By carrying out some manipulations with eggplant seeds, you can achieve a better germination rate and good further development. Let's consider each of them separately.
Calibration
Select and discard any darkened, misshapen or broken seeds before planting. Next, separate the large ones from the small ones. They will need to be planted separately so that the sprouts in one container appear at the same time, develop equally and do not choke each other.
Germination test
Prepare a slightly salted aqueous solution and dip the prepared material into it. Stir with a spoon, wait a few minutes. Now collect and discard all the floating seeds, and dry the ones that have sunk to the bottom - you will plant them.
Preparation of planting material for planting includes checking germination Disinfection
It is necessary to disinfect only those seeds that have not passed this stage before going on sale. To clarify this information, read the text on the packaging. Treated seeds usually have a colored shell.
We offer you two options for disinfecting eggplant seeds:
- Soaking in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes.
- Soaking in a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide heated to 50 °C. The exposure period is 15-20 minutes.
Stimulation
Treatment with special stimulating drugs will not harm the plant or the quality of future fruits. Don't be afraid chemical composition. Stimulants do not change the composition of vegetables; their task is to awaken the seeds to grow.
As an alternative to special growth stimulants, you can use homemade solutions. The solution will have a positive effect on the germination of eggplant seeds wood ash, nitrophoska or sodium humate.
Germination
This is not a mandatory step, but many gardeners prefer not to skip it. This is how they determine the number of seeds that will definitely sprout. Germinating eggplant seeds for planting seedlings is very simple. Lay them out thin layer between layers of wet gauze or cotton cloth. Place the dishes you are using near the radiator or in another warm place in the apartment. Plant as soon as the seeds sprout; there is no need to wait until the sprouts grow.
Germination of seeds - important stage preparation for landing Hardening
To make seedlings more easily responsive to temperature changes in the future, gardeners harden the seeds before planting. This takes 5-6 days. Seeds in a damp cloth or gauze are alternately placed in the refrigerator (lower compartment) for two days and in a warm place for a day.
Planting seeds - basic rules
When planting blueberries for seedlings, it is important to follow some recommendations:
- Plant in separate cups (preferably peat) or cassettes with separate depressions, since eggplants do not like picking.
- The soil for seedlings should be nutritious and light. A suitable mixture can be obtained by combining peat, humus or compost and sand. It is also advisable to add a little ash and superphosphate here.
- In order for the seedlings to have time to develop sufficiently before being transferred to the exhaust zone, the seeds should be planted in February. If there is good lighting, you can postpone the event to the beginning of March.
- Before planting, heat the prepared soil in the oven or pour it with a solution of potassium permanganate or just boiling water for disinfection.
- Immerse 2-3 seeds in each cup, sprinkled with a 1-2-centimeter layer of soil. Water carefully immediately warm water.
- Cover the container immediately after planting plastic film and place in a warm place until germination.
Proper preparation and planting of seeds is not all that should be taken care of in an effort to obtain big harvest blue It is also important to choose the right place for them in the open ground and provide them with proper care.
After planting, eggplants need careful care. Now you know in all its intricacies how eggplant seeds are prepared for planting. When starting to grow eggplants, Special attention Pay attention to the selection and disinfection of seeds. Measures to increase the germination of planting material will save you from unpleasant surprises, and you will not have to replant. Follow all recommendations exactly experienced agronomists and you will succeed!
Hello all my guests and blog subscribers! How are you doing? How are you? I hope everything is great. I remind everyone that in my previous notes we learned how and when to plant plants such as and according to the Lunar calendar, now let’s look at eggplants. How do you like this idea?
I know that many people have quite a lot of problems and troubles with this capricious guest, so let’s first learn how to correctly determine the timing of planting seeds in the ground, and also do preparatory work excellently.
So that later you and I can prepare a bunch of different tasty treats in the fall, such as, and much more.
When to plant eggplant seedlings in 2019?
Didn't you have a lot of questions when you started growing this vegetable? I think that a large number of. And all because its growing season is much longer than that of tomatoes and therefore blue ones are more difficult to grow, because our summer is very short.
For the most part, many summer residents grow this crop in a greenhouse, and this helps alleviate all the conditions, but you can do it differently and plant eggplants under a greenhouse.
Of course, no one even argues with this that the harvest itself depends only on proper care, also on the seeds themselves, storage and growing conditions, but the sowing time is also important. Let's start with this.
The optimal age for planting eggplant seedlings in the ground is 60-70 days. Plus, we must add about 10 days for the emergence of seedlings. Well, now, as always, determine the optimal and most favorable planting dates applicable to your region.
If you start to understand this in more detail, then you should know well the weather conditions of the area where you live. This factor is one of the most important and decisive. What does it mean? The soil itself should already have warmed up well to 20 degrees Celsius, or at least should be close to these values.
It turns out that, on average, the optimal period for replanting plants in the ground is from mid-May until the beginning of June. So that there are certainly no frosts, but also no sharp drops in temperature.
Interesting! According to folk superstition, if you see that a dandelion has bloomed, then this indicates that the earth has warmed up and you can sow the majority vegetable crops and plant potatoes.
So, we need to subtract 70 days and plus 10 days for germination and you get that in the Central and Southern regions In our country, the period for planting eggplant seeds is from mid-February to the very beginning of March. And more in the northern regions of our country, including Siberia and the Urals, sowing is carried out in the second ten days of March.
And in the end, after such a mathematical calculation, when you start from the reverse point of calculation and from the climatic conditions of your place of residence, as well as taking all kinds of signs and beliefs, you can easily determine the date.
Eggplant sowing table taking into account the lunar calendar
If you use such a calendar, then you can very easily determine the correct auspicious day, namely, choose days when the Moon is growing, if you need one entirely moon calendar for all vegetable and fruit crops, then go to and download it for free from my website. These tables have been updated this year!
We must not forget that there are quite a few legends and beliefs about planting and harvesting. Are you familiar with these? Moreover, even each region has its own stories about when it is best to plant this or that plant.
Interesting! For example, vegetables such as zucchini, peppers, eggplant and all other masculine vegetables should be planted in men's days))). It's funny isn't it? But female vegetables, such as cabbage, radishes women's days this is on Wednesday or Friday.
But according to grandmother's signs Eggplants are sown on the men's holiday, that is, February 23, and the tomato she-moya is feminine, by the way, on the women's holiday, March 8. It is according to their forecasts that there will be an excellent and great harvest.
Planting seeds and growing in open ground
So, now let's go through all the preparatory and working steps to get a big and early harvest blue ones. The first thing you will need to do is check the seeds.
Germination
How to check seeds for germination? To do this, you need to place the seedlings in fabric bags for about one day, and then put the bags in a plate for five days, while you need to constantly maintain humidity, i.e. water if necessary.
If at least half of the seeds sprout, then this batch is suitable for further action.
Disinfection or treatment
After checking, you need to disinfect and treat, to do this, dilute potassium permanganate in a glass of water, as I told you how to do this in the previous one about planting tomatoes. The solution should turn out dark purple and place the seeds there for 20-30 minutes. After which, you need to wash thoroughly with water.
Soil preparation
After previous work you need to purchase special soil for seedlings from a gardening supermarket.
If you use a good nutrient soil that contains both mineral and organic fertilizers, then this is the key to quality seedlings.
Or make it yourself using these recipes.
Planting seeds
And only now the pre-prepared seeds are sown in the ground, 2-3 seeds at a distance of 2 cm from each other, in a separate glass and covered with cling film. In the future, select the strongest sprout and cut off the rest.
Sowing depth is approximately 1.5-2 cm.
Remember! Please note that seeds germinate well at a temperature of 22-26 degrees, approximately 6-10 days after sowing.
When the shoots appear, you need to put them in the light, remove the film and the temperature should be 14-17 degrees, this is necessary so that there are strong roots and they do not stretch out.
If you notice that your sprouts are frail and very thin, then fertilize the soil. To do this, take and dilute 3-4 g of nitrophoska per 1 liter of water or mix 3 g of superphosphate and 1 g of urea per 1 liter of water. This feeding is very effective when there are 2-3 leaves on a sprout and when you plan to plant the plant in a permanent place
Remember that fertilizing is best combined with watering; it is necessary to water at the root, and not on the leaves, and of course with warm melt water, preferably, at least in the first weeks.
Additional lighting
In the first month of care, additional illumination of eggplant seedlings is a must. To do this, use a florolamp, place it at a distance of about 20 cm above the seedlings, and then gradually raise it as the seedlings grow.
To enhance the effect of lighting, install reflective screens on both sides, and when the daylight hours become longer, which means mid-March, then it will be enough for you to illuminate the seedlings in cloudy weather, as well as a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening.
Make sure that your seedlings do not stand where there are drafts, because if the soil gets too cold, the roots will suffer. Therefore, you can get out of this situation and put a piece of foam plastic, or wooden board, i.e. material that does not allow cold to pass under the containers.
Dive
In general, there are two ways to land, with or without a dive. Which one do you usually use? If you grow with a dive, then the sprouts should be planted in boxes to a depth of 1.5-2 cm, and the row spacing should be about six centimeters.
After you see 2-3 leaves on the sprouts, start picking, after watering them.
You need to remember that eggplants do not tolerate transplantation very well, because the roots can be damaged and you will see that the plant freezes and lags behind in development. In order to somehow help the plant, you can feed it with root or its equivalent.
Therefore, it is better to immediately plant in special containers; ordinary plastic cups will do.
If you see yellow leaves at the stage of growing seedlings, this indicates that there are not enough minerals, in which case urgently Feed the plant with complex mineral fertilizer specially marked “for seedlings.”
Hardening
Before planting the little blue ones in the ground, they will need to undergo a hardening procedure. To do this, organize this event two weeks before planting, water them less and ventilate the room more often. Next, you will need to take them outside when it is plus 20 and leave them in the cups for a couple of minutes, then add more each time. In this way they will adapt very well to future climatic conditions.
Care and planting in the ground
Replant into the ground only using the transshipment method, that is, plant it in the ground together with a clod of earth without touching the roots.
It is necessary to fertilize eggplant seedlings. An excellent option would be chicken droppings, as well as phosphorus and potassium.
IN country greenhouse should be planted no earlier than May 10 and it is important to remember that this is a very heat-loving plant, so the most the best option For them, this is a greenhouse, both under film and under a greenhouse.
The beds need to be leveled and planting holes made 10-15 cm deep; if you are making beds in one line, then place them every 45 cm. The second option is worse, every 60 cm in a checkerboard pattern. If it costs too much hot weather, then the plants are shaded with a cloth for 1-2 days.
Do not forget to also form a bush, remove shoots where there are no fruits, as well as those that shade the fruits. And if the plant is taller than 30 cm, then it is necessary to pinch the top. In doing so you will see active growth side shoots. Leave two strong stepsons and when they begin to branch, leave one of the most powerful ones, and pinch the rest immediately after the first ovary.
If you have low-growing varieties, then you don’t need to pinch anything. So to say you are definitely lucky).
Plants need to be watered regularly; they require much more moisture than peppers. Insufficient moisture may cause flowers and fruits to fall off.
Remember that eggplants love water very much and it is best to water them at the root with warm water at 25 degrees and in the evening, not in the morning. It is then that the moisture will not evaporate so much and will completely go into the soil.
You can also learn about the features of caring for eggplants in open ground and some of the nuances of work by watching this video:
The simplest and most important condition for a rich eggplant harvest is the right climate. They grow quite well where it is very hot and at the same time humid.
Now let's look at some more nuances and secrets so that all the work turns out perfectly.
Rules and conditions for growing eggplants
1. First of all, the key to any harvest is strong and healthy 60-day-old seedlings. Replanting this plant will need to be done carefully so as not to damage root system, don't expose her. And a week before planting, you need to do the hardening work.
2. The second one is very important point choose and identify the variety correctly. It is best to take early-ripening varieties or at least mid-ripening ones.
3. Seedlings should be planted in a film greenhouse on well-prepared rows, which must first be fertilized with compost + add 50 grams of complex mineral fertilizer and two glasses of ash for each square meter.
Remember that the plant should have 6-7 leaves before planting. With all this, it is usually necessary to plant 2-3 sprouts per square meter.
But as soon as the first leaves grow and you see the long-awaited bud, a stepson will grow from under it. It is best to remove the first bud and this stepson, as well as the side shoots in the axils of the first nine leaves, they are also not needed.
4. Regular ventilation of the greenhouse. This should be done even on cloudy days, as well as after watering, as they suffer from high humidity air.
You need to water only in the afternoon and only with warm water 2-3 times a week, while you need to pour 1-2 liters of water on each sprout and try not to get it on the leaves.
Important! If the soil is dry and the air is overheated, the flowers will fall off. Therefore, open the greenhouse in the morning and close it in the evening.
5. Don’t forget about fertilizing; this particular vegetable loves organic fertilizers. You need to start doing this after you have planted them in the ground after about a week with calcium nitrate. Remember the proportions: 20 grams per 10 liters of water. And after a couple of weeks, dilute slurry with water 1 to 10. And after two weeks, you should water with complex fertilizer.
Once a month you need to do foliar feeding, dilute 10 g of Kemira Lux fertilizer per 10 liters of water. Remember that microelements such as boron, molybdenum and copper play an important role in the nutrition of the little blue ones.
Loosen the soil regularly every week, but there is no need to hill up. If support is needed, then provide it to the plants so that they do not lie on the beds, the leaves do not turn yellow, and the fruits do not rot.
6. Regarding the eggplant bushes themselves, there is no need to form them yourself; you need to promptly remove empty side shoots and those leaves that have turned yellow. As soon as you see 5-6 ovaries, pinch the growth points of the shoots and remove the newly appearing flowers. If you don’t do this kind of work, the fruits will be small and underdeveloped.
7. Harvest eggplants in the morning, while cutting off the stalk from the stem itself. If you notice that the purple fruits have turned brown-green or completely brown, then they are overripe and will not taste very good(.
Even light fruits will become unattractive appearance, if they are not collected in time.
8. This specific vegetable loves to grow in its eggplant group; many people plant other types of plants with it in the greenhouse, so to speak, to experiment or because of the small amount of space. And usually this is done incorrectly, they are planted either near this place at the entrance, or at the end, this harms this crop, because they do not like sharp fluctuations in temperature, and other neighboring plants darken them.
That's all for me, the article turned out to be small but rich, all materials were taken from free access to the Internet, I hope someone will find it useful and will become a lifesaver for a super harvest this year. All the best and positive wishes to everyone! Bye bye!
Sincerely, Ekaterina Mantsurova
Eggplant is tropical plants from the Solanaceae family, originally from South-East Asia. At home they grow as perennials. Eggplants are probably the most beautiful and most difficult vegetables to grow. They are photophilous and heat-loving, but cannot tolerate overheating; moisture-loving, but cannot tolerate waterlogging. In addition, they cannot tolerate drafts.
Eggplants are plants with powerful, pubescent stems; they, like small trees with large oval leaves, decorate the garden. The stems, leaves and stalks of eggplant have sharp thorns. Regular eggplants produce shiny, dark purple fruits, but there are special decorative varieties with white, dark pink or yellow fruits.
❧ For. middle zone Russia has developed many varieties of eggplants, not only purple, but also black, green, white, lilac-white. They also differ in shape - from round to thin cylindrical.
Most often, gardeners grow eggplants through seedlings, since eggplants require more than 100 days from germination to flowering. In central Russia, eggplants are usually grown in greenhouses, but in Lately this vegetable is increasingly being transplanted into open ground. The ability to grow eggplants in open ground is considered a great achievement among gardeners in central Russia.
Preparing eggplant seeds
Eggplant seeds that are stored correctly retain their quality and do not lose their ability to germinate for 3-4 years. But all this is true only if the seeds were stored in a cool (10-12°C) and dry place. Many seeds die even when briefly exposed to temperatures below zero.
Eggplants require 100-170 days for growth and development (from germination to harvest), depending on the variety:
Early ripening varieties - 110-120 days;
Mid-season varieties - 120-140 days.
Preparing eggplant seeds before planting
Usually eggplant seeds without special processing germinate only on the 14-21st day. If you prepare the seeds before sowing, you can achieve their accelerated germination.
For sowing, you need to select seeds according to specific gravity, remove small and deformed specimens. Seeds can be sorted by placing them in a 5% solution table salt(50 g of salt per 1 liter of water). IN saline solution The seeds should be kept for several minutes, stirring thoroughly.
Floating seeds must be discarded, the remaining ones must be thoroughly washed clean water.
Disinfection
To protect against viral diseases Eggplant seeds are disinfected for 20 minutes in a strong dark purple solution (1%) of potassium permanganate. After pickling, they are washed with cold running water.
Soaking eggplant seeds
After washing in cold running water, the seeds are washed in hot water in order to wash them off essential oil, which makes germination difficult.
The seeds are then soaked in a nutrient solution. To prepare a solution in 1 liter of water, you need to dilute 1 tsp. nitrophoska or wood ash, or liquid sodium humate, or “Ideal” fertilizer. The seeds are poured into fabric bags and, in this form, placed in any of these solutions for a day. After soaking, the bags are removed, the seeds are washed again and placed on a damp substrate so that they hatch.
If you do not intend to keep the seeds in a nutrient solution, then just before sowing they need to be soaked for 12 hours in warm water and after that also place it on a damp substrate (this can be a wet napkin or a damp saucer).
Then the seeds are kept in a warm place at a temperature of 25°C until they hatch. In this case, you should constantly ensure that the substrate is damp.
Those seeds that have been stored for a long time, before soaking, need to be heated for at least 2 hours in water, placed in a bag, at a temperature of 45-50°C. You can warm the seeds in a thermos, also placing them in a bag. This technique significantly increases the germination of old seeds.
Hardening of eggplant seeds
If you plan to grow eggplants in open ground, it will be useful to harden the seeds at variable temperatures. For the hardening procedure during the day, the swollen seeds are kept warm (18-20°C). They are placed in the refrigerator overnight (3-5°C). Thus, you need to keep the seeds either warm or cold for 3-5 days. This technique significantly increases the resistance of plants to cold, allows you to obtain better return from an early harvest.
Choosing soil for growing eggplant seedlings
Eggplant seedlings can be grown in a greenhouse. Greenhouse soil should consist of turf soil and humus, the components are taken in a ratio of 2: 1. Superphosphate is added to the mixture at the rate of 5 tbsp. for 5 kg of mixture. First, you need to lay a layer of manure 50-60 cm thick in the greenhouse for heating. Greenhouse soil is poured on top of the manure in a layer of 15-16 cm.
If the seedlings are supposed to be grown at home in boxes, then soil mixture You can purchase it from specialized stores or prepare it yourself. There is more than one option for preparing a soil mixture for growing eggplant seedlings:
2 parts of light turf or garden soil and 1 part of humus, add 5 tbsp. l. wood ash and superphosphate for every 10 kg of mixture;
1 part sand, 2 parts light garden soil and 3 parts peat. Pre-steam all components;
1 part sand, 4 parts light turf soil, 5 parts peat;
1 part sawdust, 3 parts peat and 0.5 parts mullein solution diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 5.
If the soil mixture does not contain wood ash and mineral fertilizers, then for every 10 kg of the mixture you need to add 40 g of superphosphate and potassium salt, 10 g of ammonium nitrate.
❧ For eggplants, only radishes are suitable as a predecessor or inter-row compacting crop. When sowing radishes as an inter-row crop, sowing should be completed approximately two weeks before planting eggplants, so that it can be removed in a timely manner.
The root system of eggplants is very capricious; it does not tolerate transplantation well, after which it is difficult to recover and lags in growth. Therefore, in order to preserve the root system, many gardeners grow seedlings in peat pots measuring 66 mm in diameter. For this case, prepare a special soil mixture: 2 parts turf soil, 8 parts humus, 1 part mullein with the addition of 1 tbsp. l. urea, potassium salt and superphosphate.
Sowing eggplant seeds
An early harvest of eggplants can be obtained if you correctly determine the time of sowing seeds for seedlings. You can sow eggplant seeds in a greenhouse and grow seedlings in pots here before planting them in the ground. Typically, eggplants from seedlings are grown in unheated greenhouses or under film covers. The timing of sowing seeds in both cases is no later than mid-February. Optimal time for sowing eggplants for seedlings - this is the beginning of February, its first and second decades. Of course, a lot depends on the local climatic and weather conditions. You can sow eggplant seeds for seedlings in March with the expectation that after 55-60 days the plant will be planted in the planned location. Often, beginning gardeners sow seeds late: at the end of March or beginning of April, in this case the eggplants begin to bloom towards the end of summer, so the fruits do not have time to ripen.
When growing eggplant seedlings without picking, the hatched seeds should be planted in containers with a diameter of 8-10 cm, 2-3 at a time. They are planted at a depth of 1-2 cm and at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other. In the future, you can leave one of the strongest sprouts. The seeds are sprinkled with a thin layer of soil and watered with warm water.
The minimum permissible temperature for good germination of eggplant seeds is 15°C, at optimal temperature 20°C seeds sprout approximately on the 10th day of planting. But it is best to maintain a constant temperature at 22-25°C during seed germination. Then, when sowing with hatched seeds, you can expect the emergence of seedlings on the 4-5th day. If ungerminated seeds were sown, seedlings will appear on the 8-10th day.
Soak the seeds of tomatoes, peppers, carrots in disinfectants and nutrient solutions- a common thing, a tradition. But if for the first time you decide to plant in the country eggplant, doubts arise: a Are their seeds soaked before planting?? Definitely yes! Eggplant seeds too needed pre-sowing treatment - for disinfection, enrichment with microelements, for hardening. Soaking will ensure the appearance of friendly, strong shoots and healthy seedlings in the future.
Processing eggplant seeds: stages
- Calibration
- Soaking for disinfection (disinfection).
- Warming up and hardening by cold.
- Soaking for enrichment nutrients and microelements.
- Germination until biting.
Calibration
Seed calibration is carried out in order to reject light, hollow seeds and select full-bodied, high-quality specimens for planting. To do this, prepare a 3% salt solution (10 g of salt per 250 ml of water). Dip eggplant seeds into it and mix with a spoon. After literally 2 minutes, the seeds will get wet. Some of the seeds will sink to the bottom, the other part will float. Those that float up are removed with a spoon and thrown away. Seeds that have sunk to the bottom are washed in clean water and continue to prepare for sowing.
How to soak eggplant seeds. Disinfection
Traditionally, it is recommended to soak eggplant seeds in potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide for disinfection.
Potassium permanganate. Prepare a 1% pink solution and immerse the seeds in it for 15-20 minutes.
Hydrogen peroxide . Prepare a 2% solution and soak future eggplants in it for 5 minutes.
The purpose of this soaking is to protect plants from viral, fungal and bacterial diseases. Regardless of which method you choose, after the procedure the seeds should be rinsed well in clean water.
Warming up
Conducted in a drying cabinet. The seeds are kept at a temperature of 50 degrees for 5 hours.
Cold hardening
Cold hardening is no less useful. It makes plants more resistant to low temperatures. How to harden:
- First, the swollen seeds are kept at room temperature(+20-24 degrees) for 12 hours (daytime).
- Then planting material placed in the cold (+ 2-7 degrees) for 12 hours (overnight). The bottom shelf of the refrigerator will do.
Such manipulations are performed for 10 days.
How to soak eggplants. enrichment with microelements
For the purpose of enrichment useful substances seeds are soaked in a solution of growth stimulants for 12-24 hours at room temperature (20-25 degrees).
Germination -
the last stage of processing eggplant seeds before planting seedlings. You can germinate seeds in water or in a fertilizer solution.
Fertilizer solution. The seeds are placed in fabric bags and dipped in the following solution for 24 hours: 2 tbsp. l. wood ash per 1 liter of water (mix well until dissolved). Then the bags are taken out, sprinkled with clean water and placed on a saucer. It is enough to keep the seeds there for another 1-2 days at a temperature of 24 degrees until they bite. It is not necessary for all the seeds to hatch; 5 percent is enough. The hatched seeds can be sown. As a rule, they sprout within 5-6 days.
In water. The seeds are laid between layers of damp gauze and kept there for 1 – 2 days. As the gauze dries, it needs to be moistened. When 5 percent of the seeds have hatched, you can start sowing. It happens that 2 days are enough for the seeds to hatch, but in some cases it takes longer - from 5 to 8 days.
How long should you soak eggplant seeds?
It depends on the method of pre-sowing treatment:
- Soak eggplant seeds in potassium permanganate for 15-20 minutes, and in hydrogen peroxide for 5 minutes.
- Seeds are kept in growth stimulants for a day or half a day (12-24 hours).
- Soaking for the purpose of germination just before sowing can last from 1 to 8 days (depending on the germination of the seeds). As soon as 5 percent of the seeds hatch, you can sow. Seeds hatch en masse only on the 5th - 8th day.