by Eggplant is a heat-loving crop of the Solanaceae family. It is successfully grown not only in the southern regions, but also in the central part of Russia. Compared to other Solanaceae, eggplants are more demanding of heat and soil fertility, and they tolerate picking worse.
Eggplant sowing begins in the second half of February. At first, it is recommended to sow mid-season and mid-late varieties, for which the period from germination to fruiting is 110-145 days. Early-ripening varieties and hybrids in the middle zone begin to be sown in early March, since 95-115 days pass from germination to fruiting. When planning the sowing dates, take into account the seed germination period: 10-14 days. As a rule, plants that are about 60 days old are planted in the ground.
Step 1. Selecting a variety and preparing seeds
Successful seedling cultivation begins with the selection of the variety and seed preparation. In regions with long spring frosts and short summers, early maturing varieties and hybrids should be selected: Alekseevsky, Salamander, Purple Miracle F1, Bibo F1. Mid-season varieties also ripen in protected soil: Diamond, Universal 6, Black Beauty etc. If you use your own eggplant seeds, try to sow them in the second or third year after harvesting. After four years of storage, seed germination is significantly reduced.
If the seeds are not covered with a nutrient shell, it is recommended to soak them in a biofertilizer solution containing organic growth stimulants. Dilute the fertilizer with water according to the instructions (usually 100-2 ml of liquid fertilizer is needed per 2,5 ml of water). Wrap the seeds in a cloth and lower them into the solution for several hours. Then remove them and, without rinsing, leave them to swell at a temperature of 23-25°C for hours. Make sure that the cloth remains damp.
In addition to complex biofertilizer, seeds can be soaked in an infusion of wood ash (1 teaspoon per glass of water), in aloe juice diluted with melt or drinking water in a 1:1 ratio, as well as in a solution of Fitosporin-M.
Step 2. Preparing the soil
Eggplants grow well in fertile soil with a lot of organic matter. Therefore, it is advisable to add biohumus or humus to the soil mixture for seedlings. If you buy ready-made soil, choose the one that contains these organic components. The soil for growing seedlings should be nutritious, loose, moisture-absorbing and have a neutral acidity.
If you use a homemade soil mixture, before sowing the seeds, treat it with a solution of Fitosporin-M to reduce the risk of seedlings becoming infected with black leg, root rot, etc.
Step 3. Sowing seeds
For sowing eggplants, you should use separate containers: cups, homemade oilcloth twists filled with soil, and peat pots. In plastic containers, with an excess of water, plants often get black leg. In peat pots, there is no stagnation of moisture, and a sufficient amount of oxygen reaches the roots. However, before planting seedlings in the ground, the walls of the peat pots should be carefully torn and, if possible, removed, since in the future the roots of adult plants will not be able to fully develop.
Before sowing, place the prepared containers in a tray and fill them with soil to 4/5 of their volume. Water with settled water. When it is absorbed, place the seeds in the center of each pot and cover with soil. The layer thickness should be 0,7-1 cm.
If you are not sure about the quality of the seed material, you can put not one, but two or three seeds in a pot. But after the emergence of shoots, the weaker seedlings will need to be removed.
Cover the crops with a plastic lid or film, but not tightly, as the seeds need to breathe. Place the containers with the crops in a warm place where the air temperature is 23-25°C. Carefully monitor the soil moisture: the soil should not dry out, otherwise the seeds will not germinate.
After the shoots appear, the temperature can be lowered to 22°C during the day and to 18-20°C at night. Eggplant seedlings should be in a well-lit place. If the weather is cloudy, it is recommended to provide additional lighting for the seedlings so that they do not stretch out.
Step 4. Watering and fertilizing eggplants
Eggplant seedlings need to be watered as the soil dries out. In peat pots and tablets, this should be done more often than in plastic containers. To avoid over-wetting the upper part of the soil and reduce the risk of black leg disease, you can water the seedlings through the tray. For watering, use settled water, the temperature of which is 22-24 ° C.
After the first true leaf appears, root feeding should be done. Until then, there is no point in feeding: there are enough nutrients in the soil itself. For feeding, you can use a liquid complex biofertilizer that contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, as well as important humic substances that increase the immunity and viability of seedlings. Plants absorb well such organic components as potassium humate, horse compost extract, and biohumus. Liquid root feeding ensures uniform application of nutrients.
After watering and fertilizing, as the seedlings grow, you can add soil to the pots in small portions. Such mulching will help retain moisture in the soil and promote the development of the root system.
Fertilizing of eggplant seedlings should be done every 10-14 days. Before using fertilizers, carefully read the instructions, do not exceed the application rate recommended by the manufacturer.
Step 5. Hardening off seedlings
Strengthened eggplant seedlings must be hardened: open the windows in warm weather, lower the temperature to 16-18°C at night. A week before the expected date of planting in a permanent place, the seedlings should be taken outside: first for an hour, and then gradually increase the time spent outdoors to 6-8 hours. However, during hardening, it is necessary to protect the plants from strong winds.
Eggplant seedlings are planted when warm weather sets in and the soil warms up to 13-15°C. When planting eggplants in a garden bed, you can add the bio-soil that was used when sowing the seeds to the planting holes. Soil enriched with such fertilizer provides all the opportunities for the growth of healthy, strong plants and an excellent harvest.
