Eggplant is a berry from a plant of the nightshade family. Botanically, eggplant is a close relative of tomatoes and potatoes, although its homeland is not South America, but Southeast Asia and the Hindustan Peninsula. In our country, it is traditionally considered a vegetable, not a berry crop.
Considering how capricious eggplants are, growing this crop on the balcony is not as popular as other vegetable crops - tomatoes, onions, parsley, lettuce or garden strawberries.
This is due to the fact that the eggplant plant is quite tall. It reaches a height of 50 cm - in dwarf varieties up to 1.5 meters in normal ground varieties.
The second obstacle to growing eggplants on the balcony is its spines, which cover the stem and leaves of the plant. It is hardly comfortable to move around in the cramped conditions of a balcony among thorny plants.
The third factor that makes eggplant less popular among plants grown on the balcony is its low fruitfulness when grown on the balcony. The plant bears one or two fruits. It is unlikely that such a small harvest will be of interest to fans of the “little blue ones”.
Homemade eggplant varieties
For the winter garden, choose varieties and hybrids of ultra-early and early varieties with compact dwarf or semi-dwarf bushes that are disease-resistant.
- Diamond . Glossy, with dense greenish pulp, without bitterness.
- Albatross . Refers to mid-season.
- Afghan Red . Ultra early ripening. Ripening time is 100 days from the first shoots. Forms clusters of round, red, small fruits.
- Delicacy A-163 . Early ripening variety. The first fruits are harvested 115-125 days after emergence.
- Dwarf early 921 . Multiple fruit variety.
- Lolita . Hybrid. Recommended for extended and winter-spring cultivation.
- Maykop -15 . Table purpose, medium early.
- Solaris . Resistant to temperature changes. Sets fruit well.
- Station wagon 6 . The fruits are pear-shaped with dark, almost black skin.
Caring for seedlings after emergence
After the emergence of seedlings, the film must be removed immediately, and the seed containers should be placed on the windowsill, in the brightest place, away from radiators and other heat sources.
For good development and strengthening of the root system, after germination for 7-12 days, the air temperature at the location of the eggplant seedlings is best maintained at 15-17 degrees. In the future, seedlings need to be grown in the following temperature regime: 24-26 degrees in sunny weather, 20-22 degrees in cloudy weather, 17-19 at night. For optimal growth of eggplant seedlings, the plants will require regular and abundant watering, as eggplant plants are well leafed.
Excessive soil and air moisture with temperatures too high or low for eggplant can cause plant disease with blackleg, which often causes significant damage to seedlings. To prevent this, you need to carry out abundant but infrequent watering and regularly ventilate the room.
Two ways to grow on a window
Growing up
- In the fall, low bushes grown in open ground , on which the ovary remains, are transplanted into pots with a volume of at least 5 liters and moved to an apartment.
- The soil in the pot is compacted towards the walls. Well watered . Trim off excess stems and leaves and place them on a windowsill protected from drafts.
- Until the plant takes root, it is regularly sprayed and watered.
- Next, they are cultivated as indoor eggplants grown by seedlings.
- Growing continues for 1-3 months.
Growing eggplants from seeds at home
Seed preparation:
- Dried, damaged, small seeds are culled
- Fully ripened soft fruits are selected for their own seed fund . Cut into several longitudinal parts. Using a tablespoon, carefully remove the seeds. Dry it.
- Seeds that are not coated must be disinfected . To do this, prepare a weak solution of potassium permanganate and pickle the seeds in it for 20-30 minutes.
- Wrap the seed material in a damp cloth . Leave to germinate in a warm place.
Important! Be careful when buying seeds in the store. Check the expiration date. Remember that seeds obtained from their fruits remain viable for no more than four years.
The soil . Prepare the soil for planting. Garden soil, high-moor and lowland peat are mixed in equal parts. The mixture is filled into prepared pots and cups. Water with a pink solution of potassium permanganate. Leave for the earth to settle and compact.
Important! Seedlings of this nightshade crop develop slowly. Calculate the planting time based on the fact that the fruits ripen completely 130-160 days after germination .
Seedlings . At a temperature of +20-25°C, pre-germinated seeds sprout in 3-5 days, ungerminated seeds germinate in 2 weeks. At lower temperatures, the period of emergence of seedlings increases by 10-15 days.
When seedlings appear, the pots are placed on the window sills facing the south, southwest side. The windows are insulated. Place a board or plastic sheet under the pots.
Monitor the humidity and temperature of the soil in the pots. Water with warm water . If the soil is too wet or cold, the seedlings will rot. With a lack of moisture, it withers and dries out.
Eggplants are afraid of drafts ; even a light breeze leads to the death of seedlings. When growing eggplants near heating radiators, increase air humidity by spraying the bushes with a spray bottle.
If the eggplants were sown in a box, carry out a dive.
After the cotyledon leaves appear, the sprouts with a lump of earth are carefully transplanted into large containers. If the root system is damaged during picking, support the plants with the growth stimulator Kornevin.
For active growth and ovary formation, eggplants need to receive light and heat 12-14 hours a day .
Special lamps for supplementary illumination of seedlings are fixed at a height of 15-40 cm from the plants.
Important! If the seedlings are planted in the fall, with the onset of short daylight hours, the tops of the plants are pinched. The bushes are removed in the shade. Watering plants is reduced. They pick off withered leaves. Plants are not fed. In February, the seedling containers are returned to a bright window, and abundant watering and fertilizing are resumed.
From January to March, seedlings are covered with a mini-greenhouse . To do this, construct a frame from wire or slats and cover it with a thick film. The temperature in the greenhouse is maintained at +20-25°C in sunny weather, +17°C on cloudy days, +14-17°C at night.
Eggplant seedlings are fed once every 7-10 days with any liquid universal fertilizer based on vermicompost or diluted bird droppings, mullein, or semi-decomposed compost. The last time before transplanting, complete mineral fertilizer is applied. Plant feeding is accompanied by abundant watering.
Eggplant seedlings are transferred at the age of 70-80 days after the pots are almost completely filled with overgrown roots. For autumn seedlings this is the first ten days of March. Select bushes that have at least 8 true leaves and 2-3 buds.
Pots for constant growth should have a diameter of 20-25 cm, the depth of cassettes and boxes should be 15-20 cm.
The soil for growing adult eggplants is mixed from equal parts of sand, peat, and turf soil . At the bottom of each container, place 5-7 granules of complex fertilizer such as “Giant” and superphosphate to activate the ovaries.
In cassettes, pots, buckets, eggplant bushes are planted in the center; in boxes, 25-30 cm are left between plants.
If there is not enough land or if a tall variety is planted, the growth of seedlings stops and the roots become brown.
In this case, the plant is re-transferred into containers 2-3 cm larger than the previous ones, and organic fertilizer for tomatoes and eggplants, for example, Senor Tomato, is added to the soil.
Preparing containers and soil
To grow eggplants, given their powerful plant, you need a container (bucket, tub, pot) with a capacity of at least 5 liters for normal development of the root system. Eggplant does not like replanting. Therefore, the container should, if possible, be used immediately for sowing seeds and further growth throughout the growing season.
The soil for eggplants must meet the requirements for growing any other vegetable crop - be light, breathable, fertile.
The best option is a purchased mixture “for vegetable crops.” If you compose it yourself, you can use leaf (turf) soil, low-lying peat, sand and humus (compost) in equal proportions. To better retain moisture in the soil and create airiness, you can add perlite or vermiculite to the mixture instead of peat.
The soil brought from a summer cottage or taken from nature must be thoroughly disinfected over steam for 30 minutes, scattered on a sieve in a layer of 5-7 cm. The procedure is troublesome but necessary. Eggplants are very capricious and susceptible to seedling diseases.
Waiting for the harvest
The eggplants transplanted into the main dish are placed on the windows in the second ten days of February.
Water regularly. Since May - every day . The soil should always remain moist.
With a lack of moisture, plants will begin to shed flower buds and ovaries, the taste will deteriorate, and bitterness will appear.
If growth is too rapid, pinch off the tops of the side stems. During flowering, add 2-3 cm of fresh soil to the stems. When the ovaries begin to form, the procedure is repeated.
Artificial pollination is carried out if the fruits are not actively set, but slowly . Flowering plants are gently shaken, the stem is tapped with fingers, or pollen is transferred from one flower to another using a brush.
For better preservation, the fruits are cut with a knife. 20-35 fruits weighing 50-150 g are collected from the bush. If you want to get large eggplant fruits, part of the ovaries is removed, leaving 4-6 eggplants on one plant.
How to grow eggplants on the balcony:
- Grown eggplants are placed on unheated balconies, loggias, and verandas in early May.
- The room temperature should be kept within +23-28°C.
- Ensure that the plants are arranged in such a way that you can walk freely between the bushes without touching leaves and thorns.
Legumes
Legumes can be grown with children in a garden set up on the kitchen windowsill. For this purpose, low-growing, bush varieties are taken. Peas and beans in a pot will not take up much space. Crops grow very quickly, so it is convenient to observe them. For beginner gardeners, legumes are best.
Easy to grow on a window:
- peas;
- beans;
- vegetable beans.
Eggplants in a private house
Owners of private houses have the opportunity to grow eggplants all year round in heated greenhouses, obtaining decent yields.
- Plant seedlings are grown on the windowsill.
- When planting eggplants in a greenhouse in a permanent place, seedlings are planted in holes of medium depth, shed with warm water, and mulch with a thin layer of peat.
- Leave a distance of 50 cm between the bushes.
- Eggplants in a greenhouse need organically rich, light soil . Agronomists recommend mixing ordinary garden soil, rotted compost, peat, manure, and loosening additives. Before planting, the soil is warmed to + 18-20°C.
- No other crops are planted next to eggplants. The exception is low-growing varieties of tomatoes.
- A constant microclimate is maintained in the greenhouse: daytime temperature +28, night +12°C . An increase in temperature above + 35°C is detrimental to the crop.
- Do not allow changes in humidity . To remove excess moisture, carefully ventilate the greenhouse after each watering.
- The eggplants are watered for the first time after transplantation on the fifth day, then daily. Watering is carried out in the morning, at the root, with water at a temperature not lower than +25°C.
- Regularly loosen the surface and hill up the root stem.
Practical tips for growing eggplants in a greenhouse:
Fertilizing in greenhouse conditions
When growing eggplants in greenhouses, fertilizers are applied at least 3-5 times per season . First, phosphorus-potassium, during the period of active fruiting, nitrogen-phosphate.
The first feeding is carried out 2-3 weeks after transplanting the seedlings, when the roots take root and begin to actively absorb nutrients.
If the plants bloom poorly, spray with a solution of boric acid. To do this, dissolve 5 grams of dry matter in 5 liters of hot water.
In case of excessive leafing or excessive growth of green mass, potassium compounds are added. Frail, weak bushes are supported with preparations with a high nitrogen content.
Important! In order not to overuse chemicals, eggplants are fed with solutions of fermented grass and mullein.
Planting seeds and transplanting seedlings
We decided on the variety, allocated a place for cultivation and acquired land. Now is the time to sow the eggplant seeds. The most suitable time for sowing eggplant seeds is spring, or more precisely March - April. Personally, I don’t buy special containers for planting seedlings, but use an ordinary plastic bottle cut into halves.
In this form, seedlings need to be grown for at least one month. If you are going to grow eggplant on an open balcony, you need to focus on the night temperature; as soon as the night temperature stops falling below +15 0C, you can replant.
When transplanting seedlings into a large pot, you need to choose one (maximum two) largest and “strongest” plant, which will actually become our pet. We don’t need all the rest; we can throw them away, donate them, plant them in a flowerbed, etc.
In the early stages of cultivation, eggplant requires regular irrigation. When watering, you need to avoid getting water on the leaves and neck of the stem to avoid the appearance of rot and fungal diseases. On hot days, you can use root watering; with this watering, water is poured into a saucer from where it is absorbed directly by the roots.
Pests
When growing eggplants at home, you should be wary of whiteflies, spider mites, and orange aphids . To get rid of insects, plants are treated with neonicotodine insecticides Aktara, Konfidor, Mospilan, which have a systemic effect on the plants - they penetrate inside, accumulate in the plant sap, feeding on which adults and larvae die.
Garlic infusion helps against spider mites . One glass of crushed garlic is diluted in 10 liters of water. Spray the affected leaves twice a week.
Growing eggplants at home, in an apartment, or on a balcony is an interesting, but troublesome and unproductive task. A larger yield, at comparable costs, is obtained by growing and winter cultivating eggplants in heated greenhouses on personal plots.
NOTE! Find out what diseases eggplants are susceptible to: what to do if the seedlings fall, stretch out or completely die? Causes of white spots, yellowing and curling of leaves. And also what pests can attack young seedlings?
Lighting
The second condition for normal growth and fruiting is the length of daylight hours. Eggplant is a typical representative of subtropical flora. The places where it originally grows are characterized by a 12-hour daylight hours. In mid-latitudes, the length of daylight hours in the summer months is much longer. Therefore, at the very peak of growth - in June-July - eggplant can suspend its development and begin to bloom and bear fruit only in August-September, when the length of daylight hours is reduced to its usual length. The only trouble is that during these months it becomes too cold for the normal development of the plant. This is one of the difficulties of growing eggplant on the balcony.
When growing eggplants at home - on a balcony or windowsill, you should remember that if in the summer months the eggplant suffers from an excess of sunlight, then in the winter and spring - from its lack. Therefore, from the moment the seedlings emerge until the end of May, it is necessary to organize artificial lighting for young plants. They use either LED lamps with a color temperature of 5400 K, or fluorescent lamps in a combination of 2 warm light + 1 cold daylight. Lamp power 40 W. When placed 25-30 cm above the tops of plants, they give a luminous flux of 140-150 Lux, which is quite enough for the normal development of the plant. Additional illumination should continue 12 hours a day.
Source
Useful materials
Read other articles about growing and caring for eggplant seedlings:
- Different growing methods: in peat tablets, in a snail and even on toilet paper.
- All the features of sowing according to the lunar calendar.
- Peculiarities of cultivation in various regions of Russia: in the Urals, Siberia and the Moscow region.
Mushrooms
Mushroom mycelium does not like direct sunlight. It will be more comfortable to plant on the northern and northeastern balconies or a closed veranda in a private house.
Boxes, jars, bags, and wood cuts are used for placement. Planting material is sold together with a nutrient mixture or in the form of mycelium. For the latter, a soil mixture is prepared from sawdust of any trees, except conifers, plant residues, and coffee grounds. The substrate is disinfected in boiling water.
The development of mycelium occurs in the dark at 25°C and constant moistening with a spray. After 2 weeks, white threads should appear. This will be a signal for the temperature to drop to 14-15°C. The darkening can be partially removed, but direct sunlight is excluded.
What grows on the windowsill from mushrooms:
- oyster mushrooms;
- honey mushrooms;
- chanterelles;
- Champignon.
Cool lifehacks
Creative ideas for organizing a garden in an apartment:
- In order not to miss a single ray of sunlight, an additional mirror is placed in the room or reflective films are glued.
- In winter, you can compensate for insufficient air humidity by placing a damp towel on the radiator. At the same time, the temperature will drop. The heat will be spent on moisture evaporation.
- If the battery is too hot, if it is not possible to regulate the heating, cover it with a piece of polystyrene foam. The material is also used for the opposite purpose - to insulate from a cold window.
- The desired sunlight may be too bright. To weaken the power of the rays, hang blinds or a gauze curtain.
Plant growers believe that apartment conditions in terms of comfort for plants can be classified as cave-like. Despite this, housewives manage to grow, in addition to ordinary herbs, light-loving crops such as tomatoes and eggplants. Balcony cucumbers on the windowsill have become commonplace. It remains to wish those who have taken on this task good luck in an interesting business that can become (or has already become) your hobby.
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Decorating a mini-garden
A beautiful mini-vegetable garden brings tasty fruits and aesthetic pleasure, and original projects brought to life with your own hands can be proudly shown to guests and relatives.
Containers for garden plants on the windowsill should not stand out from the overall decor of the room. The containers are decorated in a stylized manner, painted or pasted over, shelves are built for them, and pots are hung in flowerpots. In this case, different forms of appropriate volume are used for each crop.
The useful area of the window sill is expanded with shelves along the height of the window, adding a small distance for phytolamps. If a table is placed near the window, containers are placed on it at a height so that all plants have access to light.
