A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Is my eggplant ripe?

I need help again! I have an eggplant on my plant, and it's kind of big. It doesn't seem to be getting any larger, so I think it's done with that part. The variety is Black Beauty, so I'm assuming it will be really dark when it's ready to pick(?) It seems like it was darker when it was newer though. I think the color is getting lighter. But there is a little bit of greenish color around where the blossom was.

When should I pick it? :rolleyes:

Good Afternoon!

A Black Beauty Eggplant will be ripe when it is large and glossy with deep purple skin. The typical crop time for this plant is approximately 85 days. When harvesting the eggplant, it should be plump and firm. Cut the eggplant from the stem.

Your concern is the discolouration your eggplant is showing... it would be best if I could see a picture to best determined, but without a pic, I would think it close to being ripe, maybe hold off a bit longer until the green turns to purple. Often I have seen Black Beauty Eggplants start off the deep purple colour when small but as they grew to the appropriate size, they changed colour (often to a yellowish colour) When this happens, it may in fact be overmature. And if so, it will be bitter. If your plant isn't show any other signs of discolouration other than a bit of green- and definitely not the yellowish' stated above, I would think it is still growing.

Oh' and for future harvesting... Eggplants are often picked when smaller in size (with the proper colouration) to encourage more fruits for future growths. Typically you can expect to see up to 6 to 12 fruits on each plant. Picking all fruits when ripe (not waiting to see if it gets any bigger) helps to increase yeilds.

Mmmmm Eggplant Let me know what you do!

Sincerely,
Shanbear

May I see a picture of your eggplant?

Oops. It's a Monday, sorry- didn't mean to click the post button. (*LOL!*)

Shanbear, I liked your post since I was wondering about eggplant too.
Thanks for such great detailed info !

Thanks for all the good info! It's definitely not yellowish, but it is VERY fat. I probably should have already picked it. It came from a really huge flower. None of the flowers since have been as big and none of them have set fruit either.
I can't send a picture though. My daughter is out of town with the digital camera.
I think I will pick it and eat it!
I'll let y'all know how it was, and if it's good, I'll think about all you fried-eggplant-lovers out there while I eat it! The rest of the family would rather have their arms broken than eat eggplant, so no sharing...

OOOH I am sooo jealous. I love eggplant. I had my first garden last year and had one plant ( which produced about a dozen ) I picked them a little on the small side, I couldn't wait on the first one. It turned out to be a perfect size for the grill and was nice and firm and yummy, so I just kept on picking at that size. It seemed that as soon as I picked one the next one began to grow, 2 or 3 at differant stages of growth on the same plant. They were 6 to 8 in. long and the bottems were about the size of a tennis ball. This year I planted Japanese eggplant too, Good luck with yours.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="3" face="COMIC SANS MS, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Deborah L.:
<strong> Shanbear, I liked your post since I was wondering about eggplant too.
Thanks for such great detailed info !

I'm thinking about getting just one plant, I'm a container gardener.
I had one with blossoms, and when I was outside, saw one of my wild rabbits sitting next to the eggplant, which was stripped bare.
She was wearing a cute expression, like, "Hey, what's the problem?"
I laughed and said that I could spare a friend some salad.
Next time I'll plant one in a pot that I can set up high on a fence post. Which will probably make good bird food.... argh.... !

The more I read as you wrote your last post the more I thought it was time to pick! Sometimes a little green happens- amount of sunlight is a huge factor. Othertimes it seems as if Eggplant has a mind of it's own and just does what it wants to do!

MMmmmmm enjoy your Eggplant though! And that's GOOD that you don't have to share. *GOBBLE* The more for you!

Remember, the more often you pick, the more that will grow!

Sincerely,
Shanbear

Lakegran:



Happy growing! You seem like you're on a roll!

Deborah!

Lol. Thanks, a laugh is always good! I have Jack Rabbits where I'm from- they are seriously the size of small dogs (think a Miniature Schnauzer size) And if you see them eating your garden, they look at you and keep munching! It's like their grinning thinking "so... want a bite too?" It's funny. I've lost quite a few plants to this. Their cute though!

I think high up on your fence might work.... Hmmmm.... can you give me a day to post and I'll come back tomorrow with a few suggestions on where to grow your Eggplant. (Container wise.) I know a few ways but I just want to double check.

As for only buying one plant- good idea. Some plants grow up to 12 eggplants so you'll have plenty!

Take Care & I'll See You Tomorrow!

That'll be great, Shanbear !

Good Afternoon, Deborah:

Sincerely,
Shanbear

Shanbear ! What a fabulous post ! Thanks for all the great info !
I think the way to do this and still get some fruit, is like you suggest, up high but not too high.
I'd freak out to have eggplants on the plant !
Is eggplant something that could be eaten raw, like chopped in salad?

Well, my eggplant has been consumed... by me! I definitely left it on the plant too long; the seeds were kind of hard, and didn't really soften up much during cooking. And the flesh was kind of green, so it looked unripe, but I know those seeds would have been softer sooner. It's kind of like it was going in reverse!

But, most importantly, it was delicious. I fried it up last night and ate a couple pieces then, and made rest into E. Parmesan for lunch.

There are more blooms on the plant now, so hopefully some will set fruit, and this time I'll pick them when they're smaller.

Thanks for all the wonderful eggplant info y'all!!!

Good Afternoon, Deborah:

I love our little chats! It's nice to see your reply when I come here in the afternoons!

As for eating eggplant raw, you just wouldn"t want to. It doesn"t taste good & the mushy texture is even worse when raw. A Did You Know Fact...

Sincerely,
Shanbear

Valerie!

I'm happy it tasted good for the most part! Eggplant can be tricky if you don't watch it... like said in a previous post, the amount of sunlight is a HUGE factor. If it didn't get it's minimun 5 hours a day of direct sunlight, stuff like green spots happen. Picking on the smaller side is just smart; you're making sure the fruit will be the tastiest plus more growth in the future... nothing but good can happen. Thank you for posting your orginal post, I think a lot of people learned from it!

Take care & keep in touch ok?!

Shanbear