What causes poor coloring in eggplants?
Eggplants are mainly divided into two colors, dark purple and green. Whether the skin of the eggplant is fully colored determines its quality and sales, but in fact, during the growing process, dark purple eggplants can easily develop poor coloring, with dark purple and green meeting on the skin. So what exactly causes poor coloring in eggplants? Details are as follows.
1. Temperature
It may be caused by excessively low temperatures, especially when the temperature drops sharply in the latter half of the night, causing the eggplant's lycopene to be unable to convert, and the eggplant will then show poor coloring. Eggplant is a crop that prefers higher temperatures. During the coloring stage of the eggplant, the most suitable temperature is around 25 degrees, and this temperature is the optimal temperature for lycopene conversion in eggplant. The most suitable daytime temperature for eggplant is around 28 degrees, and at night the temperature also needs to be kept at around 20 degrees. Therefore, at night, the temperature in the greenhouse must be well controlled, and suitable temperatures must also be ensured during low-temperature weather.
2. Light
Eggplants need a large amount of light time during the growing process and are a vegetable relatively dependent on light. If the light time required by the eggplant is not reached during the growing process, the eggplant plants will be weak, yield will decline, and it will be difficult to form pigments, causing insufficient coloring of the fruit and the appearance of mixed colors. Moreover, if there is weak light, cloudy and rainy weather, plus poor nutrition, the phenomenon of eggplants turning white will worsen. Therefore, in the greenhouse, not only must the temperature be adjusted well, but sufficient light must also be provided for the eggplant. Properly removing old and flowering leaves and maintaining the light transmittance of the greenhouse can also help prevent this.
3. Water
Eggplant is a crop with luxuriant and large leaves, and one plant can bear multiple fruits, so its water demand is also relatively large. However, the water requirements differ at different stages of eggplant growth. When the eggplant has just produced young fruits, the water needed is relatively little. As the eggplant grows from small to large, the water demand increases, and since eggplant is a multi-harvest crop, the period before and after harvesting is also a stage with a relatively large water demand. If there is a lack of water, the eggplant becomes shriveled and the coloring is incomplete, leading to incomplete coloring. But if the humidity in the air increases, it is likely to cause diseases such as bacterial wilt.
4. Fertilizer
The fertilizer here mainly refers to nitrogen fertilizer. Many people continuously apply nitrogen fertilizer in order to increase eggplant yield and achieve high production. However, if nitrogen fertilizer is excessive, nutrients are in surplus, and growth is overly vigorous, making it difficult for the eggplant to color. Especially at the stage when the eggplant is approaching maturity, excessive nitrogen fertilizer will cause it to grow leggy, causing the leaves to shade each other, affecting the ripening of the eggplant and indirectly leading to poor coloring of the eggplant.
The above four points are the reasons compiled by the editor for why eggplants develop poor coloring. Poor coloring in eggplants not only affects their appearance but also leads to a decline in eggplant yield and quality, so if everyone encounters this problem, I hope this article by the editor can be helpful to everyone.