How To Tell When Eggplants Are Ripe. Eggplants are common in Italian dishes like ratatouille, caponata, and lasagna. These vegetables easily absorb flavors from sauces.
Growing seasons are warm, making this plant prone to light freezing and extreme cold. After four months of temperatures between 60 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit, eggplants can reach their ideal climate.
Plants should be started indoors in cooler spring climates before transplanting outdoors. The roots of eggplants reach out horizontally instead of deep into the ground like larger plants in city gardens, making them ideally suited for containers.
How To Tell When Eggplants Are Ripe
The following discussion discusses how to determine when eggplants are ripe.
Tell If The Eggplant Is Ripe
Eggplants are not left to fully ripen before being eaten. In fact, it’s actually the opposite – they are actually eaten while they’re still unripe fruits.
This is because ripe Eggplants have a dull purple color and a feel similar to the outer skin of a banana’s peel while the lighter purple skin that surrounds your eggplant is what makes them especially appealing.
Also, if you press hard on a ripe eggplant, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to restore its shape back to its original form like you would if you pressed hard on an unripe one.
The reason most people don’t want to buy eggplants that are about to turn fully ripe is that they get woody and very bitter.
Planting Eggplant
In rows three feet apart, with two feet between plants. Protect seedlings that are susceptible to cutworms with a paper collar. One plant is capable of producing 4 average-sized fruits.
You should make sure that the soil temperature in the outdoor area is at least 55 degrees before transplanting. Otherwise, the plants will become stunted, turn yellow, and become slow to bear.
Difficulties growing eggplants are often related to weather conditions. Cover them with plastic jugs until the leaves poke through the top and place them in the hottest, sunniest spot possible.
Prune back new blossoms as frost approaches to make sure plant nutrients benefit the remaining fruits.
Picking Ripe Eggplants
If you want to save seeds from your eggplant for replanting, you should know that it takes at least three months of growing time in order for seeds to fully ripen. When ready, pick a ripe eggplant and cut it open to retrieve the seeds inside.
Take your seeds off the pulp, submerge them into warm water, and strain through cheesecloth or muslin. After fifteen minutes of soaking, take the seeds out and lay them out on a plate or paper towel to dry away from direct sunlight.
Maturation And Climate Of Eggplants
Eggplants are warm-weather vegetables that can be grown as perennials in some climates, though most gardeners treat them as short-season annuals instead.
Depending on the variety, eggplants typically reach maturity about 90 to 110 days after transplanting from seedlings; if you grow from seed, wait about 120 to 135 days.
Size Of Eggplant When Picking
The size of the fruit may vary depending on various contributing factors. It is particularly important for the plant to receive water and nourishment. Additionally, you should consider the weather conditions as well as the variety that you have planted.
Most eggplants range between 3 to 6 inches in length this also depends if you are growing a larger variant in which case they can go up to 10 to 12 inches in length.
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