Cloud Nine Eggplant - Has anyone grown this variety?

This is the first time I've grown any kind of eggplant, and I really wanted Rosa Bianca but all the nurseries were sold out of it (or never carried it), so I bought a Cloud Nine eggplant.

Now... the growing instructions say to harvest when they get to be 7" in size and (ostensibly) they're supposed to be white. However, I have three of them that have turned almost a lemon yellow color, and they're nowhere near 7" long! Is this normal? Has this happened to anyone else? Are they OK to eat even though they're yellow?

Thanks for your help!

I have grown Cloud Nine but don't remember exactly how large they got. But I don't think I got many that were 7 inches. Depending on soil, weather and fertilization, eggplants may not get as large as the package says. I would cut at least one and see if it contains a lot of seed. Then you know they are over mature but can still be eaten. I don't remember mine ever turning a lemon yellow color but a little yellowish isn't abnormal. You are in a completely different climate zone so they may have not reached full size before maturing. Eggplants picked when smaller are usually more tender so try some of the white ones that are small.

When they turn yellow, they are getting ripe and of poor quality since eggplant like cucumbers are used in the immature stage. Cloud Nine is not a large eggplant, pick them before they lsoe their "shine". They get a dull flat white look just before they start yellowing.

Thank you both, gardadore and Farmerdill. I'll definitely check them for shine - and pick before they start to turn yellow. I guess the three of them that are yellow will be consigned to the compost bin! LOL

you could have saved the seeds from the yellow ones paul

i experiended the same thing when i grew them two years ago. when they were a few inches longthey were as white as milk but soon after they lost their shine and got that yellow look. i dumped the yellow ones and just picked the white ones even though they were maybe 4 or 5 inches long.

I love all the white eggplants, less seeds, thinner skin and sweeter flesh - IMO. I have grown Cloud 9, Casper and this year Gretel.