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Vegetable Gardening

When to harvest 'Little Fingers' Eggplant

14 years ago

This is my first year growing "Little Fingers" Eggplant. I'm clueless as to when it is right for harvest. So far I have harvested two (at about 4" long) because their bottoms were touching the ground, but they feel a bit "dense". I have not yet opened and used them yet.

Any clues?

thank you!

Donna

panting and sweating in NY, where summer has finally arrived

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Comments (5)

farmerdilla
14 years ago
You can harvest them at any time up until they begin to lose thier gloss. 4-6 inches is probably best. It is a small fruit, probably 8 inches max.
cyrus_gardner
14 years ago
I have no experience with this kink of eggplant. But I have japanese type. Usually it will take about two weeks for small eggplants to be harvestable.
Now that you have picked one at a given size, wait and pick one when it is a little bigger. But generally if the color is consistant aand shiny, you can pick eggplants but then you may not get a big bang for the buck. It is just like cucumbers; smaller ones are tastier. Unlike tomatoes, eggplants do not need to get ripe. If they get ripe then the seeds will harden and will become more spongy.
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Hmm...I don't use the soil or fertilizers sold by the EB people. This box was filled with MG potting mix with 2 cups of pulverized limestone mixed throughout. I used granular 10-10-10 for the fertilizer band. This is exactly the same setup I've always used and I haven't had a problem with undersized eggplant fruits before. Mine have never gotten quite to the huge sizes you see in the stores, but they were plenty big enough for slicing and stuffing. By the way, the eggplant is setting fruit well. Time will tell if these later fruits are also small; the one fruit was from a bloom that opened almost two weeks before any others did. (Maybe it was inadequately pollinated?) Also, the bell peppers I am growing in the adjacent Earthboxes with exactly the same setup are doing great, lush and healthy, loaded up with nice big peppers. I can't say how they taste yet, since they are still green. You could be right that the eggplant is lacking phosphorus, but I am not sure why the problem would crop up this year when it hasn't before. If the next few fruit are also small, I can supplement phosphorous and see if it makes a difference in the later fruits. Thanks for the suggestion.
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holly-2006
14 years ago
Donna,

I'm also growing Little Fingers this year - supposedly for a friend.

I harvested them at about 4", cut them in half lengthwise, and marinated them with tomato slices in olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt and some fresh herbs.

Tossed them on the BBQ and man, they were GOOD! Never again will I turn my snoot up at eggplant.

I was very pleased that they contained next to no seeds.

My friend is just going to have to move along now, and find another supplier. lol
Earth Magic
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
As soon as you want.

They start off quite small.

Most of mine were only thumb size.

The ones I left on too long were never bitter.

It's a really nice type to grow, a bit small for my garden, but they won't outgrow a balcony or small yard.

Very prolific and didn't mind the cold too much.

Low heat in a covered pan with extra virgin olive oil, they make an incredible jam
Labradors
2 years ago
I LOVE this variety and find that it is very forgiving. I've let them get quite big - probably 8" long, yet they still taste excellent and never bitter. Sadly, my garden gets infested with cucumber beetles, so I had to stop growing Little Fingers, and the variety that I grew instead was not forgiving at all :(.

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