TROPICA® - Aubergine - Beatrice (Solanum melongena) - 5 Seeds Worth knowing: Many of the foreign and exotic vegetable species have found their way into Europe quite late. For the most part they existed as ornamental plants or as eccentrics within the plant world in botanical gardens. From the 17th century on, the first world-traveling vegetables like the tomato or the aubergine were starting to arrive in Southern Europe. It is to this very day that the vegetable consumption in Southern Europe is twice as high as it is here. During the 18th century, peppers from Hungary and chili peppers from India were joining them. Cultivation made matters worse since a lot of vegetables do prefer a warm climate. Almost every kind of vegetable is praised by physicians and scientists alike for their "inner values". With traveling abroad becoming faster and easier for everyone, people got used to the taste of foreign food and its unusual and exotic vegetables. Origin: The variety Beatrice F1 produces oval-shaped fruits of bright purple colour and mild, superb taste. The strong and fast-growing plant is flowering after 62 days and can be harvested from mid-July on. The fruit flesh is white and nicely firm. Propagation: Ideal time for sowing is from January until mid-May. Leave the seeds to soak in water at room temperature overnight and sow them evenly spreaded afterwards. At temperatures of 20°C, germination should follow after 7-10 days. Plants can be singled out (pricked out) after 3 weeks . A sunny outdoor position is also possible from mid-May on (possibly also not until the end of May). Aubergines love a preferably warm location. Daily temperatures should range between 18°-30°C and nightly temperatures at 14°-18°C. The plants thrive best in soil rich of nutrients and being watered a lot. Tub cultivation is also possible.