Planting eggplant in May 2022: what you need to grow strong seedlings

Most summer residents sow eggplant for seedlings almost in early February. But this is wrong. The optimal age of seedlings is 60 days. Planting eggplant in greenhouses is carried out in early May – in this case, sowing should be in early March. If they grow in open ground, seedlings are planted at the end of May. Then it is necessary to sow even later – at the end of March.

If you sowed seedlings in February, they will outgrow. Early sowing will not give any advantage: large bushes planted on the beds will hurt for a long time, and the fruits will be tied late. There is a rule: the younger the plant, the better it takes root after transplantation.

Sowing eggplant

The soil. We usually sow the seeds in purchased soil. But this is not the best option for eggplant. It is better to prepare the soil mixture yourself. Composition: 1/3 of the volume is garden soil, another 1/3 is sand, and the rest is a mixture of sphagnum moss, small hardwood sawdust and peat. Such soil is loose and nutritious – what eggplants need!

Capacities. Eggplants hate transplanting, so it is strictly forbidden to sow them in boxes, “snails” and other “hostels”! Seeds should be sown immediately in separate cups, and large ones. The ideal option is plastic cups with a volume of 0,5 liters.

When sowing seeds in large containers, a problem arises: the seedlings have small roots, they grow in the surface layer and take moisture from there. And at the bottom of the glass, water stagnates, the soil turns sour. Therefore, make more holes in the bottom of the glass and put a couple of pieces of charcoal down the container – they will absorb excess moisture.

Favorable days for sowing eggplant seedlings: March 4 – 7, 11 – 17.

Favorable days for planting seedlings in open ground: 1 – 15, 31 May.

Caring for eggplant seedlings

Temperature. The optimum temperature for the growth of seedlings is 25 – 30 ° C, so you need to keep it in the warmest place in the apartment. And no drafts – eggplants do not like sudden temperature fluctuations (1).

Watering. The main problem with eggplants is their huge leaves. They actively evaporate water, and if the plants are not watered in time, they will begin to wither. So you can’t skip watering – this is a very moisture-loving culture (2)! The schedule is as follows: shoots to the first true leaf are watered 1-2 times a week, then 2-3 times a week. The soil should always be moist, but not wet. It is also important that there is high air humidity near eggplant seedlings, at least 60 – 65%, and in an apartment with central heating it is about 20%. A humidifier will help you here, you need to put it next to the seedlings. If not, water containers that need to be placed on the windowsill will do – the water will evaporate and humidify the air.

Favorable days for watering seedlings: 4 – 7, 11 – 17, 20 – 28, March 31, 1 – 4, 8 – 14, 17 – 24, 27 – 30 April, 1 – 2, 5 – 11, 14 – 22, 25 – 31 May.

Feeding. If you prepared the soil yourself (see above), the seedlings will have enough nutrition. In this case, the eggplants will need only one top dressing – when the seedlings have 4 true leaves: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of any complex liquid fertilizer per 10 liters of water.

If the soil was purchased, then in addition to this top dressing, you need to make a couple more – with the same fertilizers in the same doses 1 time in 2 weeks.

Favorable days for feeding eggplant seedlings: 6 – 7, 23 – 26, March 27, 2 – 4, 13 – 14, 17 – 24, April 30, 18 – 22, 25 – 29, May 31.

Lighting. Eggplant comes from India, and it is not far from the equator. And at the equator, as you know, day and night are equal all year round. Therefore, it is important for eggplants that the day lasts 12 hours and the same number of nights. And the night must be dark.

At the beginning of March, in central Our Country, the day lasts 10 hours, so the seedlings need illumination – it should stand under phytolamps for 2 hours.

But with the onset of darkness, another problem begins. In cities outside the window all the time lights. For eggplants, this is too light, they cannot “sleep” and begin to lag behind in growth. Therefore, in the evening they need to be isolated from the light, for example, put the seedlings on the table and curtain the curtains.

At the end of March, in the middle lane, the length of the day approaches 12 hours, so backlighting is no longer needed. But since eggplants are photophilous, it is important that they have enough sun. And they lack it even on the southern windows, if they are … dirty. This is exactly what happens at the end of winter. Therefore, do not be lazy, wash them – this will increase the illumination of the windowsill by 15%.

And do not forget to turn the seedling pots every 3 days so that it does not grow one-sided.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about growing eggplants with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova – asked her the most popular questions of summer residents.

Sources of

1. Fisenko A.N., Serpukhovitina K.A., Stolyarov A.I. Garden. Handbook // Rostov-on-Don, Rostov University Press, 1994 – 416 p.
2. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.