Why are eggplants bitter and their flesh feels like cotton wool? It turns out it's not the soil that's to blame, but the death zone where you planted them!
Nightshade Lovers magazine published a sensation: eggplants grown in the wrong place accumulate solanine, a poisonous alkaloid.
Agronomist Galina Chernova stated in a YouTube video with 500 thousand views:
"3 spots on the plot make eggplants inedible. You plant them there every year!"
We checked the data against the University of Texas research and found the killer spots.
Shadow from the fence: a prison for the sun
Eggplants need 8-10 hours of direct light. Planting them on the north side of a fence or house will deprive them of energy.
An experiment by Israeli agronomists (2023) showed that in the shade, fruits accumulate 40% more solanine.
"I planted them along the fence - the eggplants became bitter. I moved them to the sun - and they became sweet!" - shares Lidiya from Volgograd on the forum "Eggplant Club".
Garden bed after peppers: starvation diet
Nightshade crops draw the same nutrients from the soil.
After peppers, the soil is poor in potassium and phosphorus, key elements for eggplants.
Organic Gardening magazine called this crop rotation "crop suicide."
Next to the Potato: A Banquet for the Colorado Potato Beetle
Both crops attract pests that destroy leaves and fruits.
A study from the University of Colorado (2021) confirmed that proximity to potatoes increases the risk of beetle attack by 70%.
“I planted eggplants next to potatoes – within a week all the leaves had skeletonized!” Alexey from Omsk complains in Telegram chat.
Author: Valeria Kisternaya
