Experienced gardeners and vegetable gardeners often choose the strong and fruitful Prince eggplant bushes. The variety is easy to cultivate on a large scale, and when grown alone, it does not require much diligence and experience. The fruits are unpretentious and grow quickly. In our article you will learn all the secrets of growing, caring for and feeding the plant.
Description and characteristics of the variety
Description of the early ripening variety:
- in a greenhouse, bushes grow up to a meter in height;
- in open ground the maximum height of bushes reaches 70 centimeters;
- the fruits have an even, shiny color;
- has complex resistance to mosaic virus;
- fruit shape is cylindrical or ovoid;
- bushes are high-yielding, with good care, about 7 kilograms of fruit can be collected per square meter;
- eggplants grow up to 5-7 centimeters in diameter, 20-30 centimeters in length, the fruits are selected, large, weighing up to 200 grams;
- The variety has high taste qualities, the pulp is without bitterness, and is white in color.
Prince Characteristics:
- the fruits are convenient for cooking, as they contain a minimum of seeds;
- the variety is consistently productive;
- Ripe fruits have thin skin;
- due to the high percentage of yield, you can save on the area for planting bushes, the plant does not take up much space;
- after the end of the growing season, new fruits appear weekly;
- retains high taste when preserved;
- after emergence of seedlings, technical maturity occurs approximately 115 days later;
- there are no spines on the calyx;
- leaves are medium in size.
“Black Prince” is not a hybrid, so you can prepare seeds for the next season that fully retain all the characteristics of the variety.
Useful properties of eggplant Black Prince
The fruit contains low fat, 90% water, little protein and virtually no sugar. Therefore, it is suitable for nutrition for everyone who follows a healthy lifestyle and adheres to a diet.
Black Prince:
- has anti-allergic and anti-inflammatory effects due to vitamin C included in the composition;
- Vitamin A helps normalize metabolic processes in the body;
- Vitamin B2 helps strengthen hair and improve skin condition;
- the nervous system becomes stronger thanks to vitamin B1;
- folic acid has a beneficial effect on red blood cells;
- fruits cleanse the body of cholesterol, this helps prevent the risks of developing atherosclerosis and heart disease;
- with constant consumption of fruits, metabolism significantly improves;
- neutralizes free radicals, thereby protecting the body from tumors;
- has a beneficial effect on the condition of bones;
- fruits help the body fight infections.
All of the above thermally treated eggplants have properties. Raw fruits are toxic and cause poisoning.
Rules for growing a plant
To get the maximum yield of strong fruits, you should pay special attention to the rules of sowing and growing.
When to plant
Before you start growing seedlings, you need to decide on the place where the bushes will grow: open ground or a greenhouse. For the plant to grow in greenhouse conditions, sowing seeds must begin in mid-February. They are transplanted into greenhouses at the end of April.
Seeds for open ground are planted in mid-March. Seedlings are transplanted into the garden bed when the possibility of frost is excluded. This happens in the second half of June, in some areas - in early July.
Due to the weak root system, they must be replanted with a lump of earth.
Sowing and growing seedlings
By following simple recommendations, you can grow beautiful and strong seedlings:
- Place the seeds in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and leave for half an hour. This will help disinfect the planting material. Then rinse the seeds with plain water.
- To ensure high-quality and fast germination, it is recommended to wrap the prepared seeds in fabric bags and place them in a special solution.To do this, dilute a teaspoon of wood ash in a liter of water. After two days, the seeds are dried for a day in a room with a temperature of +30 degrees.
- It is recommended to plant seeds in separate containers filled with a mixture of peat and soil. Immerse the seed in the center of the container to a depth of half a centimeter and cover with film. When planting in common boxes, maintain a distance of 5 centimeters between seeds.
- Unlike many varieties, Black Prince seedlings are kept in a dark but warm place. Ideal place next to the battery.
- When the first sprouts appear, they are transferred to daylight. At night, cover the seedlings with a dark film.
- Water the seedlings only with room temperature water no more than once a week. To prevent the roots of the first shoots from being washed out, the plant is sprayed. When the seedlings become strong, water at the root and make sure that moisture does not get on the leaves.
Picking
Seedlings are planted as needed, a week after germination, into a substrate of humus and peat. The seedlings are held by the leaves and carefully removed from the container. The soil is watered abundantly in advance. The procedure is carried out extremely carefully so as not to damage the root system.
How to care for a plant
The Black Prince cannot stand proximity to potatoes, peppers and tomatoes. It is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the bushes and fertilize them on time and correctly.
Watering, weeding and loosening
After planting, the bushes must be watered every three days. After 14 days, the number of waterings is reduced to once a week. Warm water is required. A small depression is made around the plant. This helps more water reach the roots. Then the plant is regularly weeded and loosened in a timely manner.
If the soil under the seedling dries out quickly, then the amount of watering is increased.
It is recommended to loosen the soil around the trunk every day after watering, when the water is completely absorbed. Watering is carried out in the early morning hours or in the evening.
Top dressing
It is necessary to fertilize the plant correctly and on time. The first is carried out immediately after the dive. Then - every week.
The best fertilizers for the Black Prince:
- potassium chloride;
- ammonium nitrate;
- superphosphate.
Manufacturer's recommendations are strictly followed during the process. Before transplanting into the ground, fertilize with humus. Some gardeners prefer to feed bushes in combination with fertilizers, diluted horse manure and wood ash.
Bush formation
To increase crop productivity, it is necessary to properly form the bush. For abundant fruiting, three stems are left, over which a wire is pulled, to which each stem is tied. Remove excess shoots only when their length is 5 centimeters.
As the bush grows, it is necessary to constantly remove leaves that shade the flowers. The fruits set when the inflorescences are exposed to direct sunlight.
Disease and pest control
Regularly carry out pest control. The bushes are inspected for insects every day. You can treat with chemicals before the first ovaries appear. Next, remove only with your hands.
Pests:
- spider mite;
- aphid;
- Colorado beetle;
- thrips.
A fine mesh stretched around the bushes will help protect the bushes from attacks by the Colorado potato beetle.
The variety is immune to the virus:
- tobacco mosaic;
- cucumber mosaic.
Tolerant to all other possible diseases.
Harvest and storage
They begin to collect when the fruits acquire a characteristic purple color with a glossy effect. As a rule, eggplants fully ripen a month after flowering.
The fruits ripen gradually, so harvesting is recommended once a week.
When cutting, two centimeters of the tail are left - this guarantees long-term storage of the crop. It is important to remove fruits from the bush in time. Overripe specimens will become bitter.
For storage, choose a cool and dark room. Arrange the fruits in one layer. After two weeks, only strong, dense specimens are left. They are wrapped in plastic bags. If all recommendations are followed, the fruits remain fresh for about three months.
