The compatibility of crops in the same greenhouse or garden bed can be critical to their safety and viability. It is not surprising that the question of whether it is possible to plant eggplant and pepper together arises among many summer residents who want to rationally use the free space available to them. The scheme of planting these plants nearby and the nuances of caring for them deserve special attention.
Culture Compatibility
When deciding whether it is possible to plant peppers next to eggplants, many summer residents have reasonable doubts. In fact, these crops quite successfully survive such a neighborhood in the same greenhouse or in the garden, in the open field. Together with bell pepper, eggplant can be planted for the following reasons:
- it has a similar length of the growing season;
- gives seedlings of about the same height;
- has similar needs for heat;
- needs enough heat and light.
If we consider the needs of eggplant and peppers, we can find a lot of overlap. They have the same growing season. In addition, plants take root best in light and loose soils, generously flavored with organic matter. Vegetables can be sown in the greenhouse at the same time, approximately at the end of winter.
Important to know: eggplant is only compatible with sweet peppers. It is not planted with bitter varieties.
Features of landing
The layout of different crops in the common space of a ridge or greenhouse is very important. Sowing in the 2nd-3rd decade of February is possible for both peppers and eggplants. Seedlings must be placed under special lamps, since the daylight hours at this stage are still quite small. The soil is taken moist, watering is carried out regularly: the plants are moisture-loving. When sown directly in the greenhouse after 14 days, the plants are fed for the first time, enriching the soil with nitrogen.
The planting process itself takes place according to the general scheme for both crops.
- Seed material is checked for germination. Empty seeds are sifted out.
- The material selected for planting is soaked. First, it is disinfected in a solution of manganese. Then placed in one of the stimulating fluids. Suitable “Epin” and any of its analogues. The seeds are kept for 18 hours, then transferred to a container with warm water for a day.
- Quenching in the refrigerator or sparging with air bubbles. This additional factor helps to stimulate the immunity of plants, helps to get strong and viable shoots on them.
- Tanks for sowing are thoroughly washed and steamed. They are filled with loose and nutritious soil substrate. Both peppers and eggplants are suitable for a self-composed mixture of equal parts of humus and peat, combined with sawdust or coarse sand. For greater nutritional value, the mixture is flavored with wood ash and phosphates.
- Disinfection. If a purchased ready-made substrate is used, it will not be necessary. In other cases, the mixture is calcined in the oven. Then it is exposed to the open air to saturate the soil with oxygen.
- Landing. Seeds are arranged in rows with a distance of about 15 mm between them, sprinkled with a thin layer of earth. Watered with warm water. Eggplants and peppers can be sown in a common container.
- Waiting for shoots. Containers are covered with special materials: film, agrofibre. Place in a warm, sunny place. Improvised mini-greenhouses are aired daily, but so that they are not affected by drafts.
Landing in open ground, joint for peppers and eggplants, requires maintaining a distance between them of about 60 cm. This will be enough for the plants to receive good nutrition without interfering with each other. It is better to plant bushes of peppers and eggplants in squares. When breeding seedlings at home, they are first hardened.
To do this, containers or pots are briefly taken out to the balcony, veranda, gradually increasing the duration of such sessions.
The nuances of care
After the appearance of the first seedlings, the seedlings will need to organize good care. Young green shoots do not like a draft, but they respond well to heat, an abundance of natural light. Seedlings are no longer hidden under the film, they are grown together until 3-4 true leaves appear. Then they dive, leaving the most viable plants. They are shipped in individual containers.
Until the moment of sending to the ground or greenhouse, the main care for peppers and eggplants will be:
- maintaining soil moisture;
- loosening the soil in the root area to supply the roots with oxygen;
- creating an optimal light and humidity regime;
- foliar top dressing on the sheet;
- treatment with growth stimulants.
7 days before the transfer of the bushes to a new place, they are sprayed with a fungicidal preparation. A solution of Bordeaux liquid from 50 g of the finished substance and 10 liters of water is suitable. This will reduce the risks of subsequent fungal infection of plants. Peppers ready for transplanting will have a height of 15-20 cm, a strong strong stem, at least 10 leaves and flower ovaries. Approximately 70 days can be counted from the date of sowing.
Eggplant by this time will acquire 6 leaves. In early May, all plants are transferred from balconies and window sills to a permanent place. The procedure is performed in the evening hours, with pre-filling the hole with wood ash and humus.
It is important to note that for mixed plantings, the optimal scheme is 60×40 cm or up to 6 pieces per 1 m2.
After that, it remains to provide the plants with frequent and plentiful watering. Top dressing is carried out in the garden 5 times during the season. The first will be nitrogen, the rest – potassium-phosphorus. Tall peppers will have to install props. Eggplants need to be stepsoned when the time comes.
In the greenhouse, it is important to try to maintain the optimum temperature. Enough +27 degrees. Do not neglect ventilation. It improves pollination, prevents the development of fungal infections.
