Eggplant Valentina: description and characteristics of the variety, cultivation and care with a photo

Valentina's eggplant was bred in Holland and first entered the register of agricultural plants no more than ten years ago. This means that this is a hybrid - a variety that has not yet gained popularity and is not well established. It is impossible to propagate it at home, because no one knows what will come out of the seeds.

Description and characteristics of the variety

Valentine has the following characteristics:

height - up to 70 centimeters, usually does not need props;
bushiness - medium, bushes grow up rather than in breadth;
yield - average, you can collect up to 3 and a few kilos per meter;
waiting time is short, only about 70 days from landing.

Valentine looks pretty standard for an eggplant - up to 25 centimeters long, dark purple. Differs in subtlety - a diameter of up to 5 centimeters at its widest point. The flesh is light, without bitterness, if not overcooked.

Pros and cons

If you look at the characteristics, it is obvious that Valentina has the following advantages:

decent yield - of course, 3 kilograms is not 5, but still, for a small own farm, this is already good;
speed - the first ripe fruits can be harvested already in mid-July;
tastes good - especially if you remove the eggplant before it becomes firm;
presentation is one of the characteristics of the variety, it looks presentable;
Tobacco mosaic virus resistance is important because it keeps you from worrying about at least one of the classic eggplant diseases.

There are not many cons against this background, there is only one serious one.

Valentina is a hybrid that cannot be propagated at home. Every year you will have to buy seeds again until the variety stabilizes and the results of growing seeds of the second generation become well-defined.

Cultivation of a hybrid

In order for Valentina to grow and give a good harvest, she must first be properly planted.

Sowing seeds without sprouting

The first stage is the sowing of seeds. Since eggplants are very thermophilic, they are usually planted in small pots to get seedlings more resistant to external conditions.

You need to start doing this already at the end of February-beginning of March, so that by the time it gets warmer outside, the seedlings have grown stronger and endured planting well.

Seeds need to be cooked:

check for germination - dip in water for half an hour and remove those that come up;
warm up - put on a battery for a couple of days;
disinfect and treat with a growth stimulator - you can do this at the same time using, for example, aloe juice.

The resulting seeds can only be planted. For this, any container is used - from plastic cups to special boxes. It is only important that one container has one self, because eggplants do not like crowding.

They take the earth with humus and peat, put it in pots, dig small shallow holes and lay out the seeds. After that, sprinkle with earth on top and cover each pot with cling film to create a greenhouse effect inside.

The first sprouts should appear in ten days.

Seedling care

After the first sprouts have broken through, these are no longer seeds, these are already seedlings. She creates a temperature regime - the first three weeks from twenty-six degrees. Then during the day the temperature is lowered by one degree, at night it is kept within sixteen.

Additionally needed:

light - at least ten hours a day, provide it with a lamp;
fertilizers - use something like "Kristalina";
water - you need to water every day if the soil has had time to dry, and the water should be warm.

Two weeks before planting, you need to start hardening seedlings - take them out into the fresh air for a couple of hours a day.

Eggplant in greenhouses

Seedlings can be transferred to unheated greenhouses in May, and transplanted at the same time. It is important that at this point the seedlings are about 25 centimeters tall and have a few well-formed leaves.

Place pots so that there are 40 centimeters between plants. Watered two to four times a week, gently, with warm water. Then they loosen the earth. At the end of June, eggplants are looked at for ovaries.

The largest is left, the rest is removed.

The main difference between a greenhouse and a garden is the need for ventilation. Plants need fresh air, you need to run it in the morning and evening. If the leaves turn yellow, it may be due to lack of oxygen.

Eggplant in the garden

If you live in the south, you can not waste time on the greenhouse and plant eggplant in the garden.The place for them should be sunny, protected from the wind. It is good if carrots, peas, cabbage, beans or greens grew on it last year. If not, in the fall you need to properly fertilize it with organic matter.

Planting seedlings is simple - they dig holes 15 centimeters deep, fill them with warm water and transfer a lump of earth from a box or pot. Then sprinkle with peat and leave.

In the first days, you need to water the seedlings as soon as the ground dries, then twice a week. Even in the first days, the seedlings need to be provided with shade, otherwise it can burn out without the habit of direct sunlight.

Rules for plant care

When eggplants are planted, all that remains is to properly care for them.

How to water

Water is carried out twice a week, and is combined with loosening and weeding.

Watered with warm water, carefully, under the root, so that the leaves do not suffer. Then weeds are selected and loosen the soil, being careful not to damage the roots.

Feeding

Feed Valentina, like most eggplants, three times:

when two weeks have passed after planting - at this moment young bushes are in great need of support and nutrients;
when the first flowers appeared - at this time the fruits are tied, the plants need support again, otherwise they will come out small;
before harvesting - so that the bushes can bear fruit for a long time.

Fertilizers are either organic, like chicken manure or green manure, or fertilizers that combine phosphorus and potassium.

Shaping a bush

In order for the bush to grow well, you need to remove yellow leaves from it, and when the first fruits are tied, remove the small ones so that no more than 5-7 leaves are left for each. Otherwise, there will be a lot of harvest, but the fruits in it will be small and not very tasty.

No support is usually required for Valentina.

Protection from diseases and pests

The best defense is prevention. To avoid the onslaught of pests, basil, mint, calendula and beans are grown next to eggplants. To avoid diseases, they enrich the soil and make sure that no other nightshades grow on it last year.

If insects are still wound up, they are either collected by hand or poisoned with insecticides.

If eggplant is affected by gray rot, it is reduced by Horus.

Valentina is immune and therefore rarely gets sick.

Collection and storage

Collect Valentina begins in July, when the fruits reach 25 centimeters. Don't try it later - the eggplant will be bitter and will need to be soaked before use, and it won't necessarily help.