A classic aubergine with large, bright violet fruits that stand out both in the garden and on the plate.
About the variety. 'Black Beauty' produces globular, flattened fruits of deep violet with glossy skin, on plants 60–80 cm tall. Yields are very high and the fruits are prized for their firm flesh, excellent fried or marinated in olive oil.
Indicative windows; adjust them to your local climate.
Suitable for pots
Growing guide
How to grow black beauty aubergine?
A step-by-step growing guide, from sowing to harvest.
Sowing
Sow in trays eight to ten weeks before planting out, half a centimetre deep, with the compost between 25 °C and 30 °C. Like pepper it is slow to germinate and fails without bottom heat. Prick out into individual pots and plant outside only once nights are above 15 °C, because early cold checks the plant for weeks. In short summer regions grow it under glass or in a tunnel. Plant at the same depth it was in the pot, because, unlike tomato, it does not root along the stem. When the plant is about 30 centimetres tall, pinch out the tip so it branches and add a stake, because the fruit is heavy.
Soil
It wants deep, fertile, warm and free draining soil with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. It likes soils that warm up quickly, such as sandy ground improved with compost. Cold heavy soil sets the plant back in a way that is hard to recover from. Rotate on a four year cycle with crops outside the nightshade family.
Climate
It is the most heat hungry of the nightshades. It needs 22 °C to 30 °C and full sun; below 15 °C it stops entirely and the flowers drop. It also suffers in strong wind, which breaks the branches. On the Atlantic coast, with cool nights and morning fog, pick the sunniest spot sheltered from wind and space the plants well so air moves through. Inland in Iberia heat is the limiting factor: in weeks above 35 °C the plant stops setting fruit and light shade over midday pays off. In northern France and in Germany a greenhouse, a tunnel or a south facing wall pays off, planting out only after mid May. Where summers are short, always choose the shorter cycle varieties and start them early in a heated tray.
Fertilisation
Work two to three kilos of rotted compost or mature manure into each square metre before planting and add a handful of bone meal or wood ash for phosphorus and potassium. Once growth is away, feed with a liquid organic fertiliser every two or three weeks, moving to a higher potassium formula as cropping begins. Avoid excess nitrogen, which gives lush leaves, a poor crop and a lot of aphids.
Watering
Water generously and regularly through the whole cycle, always at the base. Water shortage makes the flesh tough and bitter; excess rots the roots. A straw mulch is close to essential in an Iberian summer to keep the roots cool.
Weed control
Hand weed in the first weeks, while the plant is small and loses every contest for light and water. Once it is established, mulch with five to seven centimetres of straw, dried grass or leaves: it holds weeds back, keeps moisture in and stops rain splashing soil onto the lower leaves, which is how most diseases begin. Always hoe shallowly so you do not cut the roots running just under the surface.
Pest control
Colorado potato beetle and red spider mite are the most destructive pests, followed by aphids, whitefly and thrips. Pick the beetles and their orange egg clusters off by hand from the start and apply Bacillus thuringiensis var. tenebrionis if numbers build. Red spider mite settles in dry heat, above all under cover: raise air humidity, wash the leaves and use neem oil. Potassium soap controls aphids and whitefly.
Diseases
Verticillium wilt is the most serious disease: the plant wilts in the middle of the day, recovers at night and finally dies. There is no treatment and it is avoided with long rotations and free draining soil. Powdery mildew and botrytis appear in closed humid conditions, above all in a poorly ventilated greenhouse. Collar rot comes from planting into waterlogged ground or too deep: plant at the same depth it was in the pot.
Harvest
Pick when the skin is glossy and firm and the fruit gives slightly under pressure. Dull skin and dark seeds mean it is past its point and has turned bitter. Always cut with scissors or a knife, because the stalk is woody and pulling damages the plant. Picking early and often keeps the plant producing to the end of the season. The reference colour is dark purple, and that is what tells you it is ready.
