Black Beauty Eggplant Solanum melongena 'Black Beauty' Height: 30 inches Spacing: 18 inches
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Hardiness Zone: (annual) Group/Class: Heirloom Description: A beautiful heirloom variety, producing classic dark purple fruit that reach 6 inches long; a visually appealing selection, perfect for containers, garden beds and vegetable gardens; well balanced flavor, great for roasting, stews, stuffing and frying Edible Qualities Black Beauty Eggplant is an annual vegetable plant that is commonly grown for its edible qualities, although it does have ornamental merits as well. It produces deep purple oblong eggplants (which are technically 'berries') with creamy white flesh which are typically harvested when mature. The eggplants have a delicious taste and a firm texture. The eggplants are most often used in the following ways: Planting & Growing Black Beauty Eggplant will grow to be about 30 inches tall at maturity, with a spread of 24 inches. When planted in rows, individual plants should be spaced approximately 18 inches apart. This fast-growing vegetable plant is an annual, which means that it will grow for one season in your garden and then die after producing a crop. This plant can be integrated into a landscape or flower garden by creative gardeners, but is usually grown in a designated vegetable garden. It should only be grown in full sunlight. It does best in average to evenly moist conditions, but will not tolerate standing water. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America, and it is considered by many to be an heirloom variety. Black Beauty Eggplant is a good choice for the vegetable garden, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. With its upright habit of growth, it is best suited for use as a 'thriller' in the 'spiller-thriller-filler' container combination; plant it near the center of the pot, surrounded by smaller plants and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden.
