A Detailed Guide to Scientific Eggplant Cultivation Techniques and High-Yield Growing Methods

Speaking of eggplant, I believe everyone is very familiar with it, because it is a vegetable we eat often. Eggplant has a very soft texture, and whether it is pan-fried eggplant, roasted eggplant, or boiled eggplant, it is deeply loved by food lovers. Eggplant sales are also very large every year, and the growing prospects are very promising.

Scientific High-Yield Eggplant Cultivation Techniques

1. Variety: Choose varieties that are tolerant to low temperatures, weak light, and early maturing. Such as: Black Jade, Shenqie No. 1, Qiza Qie No. 2, Green Round Eggplant, Black Round Eggplant No. 2, Yongfeng Black Hybrid Eggplant, etc.

2. Preparation of seedbed soil: Use 6 parts pollution-free field soil, 2 parts fully decomposed high-quality chicken manure or pig manure, and 2 parts fully decomposed horse manure or rice husk, mix well and sieve for later use.

3. Seed soaking and germination: Soak seeds in 1% potassium permanganate for 30 minutes, rinse repeatedly, then place in 55°C water to soak for 15 minutes, and then soak in 20°C water for 24 hours. Before germination, rub off the mucus on the seed coat with fine sand, then wrap in a damp cloth and place at 25-30°C for germination, generally taking 5-6 days to sprout.

4. Sowing: In a greenhouse, use a seedling tray or wooden box to lay out 10 cm of seedbed soil, flatten it, and water thoroughly. Then evenly sow the seeds onto the bed surface. The sowing rate is 35-40 grams per sq m.

5. Seedling separation: Transplant seedlings at a spacing of 8-10 cm between plants and rows, and water thoroughly after separation. In the early stage, raise the daytime temperature to 25-30°C and the nighttime temperature to 15-18°C. After the seedlings recover, lower the temperature to 25°C during the day and 15°C at night, and it must not be lower than 10°C. Eggplant seedlings are mostly over 80 days old, and because the seedling age is long, they are prone to fertilizer deficiency later, so 0.3% diammonium phosphate can be used for foliar topdressing.

How to Plant Eggplant

1. Preparation before planting

Greenhouse sealing and disinfection: For each cubic meter of greenhouse or shed, use 4 grams of sulfur powder, add 0.1 gram of 80% dichlorvos and 8 grams of sawdust, mix well and ignite, seal the greenhouse or shed for 24 hours, then open it and ventilate strongly.

Land preparation and fertilization: Apply 5000 kg of high-quality farmyard manure per mu, mix the manure and soil evenly and rake level, and open planting furrows 10-15 cm deep at a row spacing of 55 cm. Apply 20 kg of diammonium phosphate and 30 kg of potassium sulfate per mu, and after fertilization cover with 5 cm of soil (be sure to avoid the drip line).

2. Planting: Place seedlings at a plant spacing of 25-30 cm (be careful to avoid slow seedling recovery caused by broken seedling blocks), then water thoroughly in the furrow for planting, and after infiltration, cultivate soil into ridges. Cover with film the next day, using 1.0-1.2 m wide plastic film, covering two ridges at a time, pulling it to the same length as the ridges, then use a blade to cut vertical openings at each plant position, lead the seedlings out through the openings, finally pull the film tight, press it down firmly with soil, and seal the planting openings well.

3. Management after planting

Water and fertilizer: Water once 3-4 days after planting to help seedlings recover. After recovery, begin seedling hardening. When the first fruit reaches the "eye-opening" stage (about 13 days), begin dark furrow irrigation. After the soil temperature reaches 18°C, both open and dark furrows can be irrigated, but attention must be paid to ventilation and dehumidification. At the eye-opening stage of the first fruit, apply 10-15 kg of urea or 10 kg of diammonium phosphate per mu, once every 20 days, and use 300-fold Diluted Dibao solution for foliar topdressing.

Pruning and leaf removal: Use double-stem pruning. After the first fruit forms, cut off the two outward-facing side branches, leaving only the two upward-growing double stems. Generally, pinch off the growing point at the 7th fruit to promote early fruit maturity. At the eye-opening stage of the first fruit, remove the 3 leaves at the base, and later as the plant grows, gradually remove the lower leaves to facilitate ventilation and light penetration for the whole population.

Pest and Disease Management Techniques

Strengthen the prevention and control of pests and diseases. During the high-temperature and dry period in autumn, eggplant is quite seriously damaged by tea yellow mites, stem borers, aphids, whiteflies, anthracnose, cottony leak, and gray mold, causing a large number of flower and fruit drops and deforming the fruit. It is necessary to spray a mixture of 1000-fold Lorsban, 800-fold thiophanate-methyl, and 1500-fold Shennongsu chelated fertilizer, or a mixture of 1000-fold Green Kung Fu, 800-fold Ridomil, and 1000-fold Zhuangfengyou on the leaves once every 10-15 days for control, evenly spraying all leaves, flower buds, and fruits until water droplets begin to drip down.

Eggplant Varieties

1. Round eggplant: The plant is tall and the fruit is large, round, oblate, or oval in shape. It is cultivated more in northern China.

2. Long eggplant: The plant grows moderately, and the fruit is slender and club-shaped. It is commonly cultivated in southern China.

3. Dwarf eggplant: The plant is relatively short, and the fruit is small, egg-shaped or long egg-shaped.

4. Lantern Red Eggplant: Young branches, leaves, pedicels, and calyx all have stellate hairs. Simple leaves are alternate. Obovate or elliptical, green or purple-green. Flowers are bisexual, with a gamopetalous corolla, the top having 5 auxillary lobes, pale purple or white, and the calyx is persistent and spiny. There are 5 stamens, born at the throat of the corolla tube, and 1 pistil, with a superior ovary. The berry is spherical and purple-red.

5. The national eggplant cultivation area is about more than 3 million mu, and Guangdong is about 100,000 mu, distributed throughout the province, with northern transport bases such as Zhanjiang City being relatively concentrated. Eggplants cultivated in Guangdong are mainly long eggplant in fruit shape, and there are also oval and round forms, with fruit color mainly purple-red, as well as white, green, and purple-black. In recent years, with the increase in demand from northern transport markets, northern transport bases also like to grow glossy purple-black long eggplants, oval eggplants, and round eggplants.

As mentioned above, eggplant is a very easy vegetable to grow and manage. In rural areas, almost every household grows this vegetable, as it is both nutritious and delicious. Although eggplant is tasty, it must be washed clean before cooking, because the eggplant skin can retain pesticide residues, and the nutrition of the eggplant skin is also especially high, so the washing work must be done well.