Causes of and Solutions for Eggplant Premature Senescence

Eggplant has a long growing period and vigorous growth with a large fruit set, but in the late growth stage it is highly prone to premature senescence, which adversely affects yield and quality. So what should you do when eggplant shows premature senescence? Don't worry, let's take a look together at the solutions for eggplant premature senescence.

1. Symptoms of premature senescence

In the middle and late growth stages, the root system begins to age, and its ability to absorb nutrients weakens. The growing point becomes shorter and shorter, and the surrounding leaves grow taller than the growing point. The overall growth of the seedlings becomes weaker and weaker, and the leaves become more and more yellow, losing their gloss. In the later stage, the eggplant basically cannot hold its fruit, the color becomes dull, the fruit swelling speed slows down, and the fruit may even stop expanding.

2. Causes of premature senescence

There are many causes of eggplant premature senescence. Overall, it is caused by temperature and fertilizer-water management. During seedling raising, if the temperature is high and humidity is high, and no shading and cooling measures are taken, the stems and leaves of the seedlings grow excessively, which can easily lead to poor root development and loss of absorption capacity in the later stage. Applying large amounts of chemical fertilizer at the seedling stage, especially nitrogen fertilizer, will also aggravate excessive vegetative growth, stimulate stem and leaf growth, cause poor root growth and development, and weaken absorption capacity. Applying large amounts of chemical fertilizer after planting will also inhibit the depth and breadth of root growth, resulting in an underdeveloped root system and affecting absorption function. During intertillage and weeding, the tillage depth is relatively shallow, and combined with the application of large amounts of fertilizer, the soil structure is destroyed, causing severe soil compaction and a very shallow plow pan, which also affects root development, so the roots cannot absorb enough nutrients to support aboveground growth.  

3. Solutions

In the middle and late growth stages of eggplant, the root absorption capacity is relatively weak. Nutrients can be supplemented through foliar fertilizer to enhance the plant's stress resistance and alleviate the problem of the growing point not growing. In addition, fertilizer and water management should be strengthened, and plain water should be applied to relieve the root system. On the other hand, rooting should be stimulated, which can be done with boron and zinc fertilizers, once every 7-10 days, for 2 consecutive times.

The above is an introduction to the causes of and solutions for eggplant premature senescence. We hope it can help you. If you want to learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.