Growing eggplants in greenhouses allows for high yields in the most severe climates. We will learn how to plant and grow eggplants in greenhouses and greenhouses, and which varieties are suitable for this purpose.
The best varieties of eggplant for growing in a greenhouse
Almost any eggplant can be grown in the greenhouse, but it is more rational to plant varieties with a short ripening period.
Eggplant varieties and hybrids suitable for greenhouses must meet the following requirements:
- gradual yield of the crop, long-term fruiting;
- early or mid-early ripening;
- good taste;
- high productivity;
- immunity to diseases and pests;
- the height of the bushes is from 70 cm.
Tall bushes have higher yields and allow more rational use of the greenhouse space.
Popular greenhouse eggplant varieties:
- Bibo F1. An early hybrid. Reaches a height of 1 m. Fruits are white with excellent taste. Weight - up to 500 g. It is resistant to fusarium rot and mosaic. From 1 sq. m collect up to 4.8 kg of fruit.
- Alenka. An early ripe variety with green fruits. Weight - 350 g. Productivity - 7.5 kg per 1 sq. m. The variety is harvestable and disease resistant.
- Pink flamingo. A variety of medium early ripening. Fruits are elongated, purple, weighing 250-450 g. The height of the bushes is up to 2 m. The yield is up to 6 kg per 1 sq. M. m.
- Joker. Ultra-early tall variety. Fruits are medium-sized, weighing 100-130 g. The ovaries are collected in clusters, one bush gives up to a hundred fruits. Productivity - up to 8 kg per 1 sq. m.
- Viola di firenze. High-yielding Italian variety, medium ripening. Fruits are oval in shape, weighing up to 750 g. Poorly tolerates temperature changes. m collect up to 10 kg of fruit.
- Goliath F1. A tall hybrid of medium early ripening, reaching a height of 2.5 m. Fruit weight - more than 1 kg. The fruits have a classic appearance - pear-shaped, dark purple. m collect up to 9 kg of fruit.
- Maxik F1. An early hybrid with a height of more than 1 m. Fruits are pear-shaped, classical type. The bushes are compact, the fruits are small - weighing 150-200 g. Productivity is high - 10-14 kg per 1 sq. M. m.
- Boyarin F1. An early hybrid. Fruits of a classic type, weighing up to 450 g. Productivity - 6.5 kg per 1 sq. Resistant to temperature extremes. Requires pinning.
All of these varieties are ideal for greenhouse cultivation, but can also be grown outdoors. The main thing is to provide them with tying, since most greenhouse varieties are distinguished by tall bushes.
Greenhouse preparation before planting eggplant
Before starting spring planting, the greenhouse and the soil must be decontaminated. Without such treatment, plants grown in greenhouse conditions will ache and wither.
Greenhouse cleaning and disinfection
Greenhouse preparation begins with cleaning. Waste materials are thrown away, and all inventory is taken out and thoroughly washed. Be sure to destroy the emerging vegetation - pathogens and insects usually hibernate in it.
How to clean your greenhouse:
- Wash glass or film with ordinary soapy water.
- Rinse metal parts with hot vinegar solution.
- Clean polycarbonate with a solution of potassium permanganate.
- Dry the washed greenhouse by opening the doors.
Greenhouse disinfection methods:
- Sulfuric checker. This method is not suitable for greenhouse structures with metal elements, it is used only in greenhouses with a wooden frame. How is the processing going:
- The gas released by the saber permeates the entire greenhouse space, penetrating into every gap.
- During processing with a checker, all tools must be in the greenhouse.
- The greenhouse is hermetically closed for three days. Then it is thoroughly ventilated.
- With bleach. All structural elements are sprayed with the solution. Chlorine is capable of disinfecting even highly infected soil. Crevices and wooden structures are sprayed with special care.
The greenhouse can be treated with biological products. They are not as effective as sulfuric bombs or chlorine, but they are safer. Biological products destroy pathogens and increase soil fertility.
Tillage
Before planting seedlings, the soil in the greenhouse is prepared - they remove the remnants of last year's vegetation, dig up, remove the roots of plants that come across and disinfect.
Disinfection of the soil is necessary to destroy pathogens; it is carried out by one of the following methods:
- Chemical. Most often, bleach is used to disinfect the soil. It is scattered dry over the surface of the earth and covered with a rake.
You can also destroy bacteria and other microorganisms with formalin. This medication prevents black leg. After prophylaxis, the soil is covered with foil for 24 hours. - Thermal. The soil surface is treated with hot steam - special equipment is used for this. A simpler option is to pour boiling water over the beds.
The subtleties of growing
In order for eggplants to develop successfully and give a full harvest in greenhouses, they need to create optimal growing conditions and follow the rules of agricultural technology for this crop.
Greenhouse requirements
There are different types of greenhouses in which eggplant can be grown. The choice of design depends on the timing of growing.
Indoor options:
- Greenhouse. Suitable for the warm season. It settles down directly on the ground. Covering material - a film or other transparent material that well protects plantings from rain, wind and cold.
- Greenhouse. It is suitable for growing eggplants at any time of the year - provided there is heating. The greenhouse structures are built on a foundation and have a solid frame structure. Covering material - glass or polycarbonate. Inside the greenhouse, communications are usually carried out:
- lighting;
- irrigation system;
- warm floors, etc.
Eggplant varieties grown in greenhouses have tall bushes (1-2 m), so greenhouses and hotbeds are made high enough.
Suitable forms of greenhouses:
General requirements for greenhouses and greenhouses:
- The ability to maintain an optimal microclimate and lighting. The optimum temperature is from +20 to +35 ° C.
- Convenience of plant care. The gardener must freely enter the greenhouse structure, move around it, have access to plants, irrigate, weed and other manipulations without problems.
- Reliability and resistance to weathering. They must withstand strong winds, scorching sun, rain and hail.
A greenhouse is less stable than a greenhouse. It is a lightweight structure, so it is essential to ensure its stability, otherwise it can be damaged by strong gusts of wind. The best covering material for a greenhouse is agrofiber.
Soil requirements
Land that has already been used in the greenhouse needs to be restored:
- remove the soil from the beds and lay in special sections - they can be located on the street;
- Mix the depleted soil with organic fertilizers - humus, compost, etc.;
- shovel the soil periodically.
The biological method of soil restoration takes 2-3 years.
Features of soil preparation for seedlings:
- Eggplants grow well in light, nutritious soils. With high acidity, and on heavy soils, root rot occurs in plants.
- Eggplant, like all nightshades, is very responsive to organics. The soil for seedlings can be fertilized with any organic fertilizer - manure, humus, compost.
- Fertilizers are applied to such a depth that it is closer to the roots.
- Ash, along with organic matter, is not recommended - such a mixture removes nitrogen from the soil.
Timing
Depending on the climate, the timing of planting seedlings in the greenhouse varies from April to June. In warmer regions, eggplants are planted in April, in cooler areas - 1-2 weeks later.
When determining the timing of planting in a greenhouse, gardeners are often guided by the date of the last frosts - after them, it should take about two weeks for the soil to warm up enough - up to + 15 ° C.
Seedlings can be planted in heated greenhouses much earlier than in greenhouses.
Landing scheme
Eggplant is a sprawling crop that requires space for growth and development. The stem height of this culture is less than the diameter of the bush.
Recommended landing pattern:
- the distance between the holes is 45 cm;
- disembarkation is done in rows or staggered;
- spacing between rows - 60 cm;
- planting depth - 15 cm.
Compatibility with other cultures
Greenhouses have a limited area and often have to plant different crops too close to each other. Such a neighborhood can be unfavorable - the yield falls, the incidence increases.
Favorable neighbors for eggplant:
- zucchini;
- cabbage;
- peas;
- greenery;
- Bell pepper.
Unwanted neighbors:
- Tomatoes and potatoes. They have the same pests with eggplants and suffer from the same diseases.
- Cucumbers. This culture shades the eggplant. Lack of light leads to lack of ovaries. The high demands of cucumbers to moisture, can provoke root rot in eggplants.
For the sake of saving space, directly in the spaces between the eggplant bushes, you can grow:
- greenery;
- legumes;
- melons.
Planting eggplant seedlings in a greenhouse
Eggplant seedlings are watered 1-2 hours before transplanting so that the seedlings are easier to remove from the planting containers. It is necessary to take out the plants with a lump of earth, trying not to damage the roots. Transplant starts in the evening.
The procedure for planting seedlings from separate glasses:
- In greenhouse beds, make holes 20 cm deep.
- Throw a handful of humus and ash into each hole.
- Pour 2 liters of water into each well, in which pre-dissolve 2 crystals of potassium permanganate - the solution should be light pink.
- When the water is absorbed into the soil, place the seedling in the hole. Do not try to deepen the plants too much so as not to damage the roots. Embed the necks of the seedlings by 1 cm.
- Sprinkle dry soil over the roots and compact with your fingers.
- Water the planted seedlings again.
If the seedlings were grown in peat pots, then they are planted in the ground together with the "container". The pot is placed in a hole, the soil around is compacted and watered - the plants do not receive any stress during transplantation.
Planting eggplant seeds in a greenhouse
Before you start growing eggplant in a greenhouse, you need to sow seeds for seedlings. If you have a greenhouse, then there is no need to grow seedlings at home in glasses, you can sow them directly into the ground.
Using stencils-lattices, seeds are sown directly to the places in which they will grow.
Sowing order:
- Place a grid stencil with 6x6 or 8x8 cm cells on the ground.
- Place seeds in the center of the cells. Embed them 0.5 cm into the ground.
- Grown plants do not have to be dived or transplanted.
Features of caring for eggplants in the greenhouse
In order for the eggplants planted in the greenhouse to develop and bear fruit well, it is necessary to create favorable conditions and provide proper care.
Watering: volumes, methods, timing
Eggplant is a moisture-loving culture that reacts sharply to lack of water. Deficiency of moisture causes flowers to wilt.
Watering rules:
- For irrigation, use warm water heated to +25 ° C.
- Water for irrigation is defended for 1-2 days.
- Eggplant is watered only at the root. Water should not get on the leaves.
- The first time the eggplants are watered 5 days after transplanting into the greenhouse, then once a week.
- During the formation of fruits, the bushes are moistened 1 time in 3 days, and even more often in hot weather.
- It is recommended to water the eggplants in the morning, and in the afternoon - to loosen.
- If the greenhouse is very hot, the paths between the beds are sprayed with cold water.
- The volume of water should be such that it saturates the soil to a depth of 20 cm.
The most convenient and efficient way to irrigate a greenhouse is by drip irrigation. Otherwise, the planting is watered from a watering can with a long nose.
Regular ventilation helps to prevent high humidity in the greenhouse. The vents are opened only on one side to prevent drafts.
Lighting
For eggplants to grow and bear fruit normally, their daylight hours should be 12-14 hours. With a smaller daylight, the plant will stop developing, with a larger day it will increase the green mass and bear fruit poorly.
Eggplants love light and tolerate direct sunlight well without getting burned to the leaves.
To ensure the required length of daylight hours, lamps are used:
- phytolamps or LED lamps - versatile and economical;
- luminescent - suitable for small greenhouses;
- mercury - suitable for greenhouses of all sizes.
Temperature regime
Eggplants are thermophilic and tolerate overheating, but to obtain high yields, it is important to maintain an optimal temperature regime.
Recommended temperatures:
- optimal daytime - from +25 to +28 ° С;
- minimum - +14 ° С;
- maximum - +34 ° С.
If daytime temperatures drop by 3-4 degrees, eggplants slow down growth and flower buds “fall asleep”.
To control the temperature in the greenhouse, install two thermometers. One at ground level, the other at the tops of the bushes.
Top dressing and its proportions
Eggplants produce a lot of fruits and are very demanding on feeding. The need to apply this or that fertilizer is judged by the appearance of the plant.
Features of feeding eggplant in a greenhouse:
- During the season, the beds are fertilized 3-5 times.
- You can fertilize plantings with universal fertilizers for vegetables, which are sold in agricultural stores.
- The first time feeding is applied 3 weeks after transplanting.
- If the plants do not bloom well, they are given foliar feeding - they are sprayed with a solution of boric acid.
- Until the ovaries appear, the plants are given complex fertilizers.
- Eggplant needs potassium during fruit setting.
- When the first fruits appear, nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers are applied. And organic matter during this period is given limitedly, so as not to provoke active growth of green mass.
- During the fruiting period, it is useful to fertilize eggplants with ash and potassium sulfate.
How and when to fertilize eggplants in the greenhouse:
Period | How to feed? |
2-3 weeks after planting | Under the root with a solution of azophoska - dilute 3 tbsp in 10 liters of water. l. The norm is 0.5 liters of solution for each plant. |
During flowering | Spraying with boric acid solution - dilute 1 g of the drug in 5 liters of hot water. |
During the appearance of ovaries | A mullein solution is introduced under the root (1:10) - later, several more dressings are carried out with an interval of 2-3 weeks. |
During fruiting | Double the rate of nitrogen and potassium. For 10 liters of water - 6 tbsp. azofoski. |
For feeding eggplants, you can use folk recipes. So, for example, spraying with an infusion of cut grass or a yeast solution is useful for plants.
How is pollination going?
Eggplants have bisexual flowers, so the pollination process should take place spontaneously. But given the lack of wind in the greenhouse, which impairs pollination of flowers, it is useful to regularly shake the bushes or pollinate the flowers with a brush.
Mulching
Mulching helps to keep the soil moisture at the required level, reduces the amount of watering and prevents many diseases.
You can mulch plantings with the following materials:
- straw;
- grass;
- sawdust;
- humus;
- rotted manure;
- peat.
Formation of bushes
Eggplant varieties grown in greenhouses are distinguished by tall bushes. They need shaping and pinning.
The rules for the formation of bushes:
- The procedure begins when the bushes reach a height of 30 cm.
- Of all the stepsons, 2 strong ones are left, and the rest are removed.
- Break off foliage obscuring the fruit.
- The subtleties of formation depend on the variety. One eggplant needs a pinch of shoots to stimulate the growth of side shoots. Other varieties, on the contrary, require the removal of side shoots.
Leg Support
The garter is needed to support the branches. The brittle branches of the eggplant can break under the weight of the fruit. The garter is especially important for tall varieties that grow up to 2 m in height.
Tie bushes with trellis, constructed of wire and two stakes. The garter is carried out with twine, and it is done in several places at once in order to prevent the branches from breaking and shading the bushes.
Controlling diseases and pests in the greenhouse
Eggplants are affected by diseases typical of nightshade crops. In greenhouses, they especially often suffer from late blight, rot, anthracnose, tobacco mosaic. This is facilitated by poor ventilation, high humidity and sudden changes in temperature.
Preventive and therapeutic measures help to cope with diseases:
- disinfection of the greenhouse and all equipment;
- during the growing season - sprinkling the beds with mustard powder;
- spraying plants with garlic and tobacco tincture;
- treatment with "Fitosporin" and "Zircon".
Among the most dangerous and common pests of eggplant are aphids, spider mites, Colorado potato beetle, whitefly and slugs. When any of these insects appear on plants, biological products are immediately used, for example, "Strela".
Alternative methods of protection also help to fight insects - dusting and spraying with ash, treatment with solutions of garlic and tomato tops, etc.
Harvesting and storage
If the care was carried out correctly, after a month you can harvest the eggplants.
Features of picking eggplants in the greenhouse:
- remove the fruits a little unripe;
- cut the fruit with a pruner;
- cut the fruit along with the stalk;
- do not grow large eggplants - they become tasteless.
Eggplants are stored for no more than a month, during which time they must either be eaten or processed.
Storage rules:
- each fruit is wrapped in paper and put into boxes;
- the best storage place is a basement or cellar;
- You can also put the fruits in plastic bags with holes for ventilation;
- the optimal storage room temperature is from +5 to +10 ° С;
- fruits can be frozen.
Possible difficulties when growing eggplant in a greenhouse
Eggplant is a demanding culture, and despite the optimal conditions created for them in greenhouses, problems often occur when growing.
Problems when growing eggplant in greenhouse conditions:
- Spots appear on the leaves. If they are not caused by a disease, then the likely cause is direct sunlight or close proximity of lamps.
- Shoots grow poorly after planting. The first 10 days, seedlings take root and do not grow - this is normal. If the seedlings do not grow further, it is necessary to feed her with "Kornevin."
- The foliage turned yellow. Perhaps the irrigation regimen or fertilizer dosage is violated, or the plant is affected by a disease.
- Ovaries fall off. This phenomenon is observed with a deficit or excess of moisture.
- The bush develops well, but there are few ovaries. The reason is an overdose of nitrogen fertilizers or the absence of pruning.
- The bush blooms but does not bear fruit. Artificial pollination is required.
Tips and tricks from experienced gardeners
Experienced vegetable growers and gardeners have recommendations for newbies taking up eggplant growing in greenhouses.
Helpful hints:
- Thin bushes in time - this improves their ventilation.
- If a diseased plant appears, immediately remove and destroy it.
- When air temperature drops, reduce the amount of watering.
- When spraying plantings with toxic drugs, wear glasses, a respirator and gloves.
Reviews of gardeners
Mikhail, 65 years old, pensioner, Kurgan. In our climate, few eggplant varieties grow successfully. Finally, I managed to grow a good harvest. Planted a variety "Mongolian dwarf" in the greenhouse. From each bush I collected 6-8 fruits.
Irina, 59 years old, amateur gardener, Moscow region. As it turned out, special varieties should be grown in the greenhouse, and not the first ones that came along. I plant seedlings without picking, so the survival rate of seedlings is 99%. I like the Black Prince variety the most.
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Thanks to greenhouses and hotbeds, heat-loving eggplant can be successfully grown in regions with harsh climates. In order to achieve high yields during greenhouse cultivation, it is important not only to observe agricultural technology, but also to choose the right variety.
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Russia. City Novosibirsk
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