Planting your eggplants: when to sow seeds for seedlings
Eggplant is a crop that requires a little more attention from the gardener. Unlike peppers and tomatoes, which develop an order of magnitude faster, eggplant the growing season is longer, and therefore the sowing time of these crops is slightly different. In addition, the blue ones are demanding on heat: so that the bushes do not suffer from recurrent frosts, it is necessary not only to wait until they pass, but also on the street a stable warm temperature should be established at the level of 20 degrees Celsius - this is exactly what is needed for the seedlings to continue to actively develop and form an ovary.
At lower temperatures, plants begin to slow down in growth, and may even die.
The seedling planting method allows to accelerate the onset of fruiting, so the culture is most often grown this way.
When you can plant eggplants depends on three factors, namely:
- local climate;
- growing places;
- the timing of the ripening of the crop (varietal characteristics).
Planting time depending on the growing region
Since eggplants need warmth for growth and fruiting, climatic conditions play a decisive role in determining the timing of sowing, because spring does not come everywhere at the same time. So, if in the south seeds can be planted at the end of February, then in the middle lane it is the 20th of March. In the northern regions, it will not be superfluous to wait until early April, because before June, seedlings cannot be transplanted anyway.
When to plant eggplants for greenhouse and outdoor cultivation?
It is also necessary to take into account the moment where the eggplants will be grown. In the middle lane, this thermophilic crop is planted in greenhouses, which increases the chances of harvesting. The soil in such specially equipped rooms warms up well somewhere in the second half of May - it is then that the ready-made seedlings are transferred to the greenhouse. In order for the seedlings to grow up and get stronger by this time, it is worth sowing seeds already in the second half of February.
In the southern regions, gardeners who decided plant eggplant immediately to the garden bed, they should know that it will be possible to transplant seedlings not earlier than June, which means that you should not rush to sowing. In this case, you need to plant seeds for seedlings at the end of March.
Influence of variety on planting dates
Even at the stage of buying seeds, you should pay attention to the fact that the ripening of the fruits depends on which variety they belong to, namely:
- early-maturing species are ready for consumption within 3 months after planting;
- varieties with medium ripening times will require another three weeks to reach technical ripeness;
- but late eggplants need up to 150 days for the harvest to ripen.
The eggplant is planted in a permanent place when it reaches an age of about 45 days. Another 10 days the bushes will need to adapt after transplantation, and up to 5 days are needed for seeds to germinate. The total is about 2 months - the ideal seedling age for picks to the garden.
Based on this and the belonging of the eggplant to one or another variety, it is not difficult to calculate the sowing time: for example, in order to grow early eggplants in the greenhouse by the end of May in three months, you need to sow seeds in winter, in February.