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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Wednesday - October 28, 2009

From: Temple, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Non-Natives
Title: Yellowing of non-native eggplant in Temple TX
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I planted egg plants in my raised bed garden for the first time this season. The plants are healthy and have produced a number of beautiful small white fruit with purple accent (spots). However, the fruits have all turned yellow. Why? Is this something to do with soil?

ANSWER:

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is dedicated to the care, preservation and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown. This includes very few of the fruits and vegetables you would ordinarily buy in a grocery store. Eggplant is believed to originate in China or possibly India, and has been extensively hybridized for hundreds of years, both of which put it out of our range of expertise. To give you a lead, we Googled on "growing eggplant" and got a number of websites, one of which is this site from Fine Gardening Growing Eggplants Successfully.
 

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