The eggplant or commonly known as “brinjal” is a plant that belongs to “Solanaceae” family. The fruit it bears is commonly used as a vegetable in many countries like India, Pakistan, etc. Botanically it’s classified as a berry plant, has many small seeds which are bitter in taste as they contain “nicotinoid alkaloids” in insignificant amounts.
Types of Eggplants:
There is a large variety of plants that produce different types of fruits of different sizes, shapes and colors. Largely they are cultivated and preferred in purple color which may be of different shapes. Common shapes are oval, elongated, small round, etc. The varieties of eggplant differ from region to region as the climatic conditions change, and hence with the change in variety changes the way it is cooked.
Plantation:
Eggplant is a vegetable which is cold sensitive in nature and hence requires a long warm season. They must be kept slightly farther from one another as they are larger in size. These plants are heavy feeders and must be planted in very much composite soil with adequate amount of manure. The best time for planting these plants is after frost, as at this time the soil becomes warm and the temperature is also maintained constantly warmer. The seeds of the plant must be started in some separate pots or containers indoors before being transplanted into the ground. Later the seedlings must be transplanted to garden soil a bit deeper than they were in their pots. An eggplant doesn’t need much amount of fertilizer and hence one must take care while adding the fertilizer, the amount must be less. Plant spacing is another thing which must be taken care of; the plants must be spaced 18-24 inches apart in a row. The plant must get adequate amount of sunlight and must never be kept in dark and frost free areas. The fruits are best in taste when they are young, that is why they must be plucked off as soon as their skin starts to get harder and the color starts becoming dark (this is the best time for harvest).
General Problems Faced:
Similar to other plants in our garden this eggplant also gets affected with many insects and diseases. Some general problems and their causes are:
Flea Beetle: tiny holes or pin holes caused due to chewed up leaves by adult insects and on the other hand the larvae feed on the roots of the plant hence both adult and larvae affecting the leaves and the roots of the plant.
Aphids: are small insects generally found underside of a leaf and also over the new stems. They suck the plant juices necessary for growth and leave the plant deprived of the essential nutrients.
Leaf Hoppers: these are yellowish green insects that have wings at their adult stage. They foil up the plant by piercing the leaves and sucking the plan juices. Also they are capable of spreading some viral diseases.
Verticillim: leaf and stem are affected; soil is also affected; plants may die in such conditions.
Blossom End Rot: this is the condition in which the fruit gets affected. This generally occurs at the blossom end of the fruit (the last stage). This affects ripen and green fruits, the fruits may shrunk. Mainly caused due to imbalance in water nutrients due to improper watering. It is generally common in clay soil.
Early Blight: this affects the leaf mainly. The older leaves may develop black-brown spots which may be having yellow colored border. Under some cases the stem also can get affected and griddle the plant.
Drip irrigation system is a great way to conserve water and soil nutrients. In short, it is a great way to save the earth.
It is globally recognized that a drip irrigation system is the best way to water a garden or a farm, providing just enough (not too much, not less) water for flowers, vegetables, vines, baskets and other row crops.
Drip irrigation system for row crops is increasing throughout the globe. This method is basically applying irrigation water in precise location and amount, thus offering the potential of increased profit due to reduced water, fertilizer and cultural costs and increased revenue due to increased yield.
One of the main components of a drip irrigation system is drip tapes. Many drip tapes are now available to purchase in the market. You can find a range of tape diameters, wall thickness, emitter spacing and emitter flow rates.
Initially a tape with 16 mm diameter was the only one available. But now you can even find diameters ranging from 10 mm to 35 mm. The larger diameter tapes, the longer rows you can irrigate. It ranges from 400 m to 800 m in lengths.
Wall thicknesses generally range from 4 mile to 15 mile. As for emitter spacing generally ranges from 51 mm to 762 mm. It offers wider range in tape discharge rates as well.
Drip tape can be buried or installed on the soil surface. Installation equipment is now available, helping you install a drip irrigation system for row crops even more easily.
Most people with a backyard in their home, start gardening tomato, their favorite vegetable but without proper guidance they fail to attain much success so to help you, this article will throw light on some of the highly effective tomato growing tips. [click to continue…]
Bromeliad or Orchid collection is beautiful on its own. But mixed with several species of ferns, the collection will become more attractive and lush-looking.
Ferns have a different way of beautifying its surroundings because of its invariable shape and size. The leaves of some species are fine and Lacey. While others are leathery and strap-like or ribbon-like, still, others resemble the horn of a [click to continue…]
Tomatoes are one of the most used vegetables all over the world. They are very quick growing plants and are a favorite among most amateur gardeners. Once we understand the quirks and tricks of growing tomatoes, we can successfully and easily grow them in pots or our backyards. The aspect we just have to bear in mind before mastering the art of growing tomatoes are the following: [click to continue…]
In these hot summer days, melons are one of the favorite fruits of the Turkish people, who produce 1.8 million tonnes of melons every year. This places Turkey at the second in the world melon production, right after China, who produces 6.6 million tonnes. All this information is leading to this: We know how to grow quality melons, and now we’ll share our secrets with you.
First thing you have to do is to decide which kind of melon to grow. There are many varieties with different flavors grown around the world and your choice should suit your purposes and climate.
Overall, melons like hot or warm climates. The long growth period requires hot and sunny weather, too much moisture might cause fungal diseases. Clayed or acidic soil isn’t good for melons and it should be able to hold water well.
Melon – Cotton – Grain Rotation
A nice melon picture
To prevent diseases, you shouldn’t produce melons repeatedly on the same field. In Turkey, usually melon – cotton – grain rotation is used.
Before planting melons, you should plow lines with 2 meters of distance between them. On one side of the plowed lines, plant 4-5 seeds in groups with 75 centimeters of distance to each other. Then cover them in 5-6 centimeters of soil. In Turkey, this is done between 20th of April and 5th of May. The seeds will take root and slowly grow and you should see them sprout in 5 to 15 days. You should pull out the weak plants in every group and leave the two strongest sprouts. Later on, you should pull one of those, leaving only one.
Melons like organic materials, so it’s best to use fertilizer made from animal manure. You should apply this fertilizer in autumn, while preparing the field.
Drip Irrigation is Preferred When Producing Melons
While growing, the melon plants won’t require too much water. Actually, very little amounts of water will suffice until the fruits appear. When the fruits start growing, watering every 12 – 15 days will be good but make sure the fruits or the plant itself doesn’t get wet. Because of this, drip irrigation is preferred when producing melons.
Melons don’t require much attention, other than pulling out the foreign plants. Harvesting melons should be done in the morning, and you should immediately take the harvested melons to the bazaar or the depot.
These are some of the tips I’ve learned from my grandfather, whose melons are growing nicely. I hope you find some use among these.
Generally square, quadrangle, chess and triangle planting are applied to flat areas. In sloping areas, contour planting is applied parallel to terrace curves. Let’s learn how to mark our seedling locations, dig seedling holes, plant our seedlings and understand the optimimum plantation times.
First: Marking Seedling Locations and Digging Seedling Holes
A space the length of half a tree should be left from the edge of an orchard and once this is accomplished, seedling markers should be placed along this edge, thereby marking each row. Because stroke sticks will be lost during digging, new sticks should be inserted on both sides of the planting board, enabling you to remove the marking sticks entirely.
A planting board commonly measures 59 inches long by 4-6 inches wide and seedling holes generally measure 20-27 inches (with a depth of 20-27 inches). The top soil and ground soil removed from the hole should be placed separately. It is more effective to dig holes prior to plantation so the soil can benefit from adequate aeration.
Plantation of Seedlings:
Key Drawing an Apple
Seedlings must be pruned before plantation – this process is referred to as ”plantation pruning.” Seedlings can be prepared by trimming off any roots that are crushed, broken and damaged during the digging process. Tangled roots should be separated and extra-long roots should be trimmed off. All of these necessary steps ensure that each seedling can take on the desired form.
While planting a seedling, it should be placed onto a planting board so that the hole on the planting board will be in visual range.
The vaccination location of the seedling can then be inserted into the hole and filled with soil.
Some nice fruit seeds
By initially mixing the soil with fertilizer, the top soil and ground soil can then become intermingled. Be sure to tamp the soil down firmly during while watering the seedlings.
Plantation Time of Seedlings:
Autumn plantation is highly recommended for seedlings because weather conditions are traditionally less severe — additionally, soil does not freeze at such superficial levels. On the other hand, spring plantation is quite dangerous and you may run the risk of stunting the rooting rate of your seedlings.
Since our article on organic pest control recipes proved to touch on a very common problem, we have prepared a much longer and detailed guide on keeping those bugs away from your innocent plants. It starts with preventive measures and goes on to open warfare. [click to continue…]
It is generally thought that organic fertilizers are only used in organic farming. That’s not true as any kind of created by living organisms is considered to be organic. But for use in organic farming, the base material the organisms create the fertilizer must be organic and contain no chemicals. One of the most widely used matter in organic fertilizers is manure, but most of the time it’s used in a wrong way in hopes to keep the original content. Here we’re going to write a pretty simple and good way to maximize the nutrition value of manure for your plants.
The tricky part of this is :
In the first step, we’re not going to press it together. So, mince the manure as much as you can. It requires air to heat up, which will kill the foreign seeds and keep your garden clean of intruding plants. Pile the manure but it shouldn’t be higher than 1 and a half meter. If it’s too dry, add some water as dry manure will not heat up. The tricky part of this is to keep the temperature at around 60-70 degrees, if it gets higher than this, there’s the risk of your fertilizer burning and being ruined. For this reason you might check the temperature and if it gets too high, turn the manure inside out. Keep doing this until all of the manure becomes the same color.
For the second step, we’re going to make the manure usable by the plants without effort. Add water to the manure and press it together as much as you can and make sure it won’t get air. Now, without air another kind of bacteria will take over and process the manure into a great fertilizer.
The points of consideration:
Make sure your spot for fertilizer creation is safe from outer elements such as rain and wind.
You should cover the manure but for the first step make sure it gets enough air.
Remember to add water to the manure if it gets too try, the bacteria will need some moisture.
With this steps, the manure will be much more efficient than before and your plants will be healthy and strong.
Organic farming is a form of agriculture in which no synthetic components are used — in addition, certified control measures are maintaining from production to consumption. The goal of organic farming is to avoid soil, water and air pollution and sustain the health of soils, ecosystems and people. [click to continue…]
Each year regardless of how well taken care of, in time, it’s known that roses will shorten, and the development of the branches will stop, and become dry. In this case, roses should be cut just above the grafting point to achieve [click to continue…]
The period between November and March is the best for planting the roses. But they could be planted between 15th of October and end of April. Winter isn’t usually suitable for planting because of the hardness of the soil. If planting is done in late April, great care must be taken with watering. [click to continue…]
