AUBERGINE PURPLE OF FLORENCE AB
Solanum melongena
The Violetta di Firenze eggplant , also called the purple eggplant of Florence , is a variety producing very beautiful purple fruits with white stripes, quite large. On average, each plant produces 8 fruits . This fruit vegetable is essential in ratatouilles .
How to successfully sow Violetta de Florence eggplant
Sowing : in a pot of fine seed compost in March/April on a warm bed ( constant 25°C ) indoors or in a heated greenhouse. Cover the seeds with a few mm of seed compost then press down. Place your pots near a window. Water the surface lightly if the compost dries out.
Planting eggplants
Transplant the young plants measuring 15 cm into the ground at the end of May in fresh, deep, humus-rich soil with a warm, sunny exposure , 50 cm deep in all directions . Hoe, weed and hill up the eggplant plants. Water regularly at the base, prune like tomatoes. Mulch.
Good associations
You can place an eggplant crop next to bush beans .
Harvesting eggplants
You will be able to harvest your eggplants approximately 5 months after sowing .
The enemies
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Mildew : gray-green spots will appear on the leaves, while the underside will be covered with a white felt. As a preventative measure, hoeing and watering with nettle manure and horsetail tea. Before flowering, or as soon as the first symptoms appear, it is also possible to treat with Bordeaux mixture .
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Red spider mites : the leaves first become covered with gray spots, then take on a bronze appearance before drying out and falling off. They weave webs on the leaves. Cut off the aerial parts and burn them. A treatment by spraying with black soap or nettle manure can be considered. A plant insecticide (Anti-Aphids based on Pyrethrum) can also be used.
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Colorado beetles : collect by hand.
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Aphids : attack leaves, buds and stems. Spray with a solution of black soap or nettle manure . A biological plant insecticide, such as Pyrethrum-based Anti-Aphids , can be used in the event of a major attack.
