First time veggie gardener here. I planted a variety of veggies last Spring and so far, so good. But I had never planted eggplant and carrots and have no idea when I should pick them?
Do I need to actually see the eggplant and carrot before I pick them or are can they be picked when they reach a certain size?
I planted in May and right now they are pretty big. The carrot plants are at least 12-16 inches high and very full, but I do not see any carrots.
The eggplants are also very full but again, I see nothing
Help. I'd hate to lose great veggies because of ignorance on my part
*Carrots are roots, so you won't see them.
*Carrots can actually be harvested (pulled or dug up) at any time, but if you do it too early, the carrot is too small to be worth eating.
*The carrot seed packet should tell you how many days it will take from seed planting to maturity for that variety. Generally 55-75 days. Hopefully you kept the seed packet and noted the date you planted the carrot seeds. :-)
*If not, guess when 60 days have passed since you planted, and check one of the average sized plants. Feel around in the dirt, or scrape a little dirt away from the base of a carrot plant until you find the root. If it seems big enough, pull it and see. If not, replace the dirt, wait a week and try again.
*You don't have to harvest them all at the same time; you can pull them as you need them. Most varieties keep pretty well in the ground, especially during cool weather.
Eggplants:
*Eggplants are fruits. The plants will produce blossoms (usually purple). If a blossom is pollinated, a fruit will form where the blossom was. If the blossom is not pollinated, it will simply fall off and there will be no eggplant.
Are your plants blooming? If not, and the plants seem healthy and are growing well, the plants may not simply not be mature enough to bloom yet. Eggplants need a long growing season, preferably with lots of hot weather and plenty of sun. They are heavy feeders, too.
*If your plants are blooming, but there is no fruit forming, your blossoms are probably not getting pollinated. Pollination is usually accomplished by bees. If there are no bees, or they can't get to your plants, you can try hand-pollinating by moving pollen from flower to flower with very soft brush.
*Eggplants can be picked at any size, so pick them when you think they are big enough. If the skin starts to get dull, the fruit is getting too ripe. Pick it and either eat it or discard it. Leaving ripe fruit on the plant will discourage future fruit production.
*The fruits may not get as big as the seed packet advertises, if the plant has too many fruits forming at once. If you really want big fruits, allow no more than 4 fruits to be on each plant at any time, by pinching off blossoms and new fruit. (This is more necessary for the big round varieties; thinning is not usually necessary on the long or miniature varieities). But unless you really need the fruit to be big for stuffing or showing off, I wouldn't bother. Small eggplants are just as tasty. :-)
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