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

• 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 .

• 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.

• Colorado beetles : collect by hand.

• 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.