorgeous and they taste so good. I will grow Casper again.

I love Casper but only one seed germinated this year so I am guarding it with my life and hoping for good results!! It will be a while before it produces here. Yours are gorgeous!! Yum!

I am so happy with these Casper eggplants. The plant is amazing and it is loaded with fruits.
When I sliced into it, the flesh is pure white.

BE AWARE: Casper doesn't like to be in the fridge for more than a couple of days. The beautiful white skin will turn easily brown ... you must cooked it right away!

my Black Beauty Eggplant is just starting to produce flower buds, there was one that had appeared a week or two ago, but today it had fallen completely off the eggplant, stem and all, guess it was a dud, lol. But i see many more buds coming onto the eggplant, and its starting to branch out a bit, so im looking forward to what i get. :)

The room I had mine in was pretty dry and very warm, and the spider mites really liked it in there. Been dosing my poor eggplant babies with Neem/Eucalyptus/soap solution for about a week? now, and they're hanging in there.

So...DrThor, do the Casper taste like mushrooms? Your harvests look absolutely wonderful.

JMC1987,
Just be sure to stake up those Black Beauties with a sturdy trellis or cage.

Those fruits get HEAVY, and will pull your stalks over.

GG, would a tomato cage suffice for that?

Thanks for that info, Gymgirl. I don't think I've ever grown them, but this year I have some seeds and I'll probably do them in the Dutch Buckets inside. I'll probably bend some sheep wire and line three sides of the 4 gallon buckets before putting the vermiculite/perlite in.

What's a Dutch Bucket? Neem is great for Spider Mites. They are the Bain of my garden.

Jmc1987,
A tomato cage should work ok, if you pound a couple pieces of rebar into the ground on either side.

The Black Beauties I grew had so many heavy fruits that the branches began to sag to the point of almost breaking. the tomato cage will give you something to hold the heavy-laden branches up.

If there's little support for the cage , and a good wind comes through, the weight could tip the cage over and rip the plant out from the roots.

Here's a link for info on Dutch Buckets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A

Solace
thanks for your nicest comments.
No they don't taste like mushroom. Indeed Casper has a very delicate flavor.
I will grow it from now on - and I will not panic if the plants is growing really slow at the beginning.
I cannot wait to hear back from you on how they taste.

Thank you for the link. Have you tried the Durch Buckets before? When you say "inside" do you mean in a GH? Lastly,just one more question, can you post pics? My new thing this year is growing peppers and dwarf tomatoes in containers and root pouches in a kiddie pool. Since some of these are getting planted so much later I want to have a way to protect them when the cold weather arrives.

Also I like experimenting.

Regarding the Dutch buckets, here's a link that is pretty straight forward and detailed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A