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It’s already difficult to surprise anyone with beds of eggplants. And experienced gardeners try to plant new varieties on the site every season. Only through personal experience can you check the quality of the fruit and evaluate the new product.
Description of the hybrid
Mid-season eggplant Behemoth F1 is a hybrid variety. It has high productivity. The bushes are characterized by moderate pubescence (oval-shaped leaves) and grow up to 75-145 cm in film greenhouses, and up to 2.5 m in glazed structures. The period from germination to the first ripe vegetables is 100-112 days.
The fruits ripen, weighing up to 250-340 g. Eggplant has a deep purple color and skin with a smooth, shiny surface (as in the photo). The pear-shaped fruits grow 14-18 cm long, with a diameter of approximately 8 cm. The yellowish-white pulp is of medium density, with virtually no bitterness.
Advantages of eggplant variety Behemoth F 1:
- beautiful fruit coloring;
- high yield - approximately 17-17.5 kg of fruit can be collected per square meter of area;
- excellent taste of eggplant (no bitterness);
- The plant is slightly spiny.
The yield of one bush ranges from approximately 2.5 to 6 kg and is determined by the climatic characteristics of the region.
Growing
Since the Behemoth variety is a mid-season variety, it is recommended to start sowing seeds at the end of February.
Sowing stages
Before planting, the seed material is treated with growth stimulants (“Paslinii”, “Athlete”). This procedure increases the germination of seeds, reduces the likelihood of seedling disease, and increases the duration of flowering. To do this, the fabric is soaked in the solution and the grains are wrapped in it.
- As soon as the grains hatch, they are planted in separate cups. As soil, you can use a special soil mixture offered by flower shops. The holes for the grains are made small - up to 1 cm. The soil in the containers is first moistened. The seeds are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil and sprayed with water from a spray bottle (so that the soil does not become compacted).
- All containers are covered with film or placed under glass so that the moisture does not quickly evaporate and the soil does not dry out. Containers with planting material are placed in a warm place.
- As soon as the first shoots of Behemoth eggplants appear, the covering material is removed and the seedlings are placed in a well-lit place, protected from drafts.
About three weeks before transplanting the sprouts into the greenhouse, the eggplant seedlings begin to harden off. To do this, the containers are taken out into the open air, first for a short period, and then gradually the time spent on the street is increased. This procedure helps the seedlings to take root faster when transplanted.
Before planting the bushes in the greenhouse, feed the eggplants.As soon as the first true leaves appear on the stems, Kemiru-Lux is added to the soil (25-30 g of the drug is diluted in 10 liters of water) or a mixture of fertilizers is used (30 g of foscamide and 15 g of superphosphate are dissolved in 10 liters of water). Repeated feeding is carried out 8-10 days before transplanting the seedlings into the greenhouse. You can again use Kemira-Lux (20-30 g per 10 liters of water).
Transplanting seedlings
Eggplant seedlings of the Behemoth variety can be planted in film greenhouses at the age of 50-65 days. It’s better to focus on the end of May (in central Russia). The soil is prepared in advance.
The order of the holes: row spacing - 70-75 cm, distance between plants - 35-40 cm. It is advisable that no more than 5 eggplant bushes be placed per square meter of area.
It is not recommended to plant seedlings tightly in a greenhouse, as this can lead to a decrease in yield. Before planting seedlings, the soil must be watered.
Watering and fertilizing
To moisten the soil, it is advisable to take warm water. The seedlings are watered for the first time after transplantation five days later. It is better to do greenhouse watering of Behemoth eggplants in the morning, but do not allow water to get on the green mass. The best option is to install a drip irrigation system. In this case, the soil at the roots will be evenly moistened and a crust will not form on the surface of the soil. During hot weather, be sure to mulch the soil and ventilate greenhouses, as high humidity can cause the appearance and spread of diseases.
The appropriate humidity level in the greenhouse is 70%. To prevent plants from overheating in hot weather, it is recommended to open the greenhouse for ventilation. Otherwise, when the temperature rises to +35˚ C, pollination and the formation of ovaries noticeably slow down. Since Hippo eggplants are a heat-loving crop, it is important to prevent drafts. Therefore, you need to open the door/windows only on one side of the building.
During flowering and fruiting, Behemoth eggplants especially need nutritious soil. Therefore, the following fertilizers are used:
- during flowering, add an ammophosphate solution to the soil (20-30 g per 10 liters of water). Or a mineral mixture: dissolve a liter of mullein and 25-30 g of superphosphate in 10 liters of water;
- during fruiting, you can use a fertilizer solution (for 10 liters of water, take half a liter of chicken manure, 2 tablespoons of nitroammophoska).
Caring for eggplants in a greenhouse
Since eggplants grow quite tall, the stems must be tied up. The best option is to fix the bush in three places. If the size of the structure is small, then the Behemoth eggplant bush is formed from one stem. At the same time, a powerful shoot is chosen for growth. When ovaries form on the bush, they are thinned out and only the largest are left. The tops of the shoots where the fruits have set should be pinched.
About 20 strong ovaries are usually left on the bush. This is also determined by the parameters of the plant - whether it is strong or weak.Stepchildren must be removed.
According to some gardeners, eggplants do not need garters, since the stems grow very powerful. But when the fruits ripen, tall plants may simply break. Therefore, it is practiced to tie the stems to a trellis or high pegs.
Tight fixation can inhibit the development of the bush.
When growing eggplants in a greenhouse, it is important to promptly remove yellowed and wilted foliage. This should be addressed several times a week. During hot and humid weather, unnecessary stepsons are pruned, especially at the bottom of the bush. If dry weather sets in, the stepsons are left to reduce soil evaporation.
At the end of the season (in the last days of August), 5-6 ovaries are left on the Behemoth variety eggplant bushes. As a rule, the formed fruits have time to ripen before the strong fall in temperature in autumn.
Harvest
Behemoth eggplants are cut off along with the green cup and a small portion of the stalk. Ripe fruits can be collected every 5-7 days. Eggplants do not have a long shelf life. It is recommended to store ripe fruits in dark, cool rooms (with air temperature +7-10˚ C, humidity 85-90%). In basement conditions, you can store eggplants in boxes (the fruits are sprinkled with ash).
Behemoth eggplants are excellent for growing in different regions, as they grow well in greenhouse conditions. With proper care, the bushes delight summer residents with high productivity.
