Eggplant
Eggplant - the most thermophilic among solanaceous cultures. Unlike tomato and pepper, eggplant - a one-year culture and in the wild unknown. The homeland of eggplants is Eastern India. Hence the requirements to the conditions of growth.
What do eggplants like? Rich in organic matter, moisture and air permeable soil with a neutral reaction, sufficient moistening of soil and air, increased doses of nitrogen, sun, heat. For their growth and development, a temperature of 23-27 degrees is needed. Eggplants die already at zero temperature, and at 12-14 degrees cease to grow and develop. If for a long time the temperature drops to 6-8 degrees, irreversible physiological changes will occur, which will lead to loss of the crop.
In open ground they grow only in the south, in the zone of the tropics and subtropics. In the non-chernozem zone and in the Northwest they are grown only in greenhouses. In food, fruits that do not reach physiological ripeness are used. You can grow eggplants from your seeds, but then the fruits must fully ripen on the bush until soft, then lie still until the ripe state. From them it is necessary to take out the seeds of dark beige or light brown color, dry them on paper and put them into sachets for storage.
What do eggplants do not like? Poor, dense or condensing after watering acidic soils, watering with cold water, cold nights, sudden temperature changes, prolonged cooling, drought.
Selection of a variety of aubergines
In regions with a cool or very short summer, I recommend planting eggplants on the warmed ground under a double shelter, this will allow them to be planted earlier. In addition, in these regions, early and early varieties and hybrids should be raised, since the maturation period is about 10 days. Late eggplants are usually larger, but for their growth and development it takes about 150 days. In the Northwest, eggplants should be planted in seedlings in the middle or late February to plant them in greenhouses on the twentieth of May. Early varieties and hybrids can be planted in seedlings in early-mid-March.
In the Non-Black Earth region, eggplants can be planted in the greenhouse as early as the beginning of May, and therefore they should be sown in seedlings at the very beginning of February, early varieties - in early March. In more southerly regions the aubergines are planted in the soil already in April, but since the seedlings must be about 40 days old, it can also be sown in the beginning or the middle of February.
Varieties and eggplant hybrids are many, the greatest interest for cold regions, in particular for the North-West, is represented by early ripening varieties. Usually they have small( about 10-150 g) fruit, which are tied one after another, and therefore they manage to get up to 5-7 pieces from the bush. The convenience of these varieties is also in the fact that they are usually undersized, so they can be planted in a greenhouse to tall tomatoes.
This is a variety of Robin Hood, Czech early, Kraslivik red - small, but very prolific;funny round white-fruited Ping-Pong hybrid, but there are also larger, "serious", varieties and hybrids: Solara, Bravo, Lolita is especially good Behemoth. Such well-known, especially large eggplants, such as Black handsome, Nutcracker, Giselle, work well in regions with hot summers. In regions with a cold summer they are grown only by craftsmen, and even then in heated greenhouses or heated houses, at least with the help of hundred-watt lamps.
Rule of planting aubergine
Eggplant has a large foliage and a weak root system, so it does not tolerate transplants. It is best to pour it, like pepper, directly into pots or other containers in a volume of 0.5-1 l, in order not to dive. Fill the pots with prepared soil mixture, such as for tomatoes and peppers, moisten, compact. First you need to germinate the seeds, then gently put on the surface of the soil one sprouted seed in each pot and sprinkle on top of dry soil with a layer of 1.5-2 cm, compact again. Cover with a film or glass and put in a warm place.
At a temperature of 28-30 degrees the eggplant rises after 10 days, at 20-22 degrees - after two weeks. At a prolonged temperature above 40 degrees, the seeds can die, and at temperatures below 18 degrees, do not ascend. When the sprouting eyelet appears, the seedlings should be placed in a light cool place for 5-7 days, then transferred to a warmer place. You can sow the seeds dry in moist soil and then raspikirovat on glasses or pots, when the seedling will have two real leaves.
Growing aubergine seedlings
When picking, the plant should not be taken for the stalk, but for the cotyledonous leaves. Lower the roots and part of the stalk into the funnel so that the roots do not bend. If the central root is too long - it can be shortened. Eggplant transplant into the soil on the cotyledons. The soil around the plants should be squeezed, poured and put away from the light for 2-3 days, until the seedling does not take root, then it must be transferred under a fluorescent lamp. You can pick up seedlings in "diapers" from the film.
Top dressing should be done from the moment of emergence of the eyelets. The best feeding is Uniflor-growth. Make a solution( 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water) and constantly water the eggplant not with water, but with this solution. You can use the fertilizer "Florist" or "Aquadon-micro".Or do regular fertilizing once a week, using the fertilizer "Kemira-lux" or any other complex fertilizer( 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water).
Transplanting eggplant seedlings into a greenhouse
Do not water 2-3 days before transferring to a site of seedlings. Then it will be easier to relocate.
Transplant seedlings in the greenhouse must be done at the age of 70-80 days, quenching is not required. In the southern regions, the seedlings are planted in the soil at the age of 35-40 days, pre-tempering it in the air for 3-4 hours for 2-3 days.
Before planting seedlings, make holes, fill them with 1 tbsp.spoon azofoski, pour a full hole of water and, as soon as the water soaks into the soil, plant the seedlings together with the clod of earth. Seedlings 2-3 hours before transplant should be well watered. Transplanted plants pour, with strong sun pritenite for 2-3 days and do not water a week. The eggplant settles slowly, about 20 days.
Feeding and watering of eggplants
Agronorm( N + R + K) - the total removal of the basic mineral elements from each square meter of planting with a crop for a season - the eggplant is only 15 grams, that is, it is a small lover of food, and it should not be overfed. Balance( the percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the agronomist) 47: 13: 40. That is, it refers to the nitrogen-loving plants, but it also needs potassium, but to the phosphorus it has very moderate requirements.
Usually it is recommended to do the feeding 2-3 weeks after the transplant. Enough 3 tbsp.spoons without top of azofosca for 10 liters of water, at a rate of 0.5 liters per plant. After tying fruit, feed the plants with manure infusion( 1: 10), chicken manure( 1: 20) or infusion of weeds( 1: 5).
It is much better to feed the eggplant weekly, pouring under each plant with watering 0.5 liters of solution: 1 tbsp.spoon azofoski + 2 tsp "Uniflor-micro" for 10 liters of water. It is possible to add to this solution 1 l of infusion of weeds, but only after tying the first fruit, otherwise the eggplant can lose flowers.
When transplanting seedlings in a greenhouse, you can add a spoonful of complex fertilizer AVA or "Apion" to the well of l / h of the spoon of the complex fertilizer AVA and do nothing more for the whole season, but additionally water the eggplants after the first fruit is injected with infusions of weeds or manure( 1 liter per 10 liters of water) every 2 weeks.
Eggplants are watered abundantly, but do not over-moisten soil and air, much like tomatoes, so they can be grown together. But it is possible to grow aubergines and together with cucumbers or pepper. Water for irrigation should be warm( at least 20 degrees), watering done 2 times a week, and in hot weather - every other day. However, if you plant 2 wells into the hole.spoon prepared from the "Aquadon" gel, then watering can be reduced to once in 2-3 weeks. Do not confuse the gel "Aquadon" with mineral fertilizer "Aquadon-micro".
Eggplant cultivation
Eggplants in the greenhouses poorly tie fruit, usually the first ovaries fall off, so do not be too lazy and pollinate them by hand or immediately with the appearance of the first buds, sprinkle with the drug "Buton", "Ovary" or "Gibbersib".These drugs contain the hormone gibberellin, which, under normal fertilization, the seed that starts growing grows itself, is a signal for building up the ovary. But, if fertilization has not occurred and the seed does not develop, the hormone gibberellin is not enough and the ovaries fall off. Spraying plants with gibberellin, you deceive the plant - it immediately begins to build up ovaries without fertilization. There is also such a folk remedy: it is necessary to prune the pestle of the opened flower with a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
Eggplant hills, like tomatoes, the soil is loosened, after watering - mulch.
The formation of eggplant is the regular elimination of stepchildren. Lower leaves to the first fetus should be gradually cleaned. If the bush is strong, then you can leave your stepchild and even two. But if the bush is weak, then leave only one stem. After tying 4-5 fruits, the top of the plant is pricked.
Since unripe fruit is used for food, the harvest is removed every 2 weeks, and in the south - after 7-8 days, so that the grown fruits do not interfere quickly pour the following ovaries.
Store the removed fruit in a cool room. To keep the fruits longer, they, as well as the fruits of pepper and tomato, can be twice coated on all sides with whipped egg whites from a fresh egg, using a shaving brush. This will protect the fruit from loss of moisture and aging.
Phases of growth and development of eggplant
At a temperature of 25 degrees, the seeds germinate in 10-12 days, the first leaf appears about a week after emergence, and after 40-60 days( depending on the variety) the first bud is then tied.
The flower opens in a week and blooms for about 10 days. After fertilization, the fetus grows fairly quickly, and after 2 weeks it can be eaten. In cool weather, the growth of fruit significantly slows down and at a temperature of about 14 degrees it stops completely.
Diseases and problems
Of the most dangerous diseases - phytophthora and tobacco mosaic. The most suitable preparation in the greenhouse is "Zircon" or "Phytosporin", in the open ground - any copper containing preparation for tillage before planting and 1-2 times after rooting of seedlings. Of the pests the most dangerous are the whitefly, the spider mite, the aphid and the Colorado beetle. To use anti-whitefly and colorado beetroot in greenhouses can not, therefore, against whitefly, hang glue traps or spray plants with "Fitoverm" or "Iskra-bio", and collect the beetle and its larva by hand. In the open ground you can use "Confidor" against the whitefly and "Sonnet" - against the Colorado beetle. The advantage of these drugs in comparison with others is that you only need one spraying per season( once you have discovered the pest), as well as their novelty, so that pests have not yet adapted to them.
If the leaves of the eggplant are pointed at an acute angle to the stem, this indicates a lack of phosphorus;leaves curl upwards, then a brown border appears on the edges - about potassium starvation;leaves brighten - a sign of nitrogen starvation;leaves of marble-green - magnesium starvation;leaves are mosaic, yellow-green - either a lack of microelements, or a viral disease - a tobacco mosaic. First, make top dressing on the leaves with the "Uniflor-micro" solution( 2 tablespoons per water whirl), and if in a week the situation does not change, then the plant should be removed and burned.
If the fruit appears bright spots, which then begin to rot, - this is the vertex rot of the fruit. Make top dressing of potassium and calcium nitrate( 1 tablespoon of each fertilizer per liter of water, 0.5 liters per plant), increase watering.
Fruits rot in place of attachment of the stem and fall off - fruit rot. It is necessary to spray the plants, including fruits, with the solution of the preparation "Phytosporin"( you can use "Zircon"),
Typical failures in the cultivation of eggplant
Flowers fall off, the ovaries do not tie. There can be several reasons. Excessive nitrogen fertilizing after planting the seedlings before the appearance of the first fruit, watering with cold water, excessive humidity( above 80%) in the greenhouse, a sharp change in temperature during the day and night( it is necessary to do night warming of the greenhouses), prolonged cooling or prolonged rains( should give foliar top dressingcalcium nitrate - 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water).In addition, the drying of the soil can also be the cause of the discharge of flowers( watering).Weak plants usually also discard flowers( sprinkle in the evening "Epin-exstra" or "Novosil" to strengthen their own immune system of the plant).
So, eggplant, a lover of sun and heat, in cold weather easily dumps flowers and ovaries.