But they also taste very simply prepared, so simply cut into pieces and fried in the pan with a little salt, pepper and butter. In any case, it is worth trying out the cultivation of egg plants, because the productive plant is actually quite easy to care for:
Planting egg plants
You can use your Egg plants from seeds that you sow in March and prick out with a size of a few centimeters. Then the small eggplants can be placed one at a time in pots with nutrient-rich soil and grown in the greenhouse or in a bright window. The optimal growing temperature for the warmth-hungry plants is 25 ° C. Towards the end of May, the egg plants and their balls are then planted outdoors.
At this time, pre-grown young plants are also offered, which are grown in the garden can be planted. The individual rows should be about 60 cm apart, the distance between the individual plants should also be at least 50 cm. Since the egg plants really need warmth, as I said, it is best to plant them outdoors in black mulch film, this increases the heat
If you have the opportunity, you can also grow the egg plants under so-called floating windows, i.e. under glass windows. For this purpose, small eggplant plants are placed in a warmed bed under the window and are allowed to grow under this protection. When they get higher, around the middle of summer, the windows have to be raised. B. a plant pot or something else with a suitable height. If you intend to do such crops more often, you can also build a real slatted frame around the bed, from which the warming windows are then placed.
Egg plants need plenty of water in summer and they are very nutrient-hungry. They want to be fertilized with compost or every week Universal fertilizer received in the irrigation water. You have the choice whether you pull up your aubergines like tomatoes, i.e. remove all side shoots, or whether you let them grow like a bush.
However, this only makes a decisive difference if you grow the egg plants in the greenhouse, then you either have a few large fruits or several but smaller ones. When grown outdoors, the plant only has the strength to ripen around five fruits. They can also develop on the bush, the remaining fruit bases are simply pinched away. That is why bush-like growth is usually chosen in the field, which is less work than growing a shoot.
You can secure or Increase by gently shaking the plants occasionally at lunchtime when the flowers have appeared. In this way you actively help the egg plant with pollination. From the beginning of August, however, you should remove all flowers, the resulting fruits would no longer ripen in our climate. This shrub should definitely be tied to a stake outdoors to make the plant more stable. In the greenhouse, the aubergines can be tied with cords so that they cannot be unbalanced as they continue to grow.
The heat-loving plant usually only brings a really rich harvest when grown in the greenhouse. In any case, you have to make sure that every fruit on the plant ripens, the eggplants only have an optimal harvest quality in a very short time. To do this, take a good look and notice when the fruit peel is completely colored and shiny. Then you only have a day or two left to harvest, if you let the eggplant fruit hang longer, it will become dull and have a very soft interior. This is not just a visual impression, as the maturity increases, the aroma also suffers.
Hibernate egg plants
Basically, the egg plants are perennial, but hardly anyone bothered to cultivate the eggplants
really to hibernate. It is similar to tomatoes: They are perennial, sure, but they always grow on the verge of their strength in our cold and poor areas of light. If they survive the winter, which is even more inhospitable for them, they usually ginger strongly during spring shoots and then hardly bear any more fruit in the following year.That is why aubergines are usually grown as an annual as well tomatoes and paprika. However, you can take seeds from this year's generation and grow them the next year. To do this, you would have to let a fruit become overripe and sort out the seeds from the spongy pulp, which should then be dried and kept dry until spring.
If you would like to overwinter your egg plants, they must be brought inside in autumn. They are then cut back and kept in a bright, not too cool room or in a heated greenhouse (over 10 ° C) to overwinter. However, winter here is really not the right climate for a plant of this origin, therefore, you will likely have to deal with pests affecting the weakened plant ambushed. It also takes a long time before the egg plants get going again in spring, if you have sown egg plants at the same time, they can usually keep up with their development.
Special egg plants on the balcony or in the winter garden
But there are special types of aubergine that grow many smaller fruits and are therefore excellent in the bucket can be drawn. With these plants it is definitely worth trying to hibernate, as you can put a bucket into the house very quickly. These egg plants also need a bright location with at least 10 ° C and can then be in use for a few years.
