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How to grow Eggplant in pots is a hard question for many people, who love Eggplant. It is an extremely popular fruit vegetable with abundant nutritional value, rich in fiber. Also, this is the best way to save space for them. This article from Garden How will provide you with detailed steps to plant this plant successfully.
Characteristics of Eggplant
It is a herbaceous plant in the same family as tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, etc.
Also, Eggplant has an average height of 50-150cm. It is a berry, soft inside, fleshy and small seeds. There are many types of Eggplant, from round, goat-shaped, to oblong about 20cm long, all with purple skin, or sometimes light-green skin.
About seasonality to grow Eggplant in pots
Eggplant can be grown all year round, but for the highest yield, it should be planted in the following 2 seasons:
- Winter-Spring crop: From September to March next year
- Summer-Autumn crop: From April to July
Note:
The South should not plant in the rainy season (May, June). The North should not plant in December and January because this time is cold, and easy to be damaged by fruit borers.
What should you prepare to grow Eggplant in containers?
Planting tools
You have to prepare all of the following tools:
Nursery trays, plastic cups, beer cans, milk cartons, etc. to make nursery pots.
Land for planting
Growing Eggplants require soil that is aerated, humus-rich, easily drained, and pathogen-free.
Besides, you can mix things up on your own using the following formula: 30% soil: 20% coco peat, 15% rice husk, 30% vermicompost, and 5% Trichoderma.
In order to grow vegetables and fruits more conveniently, you can now utilize soil that has been mixed with vermicompost, chicken manure, coco peat, smoked rice husks, lime, and other ingredients rather than the fungus Trichoderma.
How to grow Eggplant in pots?
There are 2 ways to grow Eggplant.
- Method 1 is self-sowing from seeds.
- Method 2 is buying seedlings to grow Eggplant in pots.
If you buy seedlings, you should choose tall trees, large foliage, no punctured leaves, young buds developing, and bright colors.
If you are planting seeds, proceed as follows:
- The proportion of healthy plants will increase if you choose to purchase high-quality seeds that come in attractive packaging and labeling and are of disease-resistant kinds.
- To soften the Eggplant seed skin and improve germination rates, you have to soak the seeds in warm water (2 boiling: 3 cold) for around 24 hours.
- Remove the seeds, allow them to crack for about 8 hours in a moist cloth, and then you can grow Eggplant in pots.
- Then, you place the ready-made soil in paper boxes, plastic cups, and nursery trays.
- Sow the seeds in a tray, 2 seeds in each hole, then cover with a thin layer of soil on the surface of the seeds.
- Twice a day, you sprinkle seeds with a spray.
- You can transfer seedlings to the garden after an incubation period of around 3 weeks.
You can grow Eggplant in plastic containers, foam boxes, plastic pots, and PE bags that are 20 to 25 cm high and 30 to 40 cm broad. It is better to choose seedlings that are 6-8 cm tall, have a healthy, fatty body, have 5-6 genuine leaves, and can be put in large pots.
How to take care of Eggplant after growing in pots?
Pile up
Eggplants can produce a fairly extended harvest period, depending on soil management and fertility. In order to make the Eggplant stand firmly, you can plug the fruit with the scrub, which will make it easier to maintain and harvest.
Watering
You have to water twice a day < 9 am and < 5 pm. If the day is rainy, you can reduce the amount of water.
Pruning
Since virus mosaics and infectious illnesses are quite common in Eggplant, it’s important to constantly clip the plant’s original branches, aged leaves, and afflicted branches.
Fertilization
Depending on the type of soil you choose, you can reduce or add more the amount of fertilizer. If planting SFARM clean soil, after about 40 days of planting, fertilizer will begin. If planting in normal soil, you can fertilize it as follows:
- Worm manure: 0.3 – 0.5kg/root
- Bat droppings: 0.3 – 0.5kg/root
- Fish protein: 0.2l/root (mixing ratio: 0.1l pure protein/10 liters of clean water)
- Banana juice: 0.2l/root (mixing ratio: 1l pure solution/10 liters of clean water)
Since all of the aforementioned fertilizers are organic, you can fertilize once a week and apply them concurrently or alternately. Dilute fertilizers should be watered first thing in the morning, whereas powdered fertilizers should be buried.
Harvesting Eggplant
After a planting period of roughly two months, Eggplant can be picked. The time frame for fruiting Eggplant is rather extensive. if properly kept, can be gathered for the entire 7-8 month period.
Harvest the fruit when it is glossy, elastic, and between dark and light purple in color. Early fruit harvesting prevents aging, hardens seeds, lowers fruit quality, and saps strength.
How to prevent and control Eggplant pests?
In fact, Eggplant often suffers from a number of pests as follows: Earthworms, nematodes, green worms, charm worms, thrips, green planthoppers, red spiders, powdery mildew, downy mildew, virus mosaic, green wilt, etc.
Applying integrated control strategies, such as choosing pest-resistant plant kinds, removing plant residues before planting, and making sure planting densities are adequate. It is necessary because prevention is always preferable to treatment.
To maintain the garden open, prune periodically. In particular, avoid rotating Eggplant with plants from the same family as tomatoes, peppers, Eggplants, etc. Spray insecticides such as garlic chili, herbal nano, and so forth for 7–10 days.
Note when using Eggplant
- You can eat the peel of the Eggplant instead of removing it to get additional vitamins B and C.
- When cooking Eggplant, add a few slices of ginger to prevent soldering.
- It is better to limit use if you have diarrhea or low blood pressure.
Final Thoughts about How to grow Eggplant in containers
We hope you have gained more knowledge about how to grow Eggplant in pots? as well as How to take care of it through what we have provided in this post. They are prized for their delicious taste, as well as their nutritional qualities. Visit gardenhow.net to learn more about Eggplant Thank you for taking the time to read this!
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