Eggplant Valentina F1

Thanks to breeding work, new varieties are constantly appearing on the eggplant seed market. Eggplant variety Valentina F1 was registered in Our Country in 2007. Bred in the Dutch company Monsanto. This hybrid, which is characterized by excellent taste, is gaining popularity among gardeners due to its early ripening period and resistance to viruses.

Characteristics of the hybrid

Eggplant Valentina F1 in the climate is grown in greenhouses or under film shelters. In the southern regions, bushes grow in open ground. The Valentina hybrid is noted for its resistance to weather changes. Flowers in unfavorable conditions are kept on the plant, do not crumble, ovaries and fruits are formed.

Cute dark purple long eggplant fruits adorn the hybrid bush with original pendants already on the 60-70th day after planting on the beds. The very first, large fruits can be plucked in July. The crop ripens three months after germination. More than 3 kg of vegetables are harvested from one square meter of Valentina plantings. Eggplant fruits Valentine F1 are uniform, famous for their excellent commercial properties.

Fruits can be stored for about a month in a cool room without losing their taste. Vegetables are used to prepare various dishes and preparations.

It is important to choose the moment of culinary ripeness of the eggplant. Usually by this time the fruits have a rich dark shade and a glossy cover. Vegetables with a dull, slightly pale skin are overripe, small hard seeds are already beginning to form in them.

Description of the plant

The bushes of the Valentina variety are upright, vigorous, semi-spreading, rising to 0,8-0,9 m. The trunk of the plant is pubescent, distinguished by a weak light purple color. Medium-sized leaves of a rich green hue, notched along the edges. The flowers are large, white-violet.

Dark purple fruits – elongated, teardrop-shaped, can stretch up to 20-26 cm. The diameter of the thickened, lower part of the fruit is up to 5 cm, the upper one is up to 4 cm. The weight of the fruit reaches 200-250 g. The skin is glossy, thin, easy to peel . The dense pulp has a pleasant creamy white color. In the descriptions of gardeners who grew this hybrid, the soft and delicate taste of the fruit is noted, without a hint of bitterness.

Eggplant Benefits

In their descriptions and reviews, vegetable growers highly appreciate the quality of the fruits and the Valentina eggplant plant itself.

• Precocity and productivity;
• Excellent taste of fruits and their presentation;
• Unpretentiousness of plants;
• Tobacco mosaic virus resistance.

Growing a hybrid

Start sowing eggplant Valentine’s seeds from the beginning of March. Usually, Dutch seeds are sold already coated with special substances after pre-sowing treatment. But in the reviews of summer residents there are references to the fact that after soaking in growth stimulants, the seeds of the hybrid sprouted faster. Soaking in aloe juice for half a day also speeds up seed germination.

The seeds are then dried and germinated.

• They are placed in wet wipes, cotton wool or hydrogel and left at a temperature of 25 ⁰WITH;
• The germinated seeds of the hybrid are carefully, with part of a paper napkin or a grain of gel, transferred to the soil of a peat pot or paper cup.

Sowing seeds without sprouting

For eggplant hybrid Valentina, it is necessary to prepare nutrient soil. The earth is equally mixed with humus, peat, sawdust, enriching the composition with wood ash and urea. The solution is prepared in the proportion of 1 tablespoon of urea per 10 liters of water. Sand is added to clay soil.

• Eggplant seeds are deepened by 1-1,5 cm, the pots are covered with foil or glass;
• The temperature for germination of seedlings should be at the level of 25-26 ⁰WITH;
• Sprouts appear after 10 days.

Care of seedlings

During the first 15-20 days, young eggplant seedlings require the air to warm up to 26-28 ⁰C. Then the temperature drops by one degree during the day, and at night it should be within 15-16 degrees. If the weather is cloudy, the daytime temperature should be maintained at 23-25 ⁰C. At the same time, the seedlings of the Valentine hybrid must be illuminated – up to 10 hours.

• Water for watering plants is heated;
• The soil is moistened after drying;
• For fertilizing plants use the drug “Kristalin”. 5-6 g of fertilizer are dissolved in 8 liters of water.

  

Eggplants in greenhouses

Valentine’s eggplants are planted in unheated greenhouses and shelters in the second decade of May. Make sure that the soil warms up to 14-16 ⁰C. By this time, the seedlings rise to 20-25 cm, 5-7 true leaves are formed.

• When planting plants of the Valentine hybrid, adhere to the scheme of 60 cm x 40 cm;
• Water the eggplant bushes with warm water 2-4 times a week. After watering, the ground around the plants is carefully loosened so as not to damage the roots;
• It is desirable to mulch the soil;
• The first feeding of plants is carried out 3 weeks after planting. 10 tablespoon of Kemira universal fertilizer is poured into 1 liters of warm water. Watered 0,5 liters under the root;
• Use mineral fertilizers of your choice or organics: wood ash, fermented infusion of meadow grasses and weeds, manure solution;
• At the end of July, all eggplant bushes are looked through to select the largest ovaries. They are left and others are removed, just like flowers. This is done so that the fruits ripen faster.

The greenhouse must be ventilated so that the eggplant bushes do not suffer from high temperatures. Due to their resistance, Valentina hybrid plants retain flowers and ovaries, but the fruits grow small.

eggplant in the garden

Valentine’s eggplants are brought to the garden in late May or early June.

They choose a good sunny place where carrots, peas, beans, cabbage, green or melon crops grew last year. These plants are considered the best predecessors for eggplants.

• When digging, the soil is enriched with superphosphate, potassium sulfate, and ash. Or add humus, compost;
• Sand is poured into large holes in clay soil. Eggplants develop best on light but fertile soils;
• Before planting, fertilizers such as “Growth”, “Agro-growth”, “Kemira universal” and others are applied to the soil by choice, referring to the instructions;
• Distance between rows: 60-70 cm, between plants: 25-30 cm;
• For the first 7-10 days, Valentine’s eggplant seedlings need to be shaded if the weather is hot and cloudless. In addition to spunbond, they take spacious cardboard boxes, dismantling the lower plane, old buckets without bottoms and other improvised materials;
• Plants are watered with water heated during the day, in the morning the soil is loosened and mulched.

Secrets of vegetable growers

Valentine hybrid eggplant is an unpretentious and stable culture. But you should know the accumulated experience of gardeners who grew plants of this species in order to get a good harvest.

• After transplanting into the greenhouse, the plants are watered for the first time after 5 days;
• Pour 0,5-1 l of water under the hybrid bush so that the moisture reaches all the roots of the plant;
• Warm water is poured under the root of the plant;
• Loosening should be superficial;
• For normal vegetation, plants need heat up to 28-30 degrees;
• When buds begin to form, eggplants are fertilized: 10-30 g of ammonium nitrate and 35 g of potassium sulfate are diluted in 25 liters. Each plant receives at least 0,5 liters of solution;
• During the formation of ovaries, nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers are applied to the plot with eggplants in the proportion: 10 l of water: 25 g of superphosphate: 25 g of potassium salt.

How to protect eggplant

From high humidity, eggplants can face fungal diseases.

• Preparations “Antraknol” and “Kvadris” will protect plants from phytophthora;
• “Horus” – from gray rot;
• For prevention, Valentine’s eggplant bushes are treated with “Zircon” or “Fitosporin”.

Plant pests: Colorado beetles, spider mites, aphids and slugs.

• In a small area, the beetles are harvested by hand;
• Insecticide “Strela” is used against ticks and aphids;
• Slugs leave if the soil is sprinkled with ash.

Labor in the garden with eggplant will bear fruit in the middle of summer.

Vegetables will be a delicious addition to the table.

Reviews