Eggplants from seed to harvest ?'s

This is the first time I'll be growing eggplant and I decided to start from seed, Not sure when to start them, I have done tomatoes from seed and know if I would start them now the plants would be over grown to set out side after the first frost, so the question is... compared to tomatoes how fast do eggplants grow.

Any other tips would be accepted with much thanks.

About the same. Eggplants tolerates heat, some varieties are earlier than toamtoes. But I start seeds under the same conditions at the same time.

We set our eggplant and pepper transplants out in Wall O Waters (WOW) to give them some extra warmth until summer really kicks in. I grow Italian eggplants and peppers. They love the heat. Last year we had an unusual weather pattern, with early summer temperatures getting quite chilly at night. My eggplants and peppers were languishing until we put the WOWs on.

Mermaid, so those WOW really work? Where did you get yours?

Thanks everyone, so far I have start around the same time I would my tomato seeds and heat is the key. I dod have the WOWs so I'll use them when I set out my plants. I have also direct sowed cucumber seeds and set up the WOW around the seeds and I had nice cucumbers that year.

I got my WOWs from Gardener's Supply

I didn't think the WOW's were worth the $$$ and extra work, but I have to admit - the last couple of years have been windier than usual. (And everything elser that usual, too!) I gifted mine to a felow DG'er - I will have to ask her if she made out better with tem in UT (I think?).

I sow my EP seeds in mid-March and harden off as weather permits from late April. Since I grow them primarily in containers, I can always pull them back if necessary. An odd thing I've learned about EP's - they will grow indoors in a sunny location and will actually flower and produce fruit, but they will not do well indoors after being outside.

The one thing I have to do here with eggplants is use a row cover when planting out. The flea beetles will tear them up! After they get large enough to handle the onslaught or start to flower I take off the row cover.

We've gardened with WOWs for at least 20 years, maybe even longer. I'm not sure when they came on the market. We used them extensively when we lived at 6,500 feet elevation in the Sierras. My mom planted her tomatoes, peppers and eggplants in containers with a WOW on top. It would snow on and around them and her plants would do fine. I use them now for "spot treatment" of transplants that just need that extra bit of warmth to get going. We put four stakes in the ground inside the WOW to hold it to a rectangular shape surrounding two plants each.

The price for a pack of WOWs varies considerably,depending on where you buy them. We bought ours at a local shop when the summer weather suddenly went cold. It was a packet of 3 large WOWs for $12, so $4 each. We would have gotten a volume discount if we purchased more. They last for several years with reasonable care and can be patched if they leak. There is a repair kit available to replace a water channel if needed.

A quick google search shows that GardenHarvest Supply sells the 3 pack for $7.75.
http://tinyurl.com/ytbqt8

Seeds of Change sells them in packages of 9 or 24, which brings the per unit cost lower.
http://tinyurl.com/25orfv