When to Pick Black Beauty Eggplant
Make sure your Black Beauty eggplants are ripe for picking. Examine the fruit for deep, purple, glossy skin. Also, press your finger on the skin, checking for firmness. Your Black Beauty eggplants are tender and flavorful when picked while still young. If they’re allowed to grow to maturity, the skin becomes dull, and the flesh becomes spongy and bitter.
Preparations for Picking Black Beauty Eggplant
Before picking your eggplants, wear a long-sleeved shirt and garden gloves. The thorny stems on the eggplants can irritate your skin. Protecting your arms and hands also prevents any fungus, disease or pests from transferring onto your skin.
Necessary Tools for Picking Eggplants
You only need one tool for picking Black Beauty eggplants without damaging the foliage or stems. This tool is a sharp pair of garden shears or pruners. Disinfect your pruners before cutting your eggplants, in case of any disease or fungus left on the blades from previous use.
Cutting with shears is the safest method for picking Black Beauty eggplant because the stems are tough. It’s difficult to snap the fruit off the plant. If you try snapping the eggplant off the stem, you run the risk of pulling the whole plant out of the soil.
Steps for Harvesting Black Beauty Eggplants
Follow these steps for picking Black Beauty eggplants without harming the plant, foliage or fruit:
- Cradle the eggplant in your palm, gently lifting it, and exposing the stem.
- Locate the calyx, which is the part of the flower attached to the top of the eggplant.
- Cleanly cut the stem above the calyx.
How often to Pick Black Beauty Eggplants
Pick your eggplants as soon as they’re ripe, usually once or twice weekly, depending on your crop production. If you can’t use your eggplants right away, you can freeze fresh eggplant for future use.
The more eggplants you pick, the more your Black Beauties will produce. Picking actually stimulates your plants to produce more fruit. If you leave your eggplants until they’re mature, they become overripe, and your crops growth will stagnate.
