Fruit that has lost its shine and has begun to change color is overripe and most likely bitter. Purple varieties take on a bronze appearance when overripe, while white eggplants begin to turn yellow. Press the fruit with your finger. If the skin springs back, the eggplant is ready for picking.
Why are my eggplants pale?
If you’ve never grown a specific variety before, yellow could simply be the color of the fruit on your plant. Light colored eggplants are prone to yellowing when they’re approaching an over-ripe state. If this color is appearing on your larger eggplants, but sparing the smaller ones, try harvesting the fruits earlier.
What does an overwatered eggplant look like?
An overwatered eggplant will also show symptoms of this problem on its leaves. Look for leaves that feel wet, soft, and limp. More symptoms of overwatering include premature leaf drop of new growth and soft, brown, or mushy roots that prevent the plant from taking water, causing leaf curl and wilting.
Why are my eggplants light purple?
Many eggplants will be pale when they first start to grow, but they will still reflect the color that they are going to grow into as the fruit gets bigger and ripens. A dark purple eggplant will usually be dark purple as soon as it starts growing.
Why is my eggplant not black?
Eggplants naturally turn yellow/brown when they fully ripen, as purple eggplants are technically underripe fruit. However, fully ripe eggplants are not really edible, so pick them before they turn yellow. Note that some eggplant varieties are naturally yellow when unripe, too.
What is wrong with my eggplant?
There are several eggplant diseases that affect these crops. Some of the most common include blossom end rot, wilt diseases, and various types of blight. Many of these eggplant diseases can be eliminated or prevented by practicing crop rotation, reducing weed growth, and providing adequate spacing and uniform watering.
How much water do eggplants need?
Water eggplant deeply and infrequently, applying 1-2 inches per week. Use drip irrigation if possible. Mulching around the plant will conserve soil moisture and reduce weed growth. Irrigate so that moisture goes deeply into the soil.
Can eggplants get too much sun?
☀️Eggplants love and need full sun to thrive. If you live in an area with intense sun, make sure the fruits have adequate shade from the leaves to avoid sunscald on your eggplants. If they’re getting too much sun, you can use shade cloth shade cloth to protect the fruit.
Do eggplants like a lot of water?
In hot climates, young plants need to be watered twice a week, to a depth of 12 inches. Eggplants do not like standing water, so mature plants should be watered deeply and infrequently. But do not allow the leaves to wilt during the day.
How do you fix Overwatered eggplant?
If your eggplants have been overwatered, the best thing to do is to let them dry out. Not completely, of course, but give them some time to recover without having waterlogged roots. As long as it hasn’t progressed to root rot, this will help.
Should I prune eggplants?
ANSWER: Eggplants, like fellow nightshade family member tomatoes benefit from staking and pruning. In fact, eggplant actually produces more fruit when pruned. Pruning eggplant can also improve the fruit quality of the plant, and decrease the plant’s susceptibility to disease.
What is a good fertilizer for eggplant?
Start by working lots of compost into the soil, plus 2 to 3 pounds of a complete fertilizer like 15-5-10 per 100 sq. ft. If you prefer, use an organic fertilizer like blood meal, well-rotted manure, cottonseed meal or bat guano. Burpee’s Big Boy Tomato Food is also super for eggplants.
How do you keep eggplant color?
Boil a pot of water and add in a couple of squeezes of lemon juice to help the eggplant retain its color. Fully submerge the eggplants in the boiling water and boil for four minutes.
How can we stop the eggplant from changing color?
Add a hint of acidity (lemon or vinegar) to the cooking water. This will prevent discoloration during the cooking process. Another way to reduce the pH is to sprinkle salt over eggplant prior to cooking. This will ward off browning, as it somewhat protects the eggplant against oxidation.
Is it safe to eat yellow eggplant?
In any event, your eggplants are edible regardless of color, though specimens that are yellow because they are overripe will not have the best taste as would an eggplant picked at the peak of ripeness.
What is bacterial wilt of eggplant?
Bacterial wilt is a major devastating soil-borne disease, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, that impedes eggplant cultivation worldwide. The progress in developing eggplant varieties or hybrids possessing bacterial wilt resistance is encouraging.
How many eggplants do you get per plant?
The standard eggplant produces egg-shaped, glossy, purple-black fruit. ‘Black Beauty’ is the traditional eggplant size. One plant produces 4 to 6 large rounded fruit.
How do you treat bacterial wilt in eggplant?
To manage bacterial wilt of eggplant, multiple measures such as use of resistant cultivars, grafting seedlings with wild rootstock, crop rotation, soil fumigation, and chemical controls have been recommended.
Can you overwater eggplants?
Eggplants suffering from over-watering and drought eventually die. Over-watered eggplant roots rot, which prevents plants from taking up water and causes wilting. Under-watered plants also wilt, grow poorly and develop pithy fruits.
How do you know if you are overwatering your plants?
Signs Of Overwatered Plants: What To Look For
- If a plant is overwatered, it will likely develop yellow or brown limp, droopy leaves as opposed to dry, crispy leaves (which are a sign of too little water).
- If the base of the plant stem begins to feel mushy or unstable, you’ve overwatered.
How long do eggplant plants live?
How long do eggplant plants live? Eggplant plants can live up to three years in very warm climates, like zones 10-12. But in most regions they’re grown as annuals, and only live for one season.