Content
For any gardener, vegetable grower or simply amateur farmer, physical labor on his favorite plot is not a simple end in itself. Each of them strives to get a certain result from it. This could be a previously unseen harvest per unit area or a uniquely sized vegetable, berry or root vegetable. But there may also be a plant, unprecedented for this area, cultivated somewhere in the vastness of Africa or South America.
But when several similar options coincide - yield and size, early ripening and yield, taste and uniqueness of the variety, there is no limit to the gardener’s pride. Nothing like that happens when it comes to red eggplant. As a vegetable, it is unpresentable and has low yields. Few people like its taste. The only thing that makes this eggplant stand out is that it is red and at the same time it is an eggplant.
How to grow
The common eggplant (Solanum melongena) is a perennial plant in Africa or India. In the harsh conditions of the local climate, it is grown as an annual vegetable with purple colors. And when people, among themselves, talk about eggplant color, they mean precisely these color tones. It’s not for nothing that its unofficial name – “little blue ones” – is no less popular than just eggplant.The plant is cultivated for its excellent taste and excellent yield.
An eggplant bush during the fruiting period is an indescribable spectacle. Up to 10 beautiful fruits weighing up to 500 g and more than 300 mm long. few will leave anyone indifferent. In order to get such an eggplant harvest as early as possible, you need to work hard. After all, eggplants of any color and decorativeness are still southerners. During the period of their active growth and fruiting, which is about 100–130 days, eggplants are quite capricious and demanding of growing conditions:
- The growing temperature of plants should be within 240 — 270. This means that the seedling method of growing eggplants cannot be avoided;
- the soil should be moist and rich in nitrogen;
- Excessive air humidity is unacceptable. Regular ventilation is mandatory;
- daylight hours – maximum duration without shading;
- Due to the large weight of the crop, staking the bushes of the plant is mandatory. This is especially true for varieties with a bush height of more than 500 mm.
But if the eggplant is red
For a vegetable grower, all plants are like children. It doesn’t matter at all what race they are, what color they are, or what genes they have. They all need care and love. They may be weak from birth, strong in their genetic capabilities, or sickly due to poor acclimatization. Only the attention and love of their parents will make them healthy and happy in the future.
This is also the case with red eggplants, but this is Solanum aethiopicum.In other words, Ethiopian nightshade. These are the usual “blue” ones, but not eggplant-colored. Although nature created them red, they are the same eggplants, with all the nuances of their cultivation. These plants are just as sissy as their purple counterparts. They love warmth, water and light in the same way. They love fertile soil and warm watering at the root. But they were not entirely successful in taste and yield. But how beautiful they are.
Choosing a variety of red eggplants is very easy
The ease of choice is associated not so much with the quality indicators of the variety, but with the paucity of choice. And the choice itself is not made with the goal of choosing a variety that guarantees an unprecedented harvest or ultra-short fruiting time, but with the goal of growing a rare and beautiful plant with red eggplants. There are several such varieties of eggplant, excluding the seeds offered by Aliexpress:
"Red Raffeld"
Medium-sized bush, without thorns, with a height of up to 500 mm. The plant is self-pollinating with flowers located in the axils of slightly pubescent leaves. Their size is close to the size of tomato flowers. The fruit ripening period reaches 140 days. Round eggplant fruit collected in compact brushes. Up to 7 eggplants are formed in each of the brushes, with the constant growth of new specimens. The weight of each fruit does not exceed 100 g. As it grows, it changes color from green to red. It has a smooth, shiny skin and the usual eggplant taste. As it ripens, the degree of bitterness increases.
"Japanese Red"
It has bushes of medium height, reaching 800 mm.in greenhouse conditions. The plant has no thorns, and the leaves are slightly pubescent. The flowers are located in the axils of the leaves, similar in size to tomato flowers - self-pollinating. After pollination, it forms clusters of 7 eggplants. Fruit ripening occurs sequentially. They are the size of tomatoes and weigh no more than 100g.
When ripe, the fruits change color from green to orange and then to red. The eggplant pulp has a pleasant yellowish color and a light eggplant flavor. Culinary processing is possible in the same way as for ordinary blue ones.
"Chinese Lantern"
Small, compact bush up to 800 mm high. The plant has a long flowering period - until the end of summer. The flowers are beautiful, star-shaped and quite large. The fruits of the plant resemble Chinese lanterns and are similar to tomatoes. He is a big fan of sunny, unshaded places.
Seedlings are planted at the end of May. March seedlings of the plant can be obtained 2 weeks after planting. Prefers light humus soils;
"Dandy"
Small (up to 400 mm), highly branched bush with a dense, strong crown. The plant is distinguished by great endurance and stress resistance. It easily tolerates light shading. Withstands winter gardens and limited containers and vases well. The plant bears fruit in small, bright red, round-shaped eggplants.
The degree of bitterness of eggplant changes as the fruit ripens. Each vegetable grower chooses a sufficient degree of harvest maturity for himself.
Seedlings are the basis of a beautiful plant and a good harvest
Like all eggplants, the red variety also has a very long growing season. To calculate the probable planting time, you should count more than 115 days from the desired time of fruit production. Therefore, the cultivation schedule for red eggplants will look like this:
- seed selection, preparation and germination - the last days of February or the first days of March;
- planting seeds - early March;
- appearance of the first plant shoots, hardening, culling and growing healthy seedlings - end of March;
- feeding, compliance with temperature and light conditions - April;
- transplanting plants into larger containers - April;
- preparation of places for permanent cultivation of red eggplants and purchase of covering material - mid-May;
- moving to a permanent place for growing plants and replanting them, sheltering and ensuring a decent existence.
It is necessary to compare the possible climatic conditions during transplantation and the degree of development of the seedlings by this time. But in any case, the seedlings should not be less than 75 days old.
Conclusion
The presence of varietal diversity of plants in a cultivated garden is not only a guaranteed yield of various crops. It is also a source of pride for the vegetable grower and the envy of the neighbors. At the same time, the bright bushes of Chinese lanterns will once again remind you that man does not live by bread alone.
Good afternoon, I read your article, it’s very interesting.
This year I planted “Red Ruffled” for the first time, three gorgeous bushes grew and bore fruit abundantly. But now frosts have begun and I had to pick the green eggplants. Tell me, please, what to do with them? Is it possible to cook something from them (for example, caviar)?