How to Know If an Eggplant Is Ripe to Pick

Harvest your eggplant before it fully matures.

Eggplant is a popular vegetable for the home garden. While you might brag about your supersized homegrown pumpkins, do not apply this goal to eggplants. An eggplant is less tender and flavorful when it reaches its full size. For optimum culinary uses, harvest the eggplant when it is between half to two-thirds its full potential size. Harvest eggplants when they reach about 6 inches in length.

Things You'll Need

• Knife or pruning shears

Instructions

1. Schedule the harvest about 145 days after you plant the eggplant seeds. If you started with seedlings, plan to harvest about 70 days after you set the seedlings in the garden.

2. Look for eggplants with dark purple, shiny skins. They should be firm to the touch. If they feel soft or spongy, they are overripe.

3. Cut eggplants from the vine when they are between 6 to 8 inches long. If eggplants are left to fully mature and become overripe, their skins become dull.

Tips & Warnings

• Plan to eat your eggplant soon after harvest, as it does not store well.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Watch your Garden Grow, Eggplant
• University of Arizona Cooperative Extension: The Elegant Eggplant
• "Vegetables and Fruits"; James Crockett; 1972