Successfully planting aubergine on seedlings allows you to get strong and healthy seedlings of the required variety, which will quickly take root in the open ground and yield an excellent harvest. Our task is quite feasible at home, but for its implementation it is required to show attention and study the main rules for caring for seedlings of garden crops.
Eggplant - growing seedlings
In the family of nightshade vegetables eggplant are considered the most thermophilic and capricious plants. Before the appearance of modern varieties, they were bred exclusively in the southern regions or brought ready-made fruits from abroad. Gradually summer residents developed successful methods of obtaining their own seedlings of eggplants, growing healthy seedlings in this healthy agricultural crop ceased to be considered exotic.
Preparation of eggplant seeds for planting on seedlings
Qualitatively preparing the planting material for work, the gardener improves the germination rate and reduces the possible loss of sprouts as a result of the spread of fungal diseases. Exception - the use of draped or colored seeds of imported production. They go through all the preparatory stages in the breeding farms even before the sale. Complete processing of the eggplant seeds before planting on seedlings includes dressing with disinfecting solutions, soaking in a growth stimulant and subsequent germination.
Eggplant processing options:
- Warm up the seeds before planting on the seedlings in warm water (about 52 ° C), and then put them in cold water for a couple of minutes. The final stage - soaking for a day of material in a 0.01% solution of potassium humate at room temperature.
- A simple and cheap way to disinfect the material - put the seeds in a 1.5% solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour, and then rinse them well in warm water.
- Planting aubergine on seedlings gives excellent results when pre-soaking the material in the growth stimulator. The following preparations are suitable: "Baikal EM1", "Novosil", "Heteroauxin", "Ideal", solution of wood ash or nitrophosks.
When to plant aubergines on seedlings?
On average, the cultivation of strong seedlings of this nightshade culture takes up to 70-80 days. Choosing the optimal time for planting aubergine on seedlings, you need to consider the climate in your region, varietal characteristics, the presence in the garden of a film greenhouse or a greenhouse. If the crop is produced in the winter or early March, then without lighting the lamps containers with seedlings can not do. In poor light, elongated, diseased and weak plants grow, unable to yield good harvests. It is better to postpone the planting dates at the end of March than to destroy young seedlings.
How to properly plant eggplant seedlings?
In the task of planting aubergines on seedlings, the proper preparation of the soil and the selection of containers for growing seedlings play a huge role. For this purpose, it is desirable to use a nutrient substrate with an acidity of 6.0 pH to pH 6.7. When using garden lands, we must necessarily freeze the soil (at -15 ° C) or roast it in the oven. Often farmers use a strong solution of potassium permanganate or other fungicide before planting for decontamination.
Soil options for planting aubergine on seedlings:
- 2 parts of compost, 1 part of low peat, 0.5 parts of highly dispersed and disinfected sawdust.
- For 10 liters of land from the garden we take 0.5 cups of wood ash, a teaspoon of urea and potassium sulfate, a tablespoon of superphosphate.
- We use sod land, peat and river sand in equal proportions.
- We take 3 parts of the turf ground, leaf earth and humus, then add 1 part perlite to the container and mix everything well.
At what depth should we plant eggplants for seedlings?
The soil should be poured into the boxes not to the brim, leaving a few centimeters to the sides of the box. The day before sowing, we shed the soil with a solution of manganese or a root fungicide. The primer should dry out a little. It is desirable that, after the compression by hands, water from the ground no longer protrudes, but the formed lumps do not fall apart. The optimum depth of planting of eggplant seeds for seedlings is 1-1.5 cm. The distance between rows is 3-4 cm. In the row, we put one seed each after 1.5 cm.
Care of eggplant seedlings at home
This culture should be kept in the sun or under the lamps for at least 12 hours. Otherwise, the stems are thinned, and the plants often get sick. After seeding, we maintain the temperature to 28 ° C. With the advent of the first shoots, the film is removed from the boxes. The care of the eggplant seedlings after the shoots is somewhat different, the temperature is reduced for a week in the daytime to 16 ° C. When the seedlings all go up and get stronger, you can raise the temperature on a sunny day to 26 ° C, on cloudy days - up to 20 ° C, at night - about 16 ° C.
How to feed seedlings of eggplant?
If the nutrient substrate is prepared correctly, then fertilizing the eggplant seedlings at home does not require the use of special solutions. Suitable for infusion of wood ash or finely chopped eggshell. The appearance of light green foliage indicates poor nutrition of plants. This leads to the planting of aubergine on seedlings in poor soil without humus, but with a large amount of sand or peat.
Simple recipes for feeding eggplant seedlings:
- Top dressing with infusion of banana peel - pour 3 crusts of fruits 2 liters of boiling water and stand up to 3 days.
- For top dressing, dilute 30 g of potassium nitrate on a bucket of water.
- Dilute 5 g of saltpeter, 15 g of superphosphate and 10 g of potassium salt per bucket of water.
- Use according to the instructions ready-made complex fertilizers - "Kemira-Lux", "Bioton", "Healthy garden" or their analogues.
Why does eggplant seedlings fall?
Often inexperienced gardeners turn yellow and fall home eggplant seedlings, what to do in this case to save young seedlings? These problems are caused by various causes - diseases, the appearance of pests, poor soil composition, violation of the temperature regime or incorrect watering. We need to consider all options to quickly and on time to cope with the disaster and prevent its recurrence.
Often the death of eggplants, peppers or tomatoes causes a black leg - a dangerous disease that affects the root collar of a young sprout. In many cases, it occurs in the stage of 2-3 present leaflets. Pathogens develop faster with high humidity and thickened plantings. The most effective ways to combat harmful fungi are soaking seeds in manganese or in stimulating preparations, preventive treatment of soil with fungicides, calcining or steaming the soil.
Ways to get rid of the black leg:
- With a massive infection immediately discard the healthy seedlings in a new container.
- Add fungicides "Fitosporin", "Maxim" or their analogues to the watering table.
- Ventilate shoots, which are covered with a film.
- Immediately remove seedlings of eggplant with signs of infection.
- Planting aubergine on the seedlings should be watered sparingly, avoiding temperature changes.
- Water the infected soil with crops with a strong solution of manganese or 1% solution of Bordeaux liquid.
Pickling an eggplant on a seedling
Picks are made when two real leaves appear. Overgrown seedlings suffer this process more difficult and are more often sick. It is advisable to plant young plants in separate cups with a diameter of 10 cm. To accomplish the task, it is better to use a nutrient substrate with the same composition as for sowing seeds to perform the task of picking eggplants on seedlings.
We try not to damage the earthen lump with the roots. To facilitate the extraction of small eggplants from the container, pre-water the soil 2 hours before the start of the alleged pick. We deepen the seedlings to the cotyledons, try to straighten the roots and compact the soil around the plant. It is necessary to protect eggplants after planting from the scorching sun and drafts, we renew fertilizing after 2 weeks.
How to sow aubergines on seedlings without picks?
The picking process slows down the growth of seedlings for some time and often leads to damage to the tender roots. If you have a small amount of planting material, you can exclude this stage. In this case, it is recommended to plant seeds in 2-3 pieces in individual cups or large cassettes. After seedlings of eggplants, seedlings grown without picking are manually thinned out by careful and attentive culling of the weakest shoots.