How to grow eggplants successfully? Pro Tips to Promote Growth and Increase Performance
With its deep purple hue and rich, appetizing flavor, the venerable eggplant is an ideal plant to grow in your garden. Although the growing season for this summer vegetable is long, the wait is worth it once you have prepared a delicious dish with the result of your work. Find below everything you need to know about growing eggplants, to enjoy a healthy and bountiful harvest!
Growing eggplants: What is this plant and how to grow it?
Eggplant (Solanum melongena) is a warm-season perennial vegetable in the nightshade family. Eggplants come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors. Its culture is a must if you are a fan of outdoor barbecues! These majestic plants grow well and look beautiful in containers, ornamental borders, raised beds, and in-ground gardens.
Small-fruited varieties tend to set many fruits, and you can expect to pick a dozen or more from each plant during the summer in warm climates. The larger varieties, which bear more traditional-sized fruit, are as impressive in the garden as they are in the kitchen, where they can be grilled or combined with summer herbs and tomatoes in homemade stuffed eggplant.
When to plant eggplants in the ground?
Eggplants are a warm season crop that cannot tolerate freezing temperatures. Plants can only grow in warm soil: 10°C or more. The best time to plant them is in late spring, after the last threat of frost. They have a long growing season, so you will need to bring them indoors about eight weeks before the last frost date in your area.
How to plant eggplants correctly?
You should start germinating eggplant seeds indoors about two months before the expected last frost date. Once the weather warms, you can transplant the seedlings into your garden.
Choose location
Eggplants prefer full sun. So opt for a planting area that receives at least six hours of direct light a day.
Preparing the terrain
Eggplants prefer loamy, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5. If you are not sure whether your soil is alkaline or acidic, you can perform a test. Adding a layer of black plastic mulch over the topsoil will help warm it before transplanting seedlings into it.
Transplant
Eggplants need a lot of space to grow. Transplant the seedlings at least two to three feet apart, in holes about 3 inches deep, without disturbing the root ball. Cover the plants with 1 cm of soil.
water
Water the planting area well to allow the soil to settle.
How to grow and care for eggplants?
The following gardening tips will help your eggplants grow into healthy plants and increase your harvest by 100%:
Watering eggplant seedlings.
Eggplant needs abundant watering to grow. Plants require about 3 cm of water per week, depending on soil moisture. If the soil seems too dry, add an additional 1 cm of water. When the weather is cooler in early spring, water your plants once a week, then two or three times a week as the air temperature increases.
Consider Companion Planting
Eggplant makes a good companion plant, meaning you can plant it near other vegetables, such as cauliflower, tomatoes, or fragrant flowers. Companion plants have many benefits, such as improved growth, pest control, and maximizing garden space.
Growing eggplants: use a natural or organic pesticide
Eggplants are prone to pests such as flea beetles, aphids, Colorado potato beetles. The bugs or insects that bite your vegetables are an unavoidable part of your garden. For pest control, use an organic or non-invasive product. There are also many recipes to make your own natural pesticide at home.
Compost and cover the soil
The organic and biological materials that live in the compost activate the soil content (which includes fungi, bacteria, minerals, among others). The soil content promotes strong immunity in your plants and prolongs the life of your crops. You should amend the soil with a balanced homemade fertilizer and organic matter throughout the growing season to maintain uniform moisture.
Eggplant cultivation: weed often
Weeding your garden is an essential step in good eggplant care. Incorporate this activity into your daily gardening routine. It is best to work in the morning when the soil is moist, making it easier to remove weeds. This will prevent fungus or verticillium wilt from infecting your plants.
How to harvest eggplants?
Eggplants don’t ripen for about 100 days, but you shouldn’t wait that long to harvest them because young vegetables taste better. Prepare to harvest about 70-80 days after transplanting. If your eggplant is between 15 and 20 cm tall and its skin is shiny, you can cut the stem.