The yield and planting pattern of eggplant directly depend on a number of features. This is one of the most demanding and capricious crops cultivated in central Russia and the Moscow region in terms of growing conditions.
This beloved fruit comes from sunny India. From there come the corresponding requirements for heat, light and growth conditions. The eggplant plant loves space, a large area of food for the roots, so that it has room to spread out, and then it will reward itself with a large harvest. There are a whole variety of eggplant varieties with characteristic growth characteristics: low-growing (up to 45 cm), medium-growing (45 cm - 1 m) and tall (from 1 to 3 m). They can be either compact or spreading.
Always before purchasing seeds of the variety you like, you need to evaluate the possibilities of placing it on your site. Otherwise, you can easily be left without a harvest.
In cramped conditions, but not offended - this statement is not about eggplants! How to plant them correctly even for a beginner?
There are several known schemes for planting eggplants:
- in open ground;
- in closed;
- with drip irrigation.
Let's look at each of them in more detail. Let's start with the first one - with a scheme for planting eggplants in open ground. But before planting seedlings, you need to prepare a place for planting, taking into account all the requirements of the culture. The site should be chosen to be warm, well lit throughout the day and protected from the wind.
When to plant eggplants in a greenhouse
Eggplants grow only in warm conditions: the most comfortable temperature for them is from 20 to 30 °C; at temperatures below 15 °C, growth stops, and when it cools down to 0 °C, the plants die completely. In greenhouses, especially those made of polycarbonate, ideal conditions are created for them, but even here the temperature must be carefully monitored: overheating is also harmful; in extreme heat, flowers are not pollinated and fall off.
It is difficult to name the exact time when eggplant seedlings should be planted in a greenhouse (namely seedlings: it will not be possible to grow them from seeds even in a heated greenhouse; seeds for seedlings are sown in winter). To start planting, both the seedlings and the greenhouse must be ready: both the beds in it and the temperature conditions.
Ideal seedlings meet the following conditions:
- has about 8 leaves,
- seedling height - 15–20 cm,
- the stem reaches a thickness of at least 5 mm.
The seedlings should have well-branched roots, but it is better not to see this: they must be planted with a large lump of earth, without disturbing the root system. This situation is typical for seedlings about 2.5 months old. At least, earlier than 2 months, no manipulations to remove seedlings from a box or cups are categorically recommended. Eggplants should bloom in a permanent place.
It is advisable to grow each seedling in a separate container: this way it is easier to avoid damaging the root system during transplantation
As for the temperature background, here you need to pay attention to both the air temperature in the greenhouse and the condition of the soil:
- The soil should warm up to at least 15 °C. But it’s better - up to 18–19 oC.
- The air temperature, accordingly, is in no way lower than 18 °C, and better - from 20 °C.
Of course, in a heated greenhouse such conditions can be created at any time, but if we are talking about greenhouses without heating, then the timing of planting seedlings depends on the quality of the greenhouse and the climatic characteristics of the region. In the middle zone, the desired temperature regime occurs approximately in mid-May, in the north - a little later, in the south - in April. But in the southern regions, starting somewhere from the Lower Volga, the use of greenhouses for growing eggplants is not mandatory. In general, the timing has to be adjusted depending on the current weather.
Popular varieties of eggplant from the best producers:
