Tips for Growing Cucumbers and Tomatoes

Cucumbers - These take about 50 to 70 days from the time they are planted as seed to when you can expect to harvest any of the fruit. Generous amounts of organic matter in the soil will help.

Before planting any of the seeds (or young plants), dig the furrow 2 feet deep and fill in the first foot with manure mixed with peat moss, compost, sawdust, or any other organic material. Fill the rest of the furrow with soil, peat moss, and a low-nitrogen fertilizer (such as 5-10-10).

If sowing seeds, put them one inch deep.

Cucumber roots grow deep, so watering should be slow and deep. If the plant is stressed because of a lack of water, it will stop growing, but will pick up again when sufficient water is supplied.

It is very important that the fruit is picked as soon as they reach usable size. My gardening books says that this cannot be stressed enough.

At our home in the semi-desert of Southern California we were able to harvest a large number of cucumbers during the growing season. We must have given them plenty of water.

Tomatoes - These are fairly easy to grow if you have the right climate, soil, and a steady supply of water. As a child I grew hundreds of tomatoes each year from about 6 plants. All I did was water them regularly. We lived in a climate that was apparently perfect.

Tomatoes need warm temperatures day and night (above 55 F) to grow unless you have an early-maturing variety. Daytime temperature of 90 F or above and nighttime temperatures above 76 F will cause the blossoms to drop.

They need a soil that drains well, with a pH between 5.5 and 6.8. The soil needs to be rich in nutrients, especially phosphorus.

About 2 weeks before planting work in plenty of organic matter and a low-nitrogen fertilizer (5-10-10 is good). Once the plants start producing fruit, feed them once each month while the fruit is maturing, and stop feeding when they mature.

After the fruit has set, tomato plants need uniform moisture. Letting the soil dry out between watering will stunt the tomatoes.

Tomatoes should be ready to be harvested 55 to 90 days after seedlings are planted. The plants we have in our backyard were planted about 56 days ago and we have a few green tomatoes that are about 2-3 inches diameter.

In the next post I’ll give some tips for growing peppers, which I am growing for the first time in my life. So far, we have lots of peppers growing on the young plants. They are doing better than our tomato plants.

Tags: Vegetable Garden