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Not every gardener decides to grow eggplants in his summer cottage. This nightshade culture is characterized by its capricious character. The homeland of eggplant is distant and hot India, so it is quite difficult to grow this vegetable in our northern latitudes. But for our gardeners, nothing is impossible. The experience of many generations has shown that seedlings are the main thing in eggplant cultivation. The harvest of this capricious culture depends on how strong and healthy it is. We will describe below how to prepare eggplant seedlings and ensure their normal growth.
The benefits of eggplant
All the capriciousness of eggplant is more than offset by its benefits. The statement that eggplant contains a good half of the periodic table is absolutely not unfounded. This vegetable contains the vitamins and minerals most necessary for a person:
- fiber;
- protein;
- calcium;
- phosphorus;
- vitamins C, PP, B1, B2, B5;
- soluble sugars;
- pectin and others.
As a bonus to such a composition rich in nutrients, there is a low calorie content of eggplant. He not only will not do any harm to the figure, but will also contribute to getting rid of annoying pounds. In addition, due to the fiber included in this vegetable, eggplants have a slight diuretic effect and remove excess fluid and toxins from the body.
The nicotinic acid included in its composition will help the body of even the most inveterate smoker to cope with nicotine starvation.
"Capricious" eggplant seedlings
Problems with eggplant seedlings are quite common, which is found not only among beginners, but also experienced gardeners. Most often, after the appearance of the first shoots, eggplant plants either completely stop growing or grow very poorly. There may be several reasons for this behavior of seedlings:
- Unsuitable or poor in composition soil - eggplant seedlings with an unsuitable composition of the earth can still at least put up with it, but in a soil poor in minerals, it will not be able to grow. Pre-sowing preparation of the land and the application of fertilizers will help to avoid such problems.
- Lack of light - especially only the hatched seedlings suffer from this. If at this stage they are not provided with proper lighting, then they will stop growing.
- Root damage is the most common problem with stunted eggplant seedlings. The root system can rot if too much moisture or be damaged during transplants... In these cases, any growth promoter should be used.
- Lack of space - this reason for stunting is determined quite simply. To do this, the seedling is carefully pulled out of the pot. If its roots are colored brown, then the plant suffers from a lack of space and must be transplanted into a larger container.
To avoid such problems, eggplant seedlings must be properly planted and grown.
Preparing eggplant seedlings
This is one of the few crops that is recommended to be grown in seedlings only. This is due to the fact that eggplants have a very long period of growth and ripening, on average about 130 - 160 days, so when planting seeds immediately in the greenhouse, you can not wait for the harvest.
Preparing eggplant seedlings has a lot in common with growing pepper seedlings, but there are also a number of features.
Soil preparation
Like all nightshade crops, eggplants are very demanding on the composition of the soil. For seedlings, the soil should be light and moisture-absorbing. At the same time, it should sufficiently contain useful substances, and the acidity level should not be higher than neutral. Of course, you can use store-bought soil for the seedlings of nightshade crops, but it will be much better to prepare it yourself.
The prepared land is stored either on the balcony or in the barn.
There are two options for preparing the land for eggplant seedlings:
- An option for the "lazy" - garden soil after cabbage or cucumbers is suitable as a soil for seedlings. Do not take the land after the "relatives" of eggplant, such as peppers, tomatoes and potatoes.
- The ideal option is to mix compost humus, low-lying peat and lying sawdust in proportions of 2: 1: ½ to compose such soil. If there is clay soil on the site, then another ½ of the washed sand is added to this proportion. Moreover, if really lying sawdust is taken, then they should be washed twice with boiling water, then spilled with a solution of urea and sprinkled with wood ash. This is done so that the sawdust does not waste the nitrogen necessary for the seedlings in the process of decomposition.
Regardless of whether the soil was bought in the store or prepared on its own, before planting the seeds, it must either be spilled with boiling water with the addition of potassium permanganate, or steamed. Also, before planting seeds, it is recommended to fertilize the soil with superphosphate, wood ash, urea and potassium sulfate.
Seed preparation and sowing
The timing of these events is slightly different for different regions. For southern regions that can grow eggplants in the open field under a film, seedlings begin to cook in mid-March, and are planted in a permanent place from May 25 to June 10, that is, after the frost is completely over. For everyone else, it is preferable to grow eggplants in a greenhouse. When planting in a greenhouse, the seedlings should be older than when planting in open ground. Therefore, planting seeds should be done in late February or early March, and planted in a greenhouse no later than May 15-20.
For planting, you should choose only high-quality eggplant seeds from trusted manufacturers. But even such seeds need seedbed preparationwhich includes:
- Sorting - at this stage it is necessary to select only whole and undamaged seeds. After collecting whole seeds, they should be soaked in water for 5 to 10 minutes. After this time, it is necessary to collect all floating seeds from the surface of the water - they are empty and should not be planted. Disinfection - this procedure is necessary in order to wash off any pathogens of fungal or viral infections from the surface of the seeds. For this, the seeds are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 25 - 30 minutes. After that, they must be rinsed. In the process of such processing, the seeds can acquire a brown-black color. Some manufacturers disinfect their seeds on their own, they indicate information about this on the package. Such eggplant seeds do not need to be soaked in potassium permanganate.
- Seed treatment to increase germination - without this procedure, eggplant seeds can germinate for a very long time. Therefore, it is recommended to treat them with boric acid, ash solution or ready-made liquid fertilizers based on humate.
- Germinating seeds - this is the longest of all pre-sowing procedures. For germination, eggplant seeds are placed between layers of damp cloth. The tissue with the seeds is placed on a saucer, which is placed in a plastic bag. If the saucer with seeds is not placed in the bag, then the fabric will dry quickly, and with it the seeds.The optimum temperature for germination is no more than 25 degrees, and the germination period is up to 5 days.
After this preparation, the seeds can be planted in the ground. For this, bleach cups or pots are taken. A few hours before planting seeds, soil in cups watered with settled water or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. In each of them, 2 - 3 seeds are planted to a depth of 1.5 - 2 centimeters. You should not plant seeds very close to each other, it is better to leave 2 - 3 centimeters between them. The planted seeds are covered with earth and compacted a little. Before emergence, the cups should be covered with glass or polyethylene and kept at a temperature of 20 - 25 degrees.
A mark is made on its surface at the desired depth level. When planting, the pencil will simply fit into the ground up to this mark, thereby making holes at the desired depth.
If the seeds were planted germinated, then the first eggplant sprouts will appear on the 4th - 5th day. If dry seeds were planted, then the first shoots will be on the 8-10th day. After most of the seeds have sprung up, the glass or plastic should be removed from the cups, and rearranged for a week in a bright, cool place with a temperature of about 18 degrees. This hardening will allow young seedlings to grow roots instead of leaves.
We recommend watching a video showing how to plant eggplant seeds for seedlings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrmAmyb9fmk
Care for the growth of eggplant seedlings
In order to get a good harvest of eggplants in the future, it is not enough just to plant them. The seedlings of this culture must be carefully looked after - only in this case the work of the gardener will be rewarded at its true worth. Eggplant seedling care includes:
- illumination of seedlings;
- watering;
- transplant;
- top dressing;
- hardening.
Let's go through each item in more detail.
Seedling illumination
Additional lighting is recommended for seedlings of many crops, and eggplant is one of them. This is especially true for early eggplant seedlings, which were planted in February - March. During these months, daylight is unable to compensate for the young plants' need for light.
Fluorescent lamps are used as an additional light source; they are also called fluorescent lamps. It is they who provide proper lighting without heating up at the same time. Fluorescent lamps should not be placed very close to young eggplant plants. The optimal distance will be 15 - 30 cm. It is necessary to turn on fluorescent lamps only in the morning and in the evening.
Therefore, each gardener independently adjusts the duration of the additional illumination of the seedlings, depending on the lighting conditions in his apartment or house.
Without additional lighting, the seedlings of this capricious culture can:
- grow badly;
- stretch out;
- late flower buds.
If there is no opportunity to additionally highlight young eggplant plants, then it is recommended to place them in the sunniest place. In this case, you need to monitor the density of plants. Indeed, with strong thickening, some eggplant plants will get more light, while others will get less.
Watering
Eggplants love pretty moist soil. But, despite this, after the appearance of the first shoots, it is not recommended to water them. Only if the top layer is very dry can it be slightly moistened with a spray bottle.
The first watering of eggplant seedlings is carried out for 2 - 3 days. All subsequent watering should be done no more than once every 5 days. Water for irrigation must be warm and must be kept at least for one day. Watering is best done in the morning. During watering, you should try not to get on the leaves of the seedlings - eggplants do not like this.
When growing eggplant, it is very important to catch the line between drying out the soil and its excessive moisture. In the first case, prolonged drought will have a detrimental effect on the sensitive root system of eggplant plants. In the second case, excess moisture can provoke the appearance of various rot and other diseases.
Transplanting seedlings
Eggplant seedlings have a rather weak root system, so picking will not do it good. In order for the plants to have where to grow the roots, they are transferred from one glass to another. This is done about a month after germination, when the first two true leaves appear on the plants. The transhipment container should be larger than the container in which the seedlings were growing before.
Before transplanting eggplant seedlings, they are well watered. If this is not done, then when removed from the pot, the earth from the roots may crumble, thereby damaging them.
Top dressing of seedlings
As the eggplant seedlings grow, their feeding needs also grow. Therefore, it is not recommended to skip this stage of seedling care.
The very first eggplant feeding should be carried out between 10 and 15 days after transplanting the seedlings.
For the first feeding of young plants, various fertilizers are used, for example:
- mineral fertilizers such as "Kemira universal", "Solution" or nitrophoska in the amount of 1 teaspoon per 5 liters of water;
- fertilizers based on humus - "Ideal" or "Effect" in a dosage of 1 teaspoon per liter of water;
- organic fertilizers - any organic matter can be used, but the use of poultry manure shows good results. To do this, dry droppings are diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20 and allowed to stand for a while.
All seedlings are fed only at the root. Upon contact with foliage, fertilizers are washed off with a spray bottle.
All subsequent fertilization of seedlings is carried out every 10 - 15 days.
Hardening of seedlings
Hardening is an indispensable item for caring for eggplant seedlings, which will be planted in open ground. But this does not mean that when growing in a greenhouse, this procedure should be skipped. Compared to conventional seedlings, hardened eggplant plants will have higher immunity. In addition, they will grow and bear fruit better.
There are two options for hardening young eggplant plants:
- Hardening is carried out 7 - 10 days before planting plants in a permanent place. To do this, either open a window in the room where the seedlings are located, or take the plants out onto the balcony.
- Hardening can also be done in the greenhouse. For this, the seedlings are placed in a greenhouse at the end of April, but not planted. If frosts are expected, then the plant is covered with a film or non-woven material.
Compliance with these simple care rules will ensure excellent growth of the eggplant seedlings. But even the best seedlings can be spoiled by untimely planting in a greenhouse or open ground. In the case of eggplants, it is worth waiting not only for the complete end of spring frosts, but also for a certain plant height. It is worth planting seedlings in a permanent place only after it reaches 20 centimeters in height. By this time, 6 - 8 leaves should already have formed on the thick stems of eggplant seedlings. It was during this period that the plants have already grown a good root system and are ready for planting.
The video will tell you how to care for eggplant seedlings in a greenhouse:
