(Solanum melongena Linn.)
Growing your own eggplant is fun and a lucrative home gardening business, besides being nutritious, it could provide you with a real fresh fruits coming directly from your garden.
You can produce them the way you want it. Producing eggplant can be done without using chemicals because you’re the one controlling their growth processes.
If you plant eggplant with other vegetables, the occurrence of pests and diseases attack could be totally minimized or even none at all. Companion cropping or multiple cropping can control pests and diseases attack since they’re protected by the other plants.
How to Grow Your Tasty Eggplant
1) Provide a seed box or germinating tray for sowing seeds. Sow the seeds 12 mm or .5 inch deep in the seed trays or germinating tray. Slightly cover the seeds with thin soil to cover them.
2) Cover the seed trays or germinating trays with newspaper or polyethylene plastic. Germination will take about 7-10 days from sowing.
3) After the seeds have germinated, remove the cover. Gradually expose the growing seedlings to the morning sunlight to harden them
4) Prepare a separate seed trays or germinating trays the same manner as when sowing seedlings. Fill with the growing medium and level at least 12 mm or .5 inch below the rim.
5) Use a dibber to form holes about 36 mm or .5 inch apart, the outer ones 12 mm or .5 inch from the sides.
6) As soon as the seedlings are large enough to handle, prick or transfer them to the individual holes in the prepared seedling or germinating trays. This is to provide the seedlings a wider space to avoid over-crowding while in the seedling or germinating trays.
7) Now set the individual seedlings to a growing bags or pots.
8) Support the plants with sticks tied with wires or strings to hold in place.
9) Feed the growing plants every ten days from planting up to the time when the first pork is formed.
10) Remove all auxiliary buds growing up to the pork. Also, gradually remove the lower leaves below the pork.
11) Harvest your fresh eggplant when they’re big enough, a desirable size is reached out, but still tender. You can give or sell your surplus harvest to your neighbors. And they’ll thanks for your generosity.
See, it’s very easy to grow your own chemically free eggplant for your family’s needs.
Why not try planting your own tasty eggplant. You’re sure you’ll enjoy it and you’ll have a continuous supply of fresh fruits in your kitchen.
The Author:
Cris Ramasasa is a retired Horticulture teacher for 29 years and Freelance writer. Writes home gardening tips and resources. Written ebooks titled: Discover How To Get Started In Flower Gardening and Vegetable Gardening Made Easy.