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This eggplant variety belongs to early ripening hybrids and is characterized by high yield. It begins to bear fruit 90-100 days after planting seedlings. It can be grown both in the greenhouse and in the open field. With proper fit and appropriate care from 1 square. m you can get up to 7-8 kg of fruit.
Description of the Purple Miracle variety
The purple miracle is distinguished, first of all, by its taste. The pulp of this eggplant lacks the bitterness characteristic of other types of this crop. This property does not depend on the conditions of their cultivation.
Eggplant fruits are smooth and shiny, even cylindrical in shape, without spikes on the calyx. The rind is dark purple. Ripe eggplants retain their taste and presentation well during transportation and long-term storage. For its delicate green tender flesh, the Purple Miracle has received well-deserved recognition in cooking.
It is used not only for cooking caviar, but also for home canning – during the heat treatment, the eggplant pulp retains its cut shape well.
The main conditions for good growth and fruiting are a sufficient amount of light and moisture. Before fruiting, it is recommended to apply mineral fertilizers to the soil. Planting density – no more than 4-6 bushes per square meter. m. In the process of growth, a compact bush is formed up to 90 cm high with short and dense side shoots.
Growing eggplant outdoors
Among the factors that affect the growth of a plant and its yield, the place for its planting is of great importance. You need to choose a sunny and clean area. The growth of eggplant also depends on the “predecessor” plants. It is good if greens, melons or legumes used to grow in this place. But various types of nightshade (tobacco, pepper, potato) plants deplete the soil, so the next planting will give a good result no earlier than in two years. For the same reason, eggplants are not planted in the place where they were grown last year.
Soil preparation
Preparation of beds for eggplant begins in the fall. Organic and mineral fertilizers are evenly distributed on the ground and dug up.
During the autumn-winter period, fertilizers under the influence of precipitation will go to the optimum depth, so digging must be repeated in spring. Spring digging of eggplant beds is best done after all the precipitation has disappeared, when the weather stabilizes and the earth warms up a little.
Under these plants, beds are made 60-70 cm wide, with a furrow for irrigation in the aisle.
Preparation of seedlings
They are sown in pots or special plastic containers for seedlings, where a separate compartment is provided for each plant. Seeds for seedlings need to be checked for germination. To do this, they are filled with water for several hours. Empty seeds will remain on the surface, they can be safely thrown away. Those seeds that have fallen to the bottom are laid out on damp gauze folded in several layers and cleaned in a warm place for 5-6 days, periodically spraying them with a spray bottle.
The soil for seedlings must be warmed up and disinfected. To do this, it can be calcined in the oven.
Sprouted eggplant seeds are sown in the ground to a depth of 2-3 cm, watered and covered with a film. 3-4 seeds are planted in each compartment or cup. After germination, weak sprouts are carefully pinched off. Now you can prepare a solution for feeding seedlings. A glass of black tea leaves is poured with 3 liters of boiling water, egg shells are added there and insisted for at least 6 days.
A week later, as soon as the first shoots appear, the film must be removed, and the seedling container should be placed in a well-lit place. Now you need to periodically water the sprouts with prepared top dressing, and monitor the plants. For uniform growth and development of the eggplant root system, you need to periodically turn the box with seedlings in the direction against which the sprouts stretch.
Hardening of seedlings
Eggplants begin to harden a month before planting. To do this, a box or pots with seedlings are taken out into the open air in the warm season. To protect against diseases, eggplant seedlings are treated with a weak solution of copper sulfate.
Plants are planted on prepared beds in early June. By that time, with proper care, strong, healthy and stable seedlings with dense stems and 10-12 leaves will form.
On the day of planting seedlings in the morning, you need to make holes along the edges of the beds at a distance of 40-45 cm from each other. Then fill them with water with a nutrient solution and leave until the evening. The ideal time to plant is just after sunset. A box or pots with seedlings are poured with water, the plant is carefully removed along with a clod of earth. Then they carefully put the plant in the hole, pour water, and from all sides, gently tamping, sprinkle with earth. On the first day, you should not plant all the seedlings in the garden. We need to leave a few pieces in stock to replace those that die during transplantation.
Eggplant seedlings are hard to get used to new conditions, so with sunrise you can often see plants with drooping tops in the garden. It is possible to determine which of them has taken root in a new place, and which one has not, already on the second day after transplantation – the stem of the dead plant lies completely on the ground. Such sprouts must be replaced immediately.
Plant Care
During the growth period, eggplant care comes down to simple actions – watering, top dressing and weeding. The first time after transplanting into open ground, the plants are watered “under the root”, systematically loosening the soil around the stem. When they are already sufficiently strengthened, water is allowed into the furrows or ditches in the aisle.
Eggplants do not tolerate the neighborhood of weeds, so weeding is required. Pulling weeds around plants additionally loosens the soil and saturates it with oxygen.
For additional top dressing, before each watering, fertilizers are poured into the furrows. This must be done before the fruits appear on the plants.
Well stimulate the growth of eggplant solution of mullein and “Gumat”.
Eggplant is a plant that is often attacked by pests, including white and green aphids, spider mites, and the Colorado potato beetle. Periodically, it is necessary to inspect the plants and spray them with a soap and tobacco solution. A description of these and other secrets of growing eggplant seedlings can be viewed in this video: