How to choose a "neighbor" bed for eggplant?

Not all vegetables planted close enough to each other, will be able to properly grow and give a good harvest.Many cultures interrupt growth and disrupt the pollination or flowering of others. However, the reality looks in such a way that the area of ​​the entire plot and the area of ​​the greenhouse are rather limited. Few gardeners can afford to build a separate greenhouse for each of the vegetables, so you have to plant in such a way that the "neighbors" require similar conditions for growth. One of the most demanding is an ordinary eggplant.

If you pick the vegetables incorrectly, the harvest will be low and the soil will become depleted. There will be many different pests and diseases. When planting two or more crops in one limited space, the following features should be considered.

• Heat loving. Some cultures are more thermophilic, others like coolness and dry up and turn yellow at high temperatures.
• Watering frequency. With frequent watering of those plants that need a high soil moisture, you can unnecessarily pour the rest, which will lead to rotting of the root system and the death of the crop.
• Vegetation period. The period and growth rate of many vegetables are significantly different, therefore, earlier plants will overtake those that grow later. The developed root system of early-ripening crops will crush the roots of the later ones, as a result of which the latter will not receive enough nutrients.
• Height of seedlings. High plants will block low and block access to sunlight.

To get a good harvest of eggplants, you must comply with certain conditions of their cultivation. The air must be dry and hot, and the soil is saturated with moisture. Watering is carried out with warm water in each well. Vegetable loves sunshine and grows especially well after feeding with organic fertilizers.

The best neighbor for the blue vegetable is pepper, since the care of these crops is almost the same. They are quite whimsical, like moist soil and warm air. Peppers and eggplants prefer organic fertilizers and ripen in about 4 months. Both those and others are grown as an annual plant, having similar vegetative periods. The seedlings of pepper and eggplants planted in the greenhouse can be additionally illuminated with lamps, since they are planted during the February cold, so they will have to be further heated.

In the open space, beds with peppers are also placed next to the eggplants, leaving a small distance between them. This is done so that the higher peppers do not obscure the light-loving eggplant. In addition, peppers growing too close to eggplants may turn a bluish tint, but this will not affect their taste and growth.

The second most popular neighbor of the blue vegetable are the same heat-loving cucumbers. Like eggplants, they love moist soil and actually produce fruit in the same period. Ordinary organic fertilizers are well suited for top dressing of both crops. However, watering these vegetables is significantly different. Water-loving cucumbers have only one watering of the holes; they love additional spraying of the stem and leaves.

After such humidification, the air becomes moist and heavy, which will negatively affect eggplant fruits and flowers. Therefore, it will be necessary to additionally monitor the air humidity in the greenhouse and air it in a timely manner.

Corn has almost no effect on eggplants. Despite its high growth, it does not close vegetables from the sun, because it is planted at a sufficient distance from one another. At the same time, corn can protect eggplants from strong winds when vegetables are planted in open space.On the other hand, eggplants themselves are a risky neighbor for corn, since they interfere with the pollination process and may “cause” additional pests.

In addition to pepper, cucumber and corn, good neighbors for eggplants are any legumes, squash and pumpkin, green lettuce, parsley, dill, cabbage and cauliflower. Eggplants next to radishes and onions will feel great.

Despite the fact that in many greenhouses you can see eggplants and tomatoes planted nearby, you cannot grow them nearby. Their common belonging to the culture of solanaceous does not help to get along in a limited space. Tomatoes love moisture and shade, “killing” eggplants. With a dry heat, so beloved by blue vegetables, tomatoes lose their ovaries and do not bear fruit. In addition, the neighborhood of tomatoes with blue "neighbors" is very attractive for various beetles, flies and ticks.

If you water the eggplants in the usual way, then phytophthora will appear on the tomato seedlings and destroy them. If watering is significantly reduced, the eggplants will dry out and a spider mite will appear in them. We'll have to strain hard to achieve a harvest in such conditions.

Potatoes are also a bad neighbor for eggplants, as vegetables have common pests and, planted together, attract them even more. In addition, the bad combination will be with any solanaceous and with those cultures that love the shade and high humidity.

If the presence of two or more greenhouses for different crops is impossible, then you can zone one, turning it into several. To do this, it is necessary to separate and divide the space by organizing a separate entrance for each of the sections. Partitions can be made from ordinary polyethylene or polycarbonate sheets. This will help to maintain different temperature and humidity in the neighboring "rooms" of such a greenhouse, put additional lighting on some areas and create a shadow on others.

If it is impossible to organize a separate entrance for each section, then you can simply make a large oilcloth curtain between the two parts of the greenhouse, which, if necessary, can be removed and hung up again. Such a separation is not so tight and will still pass moisture or heat, but still in smaller quantities, which will allow you to produce a good crop of eggplants and tomatoes.

In addition, planting several crops in one greenhouse, it is necessary to do for each of them a separate bed. Its width should be at least 1 meter, and the width of the walkway between them should be about 0.7 meters. This will allow you to comfortably move around the site and properly care for the plants. And if you take into account the correct neighborhood and high-quality feeding, all vegetables will delight the gardener with stable growth and high yield.

See how to look after eggplants in the video below.