Harvest eggplant young as soon as the skin becomes glossy . The flesh of young eggplant will be more tender and the seeds smaller. The plant will produce more fruit if kept picked.
Here is what I ran into. depending on the variety, most eggplants are ready for harvest about 65 to 80 days after transplanting from nursery seedlings. If you grow eggplants from seed, expect to wait 100 to 120 days. In addition to looking for glossy skin, gently press your finger into the eggplant.
Pick eggplant when they begin to lose their glossy sheen (or before) . Later pickings will produce fruit that show seed development. In some varieties, like Black Beauty (IME), bitterness can occur with the seeds. Picking size will be dependent on growing conditions.
Moreover, how do you know when to pick eggplant?
I learned you’ll be able to determine when to begin the eggplant harvest by just looking at the fruit . Once you’ve determined that it’s time to start the eggplant harvest, wear gloves and long sleeves, as the eggplant stem has prickles, which can irritate the skin.
When should you harvest eggplants?
Eggplants are relatively easy to grow in home gardens, which is why it is often among the first crops of beginners. As a rule of thumb, you must harvest eggplants when they are still in their unripe stage . One clear sign of their readiness is their dark purple and glossy skin.
One source claimed that Harvesting eggplants should occur when the inner flesh is cream colored, fruits are firm and before seeds are visible. Learning when to harvest eggplants may require cutting into the fruit to check the color of the flesh and the size of the seeds. Skin color and size of the fruit will also determine when the eggplant harvest should begin.
How do you store eggplant after picking?
Rinse the fruit clean, pat it dry with a kitchen towel, and place it in a perforated plastic bag to keep it from drying out. Store eggplants in a room with high humidity to preserve texture and flavor and avoid dehydration. The optimal temperature for storing eggplant is 55°F (13°C). At 55°F, eggplants will keep for 1 to 2 weeks .
Do eggplants need to be picked off the vine?
These do not require further ripening off the vine. Eggplants that have been left on the vine a little too long will not grow larger than usual but will surely lose their glossy finish. Like when under ripe, over ripe eggplants have a bitter flavor and are chewy.
How big do eggplants get?
Those in the photo are average size sitting on an upturned 5 gallon bucket. About 6 inches long 4 inches in diameter. Pick early, they get seedy when they begin to mature (grow dull in color). They get fairly large under good conditions . But like all eggplants pick before they lose their shine.
One more question we ran across in our research was “How long does it take for an eggplant to grow?”.
One source stated that Eggplant is a warm-season plant packed with dietary fibers and other nutrients. Like most other plants that love the warmth, it is a perennial fruit that requires a steady supply of full sun and water. You can expect a good harvest within 16 to 24 weeks when planted in a growing zone with an ideal climate.