Detailed Explanation of Key Cultivation and Management Techniques for Eggplant in May
Eggplant is a typical vegetable, and depending on the variety, it has diverse uses. Eggplant has fairly high value for recovery from illness, and its role in improving vitality falls within an effective range. The national eggplant cultivation area is about more than 3 million mu, with about 100,000 mu in Guangdong, distributed throughout the province, with relatively concentrated areas in northern transport bases such as Zhanjiang City. The fruit shape of eggplant cultivated in Guangdong is mainly long eggplant, and there are also oval and round types, with fruit color mainly purplish red, and also white, green and purple-black. As demand in the northern transport market increases, northern transport bases also like to grow glossy purple-black long eggplants, oval eggplants and round eggplants.
Eggplant is called six vegetables in Zhejiang, and Guangdong people call it short melon. It was introduced from India. [3] Eggplant is relatively rich in nutrition, containing protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and multiple nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus and iron. According to research by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences, eggplant is not limited to being cooked as a dish; it can also be eaten raw as a fruit. That is a new variety——milk eggplant.
Eggplant can be eaten with meat or vegetables, and can be stir-fried, braised, steamed or boiled, and can also be deep-fried, served cold with dressing, or made into soup. It is best not to peel eggplant when eating it, because the skin of eggplant contains vitamin B. Vitamin B and vitamin C are a good pair; the metabolism of vitamin C requires the support of vitamin B. Eating eggplant with the skin helps promote the absorption of vitamin C.
When eaten with bitter melon, bitter melon has the effects of relieving fatigue, clearing the heart and improving eyesight, tonifying qi and strengthening yang, and delaying aging. Eggplant has the effects of relieving pain and invigorating blood, clearing heat and reducing swelling, relieving pain and promoting urination, and preventing blood vessel rupture, stabilizing blood pressure, and stopping coughing blood. Eaten together, they are an ideal dish for patients with cardiovascular disease. Preventing purpura When eaten with meat, it can nourish blood, stabilize blood pressure, and also prevent purpura.
Key cultivation and management points for eggplant in May
1. Topdressing techniques
May is a high-yield period for eggplant, and the demand for fertilizer and water is very high. Eggplant likes water, and in May attention should be paid to frequently maintaining sufficient soil moisture. When there is a water shortage, irrigation and furrow irrigation can be carried out. During irrigation, dissolve the fertilizers ammonium bicarbonate, monoammonium phosphate and potassium sulfate in water, with concentrations of about 0.3%, 0.15% and 0.2% respectively. During furrow irrigation, after filling one furrow with a large amount of water, evenly scatter the above fertilizers into the furrow to dissolve, with amounts per mu of 15-30 kg, 10 kg and 10 kg respectively. If there is no water shortage, then a hole can be dug between every four eggplant plants, and fully decomposed farmyard manure can be placed in the hole. Note that after topdressing, ventilation should be increased to prevent fertilizer damage and disease occurrence.
2. Later management and removing old leaves: In addition to removing axillary buds, eggplant should also have the lower old leaves removed. For the position, keep one to two leaves below the lowest (largest) eggplant on the plant, and all the rest below should be removed.
Deeply digging furrows: Use the soil from digging furrows to raise the bed surface, which can prevent flooding, increase soil air permeability, and lower soil temperature.
3. Eggplant diseases and pests After May, the main eggplant diseases are gray/phyrophthora blight and powdery mildew. Gray/phyrophthora blight: On mature fruit of gray blight, light brown to brown lesions appear, slightly sunken. When the disease worsens, the entire fruit becomes dark brown. If humidity increases, a gray-white frosty mold layer forms on the fruit surface, gradually softens and rots, and gives off a foul odor. Sometimes it can develop during transport and on shop stalls; phyrophthora blight is most favorable for the growth and development of the pathogen under high temperature and high humidity, and of course is also most favorable for its infection. Therefore, during summer high temperature and rainy periods, large amounts of eggplant can be seen rotting and quickly growing long, dense white hairs. Large numbers of nearly mature eggplant fruits are infected by Phytophthora, forming rotten eggplants.
Control methods: When the initial disease appears and central infected plants are found, they should immediately be pulled up and destroyed, and pesticide should be sprayed for control. Starting from the rainy season, spray 1:1:200 Bordeaux mixture once every 7 days for protection, and the effect is very good. Once disease occurs, pesticide must be applied immediately. The agents include 75% chlorothalonil 500-600 times solution, 50% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 800 times solution, 40% fosetyl-aluminum wettable powder 200 times solution, 64% oxadixyl mancozeb 500 times solution, etc. Generally spray once every 7-10 days, for 3-4 consecutive sprays. To prevent the development of pesticide resistance, different types of pesticide should be used each time.