The Brinjal / Egg plants / Aubergines
grows very easily and is a very low maintenance vegetable to cultivate.
Brinjal fruit is a great source of iodine and is recommended by many
physicians. Due to its not so deep root system, brinjal can be grown in
container easily. Below are the tips for growing brinjal at home. In Hindi it
is called as ‘Baingan’.
Propagation
The
best option may be to start your own eggplant seedlings from seed. Sow seeds in
seedling trays or small plastic container to make transfer of seedlings easier
into larger pots later on. Use a watering can to water the brinjals seeds
thoroughly after sowing. Brinjals seeds take about ten to fourteen days to
germinate. After germination the brinjal seedlings will require a further five
weeks in the seed trays before they can be transplanted. In those five weeks
the brinjals seedlings would have grown as high as the knuckle of your index
finger. At this stage the brinjal seedlings is ideal candidates for
transplanting into a garden bed or even a container, depending on where you
plan on cultivating your brinjals.Plant the brinjal seedlings slightly deeper
than it stood in the seedbed or seed tray where you are transplanting them
from.
Container
/ Pot
Choose
a large pot to house your mature eggplant. The pot must have a 5-gallon
(20-liter) capacity, at minimum, and each eggplant should have approximately 1
foot (30.5 centimeters) of space to grow. As a result, you may wish to plant
only one eggplant per pot.
Opt
for a clay pot. Eggplants love heat, and clay pots retain heat better than
plastic. Select an unglazed pot if you can remember to water your plants
frequently, but go with a glazed pot if you have a history of forgetting to
water your plants. Unglazed pots dry the soil out more quickly than glazed
pots, so eggplants living in unglazed pots will need more frequent watering. Clay
pots are also heavier than plastic pots, making it easier for them to support
the weight of a mature eggplant.
The
pot should also have large drainage holes to help balance out the moisture
level of the soil. Drainage holes will allow excess water to leave the pot,
minimizing the risk of root rot.
Soil
Brinjal
grows best in well drained clay loam, silt loam or loamy soil. Soil should be
loosely placed into the containers, but it should not be compressed.
Sun
/ Temperature
As it
is a warm season crop, so it would require a good amount of heat and sun
exposure. Set the pots or trays out on a warm, sunny windowsill. Choose a
window in full sun, meaning one that receives direct sunlight for at least 8
hours a day. Full sun provides enough light and warmth to spur growth.
Fertilizer
Add a
liquid fertilizer once every one or two weeks. Use a water soluble fertilizer
and water your eggplant before adding it to the soil, rather than adding it to
dry soil. Follow the directions on the back of the label to determine an
appropriate amount. If the leaves of your eggplant begin to pale, you may need
to add more fertilizer. A boost of 5-10-5 fertilizer should help significantly
if a lack of nutrition is your plant's only problem. A fertilizer with a higher
number, meaning a higher percentage of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, may
prove too strong.
Also
you can use liquid manure or compost tea every three weeks during their growing
season.
Caring
Most
seedling pests can be controlled organically with insecticidal soap. If you're
concerned about damping off, try watering your eggplant seedlings regularly
(about once per week) with a chamomile tea solution. Keep an eye for pests.
Cutworms are one of the most common pests that attack eggplants, but they can
usually be driven away by placing a cutworm collar over the plant. You may also
consider an organic pesticide to drive away cutworms and many other pests.
Harvesting
Always
use secateurs to cut off the brinjals when harvesting. The brinjals can be
harvested when the fruits are still glossy. Do handle your home-grown brinjals
with care as they bruise easily. Once picked, the fruit should not be stored
too long. The brinjal fruits do not have to be fully grown to harvest. Test the
brinjal with your finger and if it gives just a little and it has filled in
good and is shiny, then by all means, you may harvest your brinjals. Usually
after about three months or twelve weeks harvest the brinjals regularly. The
more you harvest brinjals the sooner more fruit-bearing flowers will develop.
The young plants provide the most bountiful crop.
Trouble
Shooting
Brinjals, Egg plants or Aubergines way
too small when matured
Snip
out the growth points and the excess of the flowers that forms to produce
quality brinjals instead of quantity.
Brinjals, Egg plants or Aubergines not
available long enough
You
may harvest brinjals anytime (depending on the weather conditions and consequent
growth) from the twelfth week after transplanting them. Harvesting can occur
over several weeks. However do not wait too long to harvest else the brinjals
may become overripe and bitter.
Brinjals,
Egg plants or Aubergines too few
Brinjals should preferably be planted as an
annual as the new plants are the best performers when it comes to providing
many fruits. You plants may be a bit too old to be prolific providers.
Hello Kumawat Sir,
ReplyDeleteI am back again with another problem. I have Brinjal plant and I see the growth rate is good enough however the problem is that the flowers don't turn into fruit. I notice after few days flower falls down and it happens with all flowers but did not see a single flower turn into fruit. What is wrong with my plant? Thank you for your help.
Suraj
Hi Suraj, the problem of not setting fruit can be due to following reasons.
Delete1. Too cold in nights in this season. Cover your plants in nights with a plastic sheet.
2. Failure of pollination. If flowers are not pollinated then flowers get dry and fall off so try to pollinate brinjal flowers using a paint brush or something else.
3. Use of excess N-based fertilizer. If you are doing so then stop using it right away.
Hope it is useful.
hey sir,
Deletei have a question for you.. my brinjal plants have become really pale and dry.. i water them regularly and add rose mix and vermicompost too.. can u tell me why this is happening.. and also the few purple eggplants that grew have dried, brown, rough bottoms.. :/
please do respond :)
Hi Kavya, if you are watering your brinjal plants regularly and soil has good level of moisture then it can be a case of nutrient deficiency (particularly Nitrogen) due to which foliage is becoming discolored. So add a layer of garden compost or any other organic manure to the soil. And for dried, brown and rough bottom I suspect BER ( Blossom End Rot) due to deficiency of calcium in soil.
ReplyDeleteHello Sir,
ReplyDeleteThank for your answer. let me try this.
Thank you.
Suraj