Eggplant "Green Knight" F1

Aubergine (Eggplant) "Green Knight" F1.
Early, productive, disease-resistant hybrid variety. The fruits are cylindrical, about 17–20 cm long, with a characteristic light green skin, ideal for Asian dishes.
The flesh is white, dense, without a bitter taste, with a delicate sweet flavour. Plants are compact, about 75 cm high, decorative, grow well both in pots on balconies and in greenhouses.
Used for frying, grilling, stewing, and preserving.

* It is better to grow aubergines in a greenhouse separately from other crops, in extreme cases – together with tomatoes.
They should not be grown together with cucumbers at all, because they have different humidity requirements.
However, when growing together with tall tomatoes, aubergines should be planted on the sunny side, otherwise, the tomatoes will shade them - then there is no hope for a good harvest.
Keep in mind that there are aubergine varieties available for sale ranging from dwarf to very tall. Therefore, when planting seedlings in the greenhouse, you must have a good idea of how high the plants will grow.
Unlike tomatoes, aubergines do not tolerate deep planting. The depth of the hole in the ground should be only 1-2 cm more than the height of the seedling pot. Seedlings are placed in a hole watered with warm water, then covered with soil so that the soil level is 1-2 cm higher than the root ball.
After planting, the plants must be shaded for 2-3 days and regular watering must be ensured, since aubergines do not tolerate any transplantation well, as their rather weak root system is located in the upper soil layer and cannot provide moisture to the powerful leaf apparatus. At the same time, it is useful to water them with a solution of black yeast (1 glass of solution per plant).
Aubergine leaves and shoots are very delicate and brittle; they break off easily. Therefore, immediately after planting, medium and tall plants are best tied to a reliable support.
Many gardeners place stakes next to each plant, massive enough to equal the height of an adult plant. This is especially important for tall, large-fruited hybrids. But it is much easier to tie them not to stakes, but to a trellis, like tomatoes, or even simpler: to a wire stretched over the rows.
To do this, twine is attached to the wire with a sliding knot. Its length should be such that it is easy to tie the lower part of the stem. The twine is tied to the stem with a knot and twisted around the main stem. As another shoot develops, it also needs to be tied up. Low-growing varieties do not require such tying, as they have a straight and strong stem.
After planting, aubergines usually take root within 10-12 days. At this time, it is necessary to carry out shallow loosening of the soil, gradually raking the soil to the plants, and produce moderate watering. Watering is best done in the morning with water heated to +28+30°C. Since the aubergine root system is located in the upper soil layer, loosening should be shallow and necessarily accompanied by light hilling.
Further care for aubergines comes down to plant formation, watering, feeding, and fighting pests and diseases.
Plant formation.
The most important technique when growing medium and especially tall plants is their formation, as the entire aubergine harvest depends on this.
To form a compact bush with well-developed side shoots, the top of the stem is usually removed when it reaches a height of 25-30 cm. After this, the plant begins to branch.
Usually, two laterals (stepchildren) are left on the plant, on which the entire crop is formed, and the rest are removed. But if it was not possible to save all the planted seedlings or there were not enough of them, then the plants can be formed into three stems. To do this, leave one more large lateral formed during the branching of one of the two stems.
When the shoots begin to branch, it is necessary to choose a strong shoot at each branching and leave it as the main one. And the other, weaker shoot must be pinched after the second leaf above the ovary, leaving only one fruit on the shoot. This should be done further with all subsequent branchings. Depending on the variety and size of the fruit, 5 to 12 fruits are left on one plant.
In very hot and dry weather, non-fruiting lower laterals can be left, as they will protect the soil from drying out.
In addition, every 3-5 days, all barren shoots, leaves and side shoots, flowers and ovaries growing below the branching point of the main stem must be removed.
To accelerate the ripening of aubergines, 3-4 weeks before the end of the growing season, the tops of the shoots are pinched, stopping their growth.
Each skeletal branch of tall plants must be tied up separately and very carefully, as they are very fragile and easily broken.
And one more tip: the greenhouse with aubergines must be regularly ventilated by opening all vents and transoms, since humidity above 65-70% is unacceptable. On very hot days, the glass should be shaded.
Watering and feeding.
Aubergine is very demanding on soil moisture, so it must be constantly moderately moist. Lack of moisture can lead to lignification of stems, falling of flowers, ovaries and leaves. And when watering with cold water, plants stop growing, flowering and fruiting times are delayed.
Therefore, aubergines are watered before flowering once a week with warm water (+25+30°C) by sprinkling, 10-11 litres per 1 m2, and in hot weather – 2 times a week (and during flowering and fruiting, watering should be done at least 2 times a week, 12-14 litres per 1 sq. meter). Moreover, watering should no longer be done by sprinkling, but only at the root, while ensuring maximum ventilation of the greenhouse. Condensation on plants should not be allowed at this time.
Those who visit the country house only on weekends should also water aubergines 2 times, dividing the weekly water rate equally between Saturday and Sunday.
To always have warm water at hand, it is best to build a simple installation in the garden for heating water by the sun or use water from a barrel that stands in the greenhouse. After watering, the soil must be loosened to a depth of 5-6 cm, simultaneously hilling the plants.
Modern varieties and hybrids (especially tall ones) require frequent application of increased doses of fertilizers. Only in this way do they realize their potential. Therefore, the nutrition of aubergines must be taken very, very seriously. Feeding should be timed to the main phases of plant development.
With normal soil preparation, the first feeding should be carried out 15-20 days after planting seedlings with a mullein solution (1:10) or bird droppings with the addition of 1 tablespoon of nitrophoska per 10 litres of solution, spending 4 litres per 1 sq.m of plantings.
The second feeding is carried out at the very beginning of fruit formation, when the plant most needs phosphorus and potassium, adding 1 tablespoon of nitrophoska and 0.5 cups of ash to a bucket of the same mullein or bird droppings solution. The third feeding with the same solution is carried out 15 days after the second.
During flowering and fruiting, it is recommended, in addition to liquid feeding, to sprinkle the soil with wood ash, 1 cup per 1 sq.m of bed.
All root feedings are done on moist soil (i.e., the plants must be watered the day before feeding). After feeding and watering, plants must be hilled.
Harvesting begins 30-35 days after flowering in the phase of technical ripeness, when they reach the size and colour characteristic of the variety. These fruits are usually glossy. Overripe aubergines are brown, matte, and have coarse and tasteless flesh.
Fruits are harvested every 5-6 days. They are cut with pruning shears. Fruits cannot be torn off by hand, as severe injury is caused to the plant. Harvesting must be completed before frost.
Harvested fruits quickly lose their taste and shrivel. But in a dry and cool room, they can be stored for about a month.
When fully ripe, the content of poisonous solanine in aubergines increases sharply. In case of poisoning, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal colic, shortness of breath, convulsions, confusion may occur. First aid before the doctor arrives – the patient is given milk, slimy soups, egg white.