2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
The main difficulty in growing eggplants is that they are very heat-demanding and at the same time have a long development period. Therefore, in the conditions of the middle lane, vegetables are propagated through seedlings, taking into account the fact that at the time of moving to open ground, it should be about 60 days old, and about a month will pass from the day the ovary appears to technical maturity. Therefore, it is impossible to delay sowing seeds. What should not be forgotten in the course of such work?
Seed preparation for sowing
First of all, the eggplant seeds need to be calibrated in a salt solution. To get strong seedlings and an early harvest, only full-fledged high-quality seeds are selected for sowing, which sank to the bottom of a container with salt water. Floated instances are discarded.
Before sowing, the seeds must be soaked, while it is desirable that they bite and show their sprouts. They should not be left in a container with water, where the seed suffocates without air access. It is better to do this in a wet piece of gauze or a bandage folded several times on a platter. To enhance the effect, a few drops of a growth stimulant are added to the water. Another way is to place the seeds between damp foam sponges and tie them with a string. After that, the "package" with seeds is sent into a bag and left in a warm place. For germination of eggplant seeds, it is recommended that the thermometer does not drop below +25 degrees C.
Sowing eggplant seeds for seedlings
Eggplants belong to the category of plants that do not like to be disturbed by their root system. Therefore, many experienced gardeners recommend growing seedlings without picking. In this case, sowing is carried out immediately in separate cassettes, the seedlings of which will grow in them until the time comes to move the seedlings into pots of a more impressive size.
It is not always possible to allocate a separate glass to a large number of seeds at once. Then sowing is carried out in a common container, and the seeds are laid out at a distance of approximately 4-6 cm from each other. As it grows, only the strongest seedlings are left in the container, and the less developed specimens are removed. But in the process of this work not to violate the integrity of the soil surface and not to disturb the root system, the failed plants are not pulled out, but cut with scissors as close to the ground as possible.
Sowing seeds is done at a shallow depth. They are pressed into the soil mixture for about half the length of the nail. You can also take the diameter of a simple pencil as a basis, pushing the holes for seeding with it.
Eggplant belongs to the nightshade family and, by the way, its second name is dark-fruited nightshade, however, unlike its counterparts - pepper and tomato - it prefers higher humidity. And this feature should be taken into account already at the time of sowing seeds for seedlings. To ensure the necessary conditions, and the soil does not dry out too quickly, sawdust from fruit trees or moss is placed on the bottom of the sowing container, which will help drain the soil and at the same time retain moisture. When sowing is carried out immediately in separate pots, they also go for such a trick as laying thin toilet paper between the top and bottom layers of soil. At first, it retains moisture, and then it will not interfere with root growth.
After sowing, containers and pots are left in a dark, warm place until shoots appear. This moment should not be missed and you must immediately rush to transfer your seedlings to the light and provide additional lighting. In the dark, seedlings begin to stretch out, and thin stems become defenseless against aggressive pathogens of dangerous diseases. In particular, it is a weak point for the appearance of a black leg.
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