If you want to grow a small vegetable garden on a loggia or even a windowsill, now is the time to do it. The cucumbers, tomatoes, and peppers grown by you will certainly be the most delicious and will decorate the interior during the flowering and fruiting period.
Of course, he will not be able to fully feed his family, but he will not only save a little, but also receive moral satisfaction. It’s so nice not only to see the result of your work, but also to taste it. Vegetables grown by yourself are always the most delicious and aromatic, because you raised them with love.
Usually people try to grow vegetables on the windowsill in the dead of winter. When the dachas are covered with snow, but you want to tinker with the soil.
But this is an activity for more experienced vegetable growers (you need lighting, and this minimizes all savings). Now the daylight hours are very long and growing crops on the windowsill is not at all difficult. The main thing is desire and a little patience.
Poor ecology is the fly in our ointment; the air in cities is not particularly clean. But the products that we buy on the market are not grown in environmentally friendly areas.
In addition, it is unknown how many toxic chemicals they had to absorb. And in your miniature garden bed you can reduce the intake of harmful substances into vegetables.
It is enough to follow the basic rules:
- adding organic matter to the soil makes mercury, lead and cadmium less available to plants;
- sulfur-containing fertilizers limit the mobility of mercury and make it inaccessible to plants;
- Liming the soil prevents the accumulation of large amounts of harmful chemicals in fruits. You can also use an infusion of wood ash brought from a picnic for this.
Is it possible to grow these vegetables together at home?
It is possible to achieve success in growing cucumbers and tomatoes together, although it is difficult, you just need to create conditions in which each crop will not be infringed on in its needs.
The growing conditions for cucumbers and tomatoes vary significantly . But if you give preference to tomatoes when growing them together, the cucumbers will suffer somewhat from the dry air, but will still withstand it. If you create conditions that are comfortable for cucumbers, the tomatoes will stop bearing fruit and begin to get sick en masse.
If in an apartment it is possible to maintain certain indicators, then it is definitely worth starting to grow crops together - on a windowsill or apartment balcony.
Conclusion
We have considered only a small part of what can be grown on a loggia (see in more detail what is useful and can grow on a balcony). It all depends on your desires and tastes. Actually, growing useful crops on a loggia is not a difficult undertaking, but it does require attention.
However, it provides many surprising and entertaining experiences that develop into beautiful, fresh and juicy fruits. Experiment and implement your most original ideas, everything will certainly work out.
Preparatory activities
Place and conditions
Cucumbers bear fruit at a temperature of 25-28 degrees, tomatoes at 22-25. It is worth opting for a temperature of +25, which will suit both vegetables.- Tomatoes get sick at humidity levels above 70%; if you keep it below this value, cucumbers will be a little uncomfortable, but in general they can withstand it. Both plants will gratefully accept airing.
- The optimal location for crops is windows facing east or west.
- Between planting tomatoes and cucumbers on a balcony or windowsill, you can install a partition with a transparent film.
Special varieties
Tomato varieties for planting together with cucumbers must be resistant to late blight ; it is also advisable to opt for low-growing varieties and pay maximum attention to formation. From the presented assortment of cucumbers, it is worth choosing hybrids that are not particularly demanding in terms of watering and humidity, and also tolerate drafts well.
It is better to grow short-climbing varieties that will not interfere with neighboring plants.
Pot
When choosing a material for a pot, it is best to choose plastic - it is light and breathable. For tomatoes growing at home both on the window and on the balcony, three-liter containers are suitable; for cucumbers, the volume of the pot should be at least five liters.
Priming
You can purchase ready-made substrates “Tomato, pepper”, “Cucumber” or prepare a soil mixture yourself by mixing garden soil, peat and humus in equal proportions. You can also mix one part of peat and sand and two parts of leaf soil, or one part of garden soil and compost humus with the addition of a glass of ash and a tablespoon of azofoska.
The resulting mixture must be shed with a strong solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. It is necessary to organize drainage at the bottom of the pot. Pebbles, expanded clay or broken bricks are suitable for these purposes.
Preparing seeds for sowing
To harvest the first tomato fruits as early as June, you can begin preparing the seeds for sowing in February. If several varieties of tomatoes are taken for cultivation, you should not mix them - each variety goes through the preparatory stage separately. In order not to confuse the varieties, each of them is signed.
Seed preparation:
Tomato seeds have a high germination rate, so they do not need to be germinated before sowing. During processing and hardening, the seeds are already sufficiently saturated with moisture and swollen, so they can be slightly dried so that they do not stick to one another, and they are completely ready for sowing as seedlings.
Planting process
Seeds
How to plant seeds on a window or balcony:
- It is best to sow cucumbers in separate plastic cups.
- After they grow up, move them to large containers in a permanent place.
- For good germination, you need to maintain high humidity and frequent watering.
- At this time, tomato seeds, which do not require high humidity, are sown in a container, which is covered with film until germination.
Thus, the necessary conditions for maintaining two crops at the seed germination stage do not overlap or conflict.
How to plant seedlings?
Picking for cucumbers occurs using the transshipment method, since in a temporary place they are planted one at a time in a small container.- When picking tomatoes, carefully remove the plants one by one from the soil, cut off the tip of the root and transplant one specimen at a time into large pots.
- From the moment the seedlings are planted in a permanent place, it is necessary to maintain conditions that suit both crops. Priority in this matter should be given to tomatoes. Cucumbers should receive a little less moisture and get used to frequent airing.
Sow tomato seeds
Before planting seeds, they must be soaked in potassium permanganate for 20 minutes, then in a solution of “Epin” or a similar composition to stimulate growth for 10 hours. This solution allows you to increase seedlings, but as for the seeds, this will allow them to germinate faster.
After completing all of the above, the seeds must be transferred to a small container and covered with a damp cloth. After two to three days, roots will appear on the seeds. In this case, the sprouted seeds must be planted in a container with soil for seedlings. Tomato seeds sink to a depth of one centimeter at a distance of three centimeters.
Containers with seedlings, which are covered with an opaque lid, should be placed in a warm place. When the first shoots appear, the seedlings can be placed on the balcony closer to the light. Permissible temperature at night is +15 - +17°, during the day +22 - +25°.
This way you will have seedlings on your balcony. The main condition is to avoid drafts, the use of cold water for irrigation, as well as oversaturation with moisture, as the latter will cause the development of various diseases and fungi.
Care
Watering and fertilizing
For tomatoes:
- The soil in the containers should not be too wet; in such an environment, the roots begin to suffocate and the plant dies.
- Watering should be carried out according to the schedule once every three days. After watering, be sure to loosen the soil. If the weather is cloudy, you need to deviate from the schedule and water the plant less often, focusing on the degree of drying of the soil.
- The first fertilizer for tomatoes can be applied 40-50 days after planting.
- The best fertilizer is humus, which can be purchased ready-made in the store. It is added to the ground to a height of two centimeters, thanks to which the roots are saturated with oxygen and receive all the nutrients necessary for development.
For cucumbers:
- Watering for cucumbers should be moderate so as not to create excess moisture that is uncomfortable for tomatoes.
- The plant itself will tell you when it needs to be fertilized: the leaves will begin to dry out, the fruits will take on a hook-like shape, and the small ovaries will die off.
- For cucumbers, it is advisable to add nutrients by spraying, but when planting together at home with tomatoes, you should refrain from this procedure and apply fertilizers directly to the soil.
- For fertilizing, you can use Ross' universal organic fertilizer.
Trimming, pinching, pinching
All side shoots on the cucumber are removed, they only weaken the plant ; when twelve leaves appear, you need to pinch the top, this will contribute to the rapid ripening of already set fruits.
The dried lower leaves of the tomato are removed, the stems growing from the axils are removed (pinching), and the tops are also pinched.
When planting together, it is necessary to ensure that developing plants do not interfere with each other and do not intertwine branches.
Supports, hanging
When the cucumbers just begin to develop mustaches, you need to stick a peg into the ground and tie up the stem. Considering that it is better to choose low-growing varieties of tomatoes for indoor cultivation, they will not require garters.
The hanging method can be chosen for tomatoes by planting them in plastic bottles in a certain way and hanging them on any base.
Transplanting tomatoes into pots
If you grow tomatoes in winter, you should understand that this crop is heat- and light-loving, so it is still worthwhile for them, albeit artificially, to extend the length of daylight hours. This is achieved by installing lighting lamps at a level of 25-30 cm from the plant (not from the pot). Lamps should also be turned on if it is cloudy outside, not only at sunrise, but also after sunset.
When the seedlings are 3 weeks old, you should fertilize them with products intended for seedlings, strictly adhering to the instructions. To prevent various diseases and fungus, it is better to spray seedlings by diluting 50 g of milk in 500 ml of water.
Growing tomatoes on the balcony
After the third leaf appears, you should start diving. First of all, they should be planted in small containers with a diameter of 5 cm. If you transplant all the seedlings into a larger container, the roots will develop much worse.
After a month, tomatoes from small containers should be transplanted into larger containers - from 3 to 5 liters. An alternative is boxes with light soil into which plants can be transplanted at a distance of 25 cm.
An excellent solution would be to hang tomatoes. Hanging pots are used for such purposes. Some time later, the leaves and fruits will fall down, as a result of which you will have an original balcony fruitful decor.
Diseases and pests
Spider mite
It feeds on the juice of leaves. At the sites of the bites, small light dots appear, which eventually merge and lead to the death of the leaf. Control methods: timely identification of insect breeding sites and treatment with insecticides.
Root nematode
It can be carried over by planting material and damages the roots. Control methods - replacing contaminated soil . For prevention – soil disinfection and seed dressing.
Whitefly
It feeds on the sap of leaves, the affected plant is covered with sooty fungus. The control method is mechanical removal of insects and spraying the plant with insecticides.
Brown spot of tomatoes
Fungal disease. It appears during flowering and fruit formation in the form of greenish-yellow spots, first on the lower leaves, and then on the upper ones. Fungicidal drugs are used for control .
White cucumber rot
A fungal disease that affects the stems of cucumbers in the root part. The tissues soften, become slimy and become covered with a dense white coating. The disease is combated using fungicidal drugs.
It is possible to grow cucumbers and tomatoes together at home ; although it is labor-intensive, it pays off. Obtaining a consistent harvest of different crops is possible with strict adherence to the care plan and a responsible attitude to disease prevention.
The nuances of growing tomatoes on the balcony
This is a self-pollinating plant, and therefore during flowering you need to help it - lightly shake the bushes, twigs with flowers. If the balcony is open, then ventilation and draft can do this for you.
- Tomatoes do not like overwatering. If overwatered, a fungal disease may develop. They need to be watered 1-2 times a week, but immediately and properly. The water should be at room temperature.
- Fertilizing on the balcony is done once every 10 days, not more often. If you go too far with this matter, the plant will begin to “fatten” - it will build up green mass, and there will be few flower clusters.
- Allow the tomatoes to ripen on the plant. This will make them sweeter and tastier.
How to properly grow tomatoes on the balcony, watch the video:
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Picking seedlings
Picking tomato seedlings is a prerequisite for getting a good harvest on the balcony (cucumbers do not need it).
It must be done according to the following scheme:
- Moisten the soil in the boxes generously. This will allow you to extract the roots without loss.
- Take the plant by the base of the stem and remove it from the soil using gentle movements. There should be a small lump of earth left on the roots.
- Pre-treat the scissors with alcohol or vodka and use them to cut 1/3 of the root.
- Make a hole in a prepared container using a stick. Place the root in it so that it reaches the cotyledon leaves. Over time, the seedlings will develop additional roots.
At the last stage, the tomatoes are carefully poured with warm water. The soil near the stem needs to be pressed down a little with your fingers.
Top dressing
For this, it is recommended to use special mineral fertilizers. You can feed the soil with chicken droppings in proportions of 1 to 25 or slurry in proportions of 1 to 10, but they are unlikely to be easy to find in a city apartment.
When feeding tomatoes, you need to be especially careful, since this crop can react with delayed fruiting or increased growth if there is an excess of fertilizers, especially nitrogen. For cucumbers, the applied fertilizer should be approximately 3 times more than for tomatoes.
Fertilizers do not need to be used if the seedlings are growing and looking good. An excess of fertilizing leads to their inhibition, as well as to a loss of taste in the fruits. When watering the soil with not yet sprouted tomatoes and cucumbers, you must carefully loosen the top layer so that a dense crust does not form.
Otherwise, the seedlings will not receive oxygen and nutrients in normal quantities.
Read more in the article “How to feed cucumbers on the balcony.”
What does a new gardener need to know?
Before you start a vegetable garden on your windowsill, answer yourself a few key questions:
- which variety will grow best “in captivity”;
- where the seedlings will feel better - on which side of the balcony;
- decide on pots, containers, cups - what to grow seeds in;
- Find out from gardeners which soil is best for seedlings.
When choosing the right variety of cucumbers, you don’t have to limit yourself to any particular variety. The main thing is that these are self-pollinating varieties, since you don’t need wasps and bees on your balcony.
When planting cucumbers, place the seedlings in sunny, warm places, but remember that such seedlings are afraid of drafts. Containers for cucumbers are best suited for old flowers: pots that you have replaced with new ones, and store the old ones on the balcony. Peat cups are also very convenient, which can be planted directly in open ground. But if you plan to grow cucumbers on your balcony until the end of the season, then the plants that have sprouted from such cups need to be transplanted into wider pots or troughs.
When planting cucumbers, place the seedlings in sunny, warm places
On average, a cucumber bush will take up 30 cm of window sill area, that is, for 1.5 m of window sill length you can grow 5 cucumber bushes, just don’t forget to insulate the windows to prevent drafts. One plant will also require 4-5 liters of soil, but put broken bricks, pebbles, and expanded clay at the bottom of the pot.
Where to place
It is best to place the plant near the windows so that you can then secure the trellis threads to the frames. When it blooms, pollination begins. If the balcony is glazed, then this operation must be carried out artificially. At the beginning of flowering, there are fewer female flowers than male ones, and during the fruiting period, the opposite is true. Male flowers appear first in the leaf axils of the main stem, and then female flowers appear on the side shoots and in the upper part of the main stem. Pollination can be carried out when there are both male and female flowers.
How cucumber vines are formed
After the third true leaf appears on the cucumbers, a pinch is made: the third leaf is cut off along with the growing point, and the axillary bud, which is located at the base of the second leaf, cannot be touched; after 4-5 days a running shoot will develop from it, and then a side vine with fruits will develop. . Below, a second lateral shoot is formed from the axillary bud of the first leaf. Both shoots will form the main lashes of the future cucumber bush. The second pinching is done over the 5-6th sheet. The third and subsequent ones are carried out through two sheets.
Soil recipe
Prepared soil: 2 parts of fertile soil, 1 part each of rotted manure, peat and coarse river sand. Add 2 cups of wood ash to a bucket of this mixture. Mix everything and fill the plastic bottle to the top, then shake the container slightly so that the mixture compacts and settles: there should be about 5 cm left to the top of the neck. Fill a metal jar with soil in the same way. Then the plastic bottle is placed on top of the jar so that it fits into its neck. This is how a vertical bed is created. There should be at least two of these beds for cross-pollination of plants.
What varieties are best to plant?
As a rule, most cucumber varieties require cross-pollination. Agronomists recommend planting short-fruited varieties on the balcony and performing a similar procedure using a brush. To do this, pollen is carefully transferred from a flower that does not have an ovary to a flower that already has an ovary.
If you don’t want to do extra work, pay attention to parthenocarpic options. They don't need to be pollinated, they do it themselves.
One of the best are “Balcony Miracle” cucumbers, which are several times superior to standard varieties of cucumbers. It produces a rich, bountiful harvest and does not need much light in winter and spring. Greens are suitable for salads; they are dark green in color and medium in length. Also popular is the F1 balcony window, which is characterized by its high productivity.
Cucumbers “Balcony Miracle”
In the period from March to April, it is recommended to plant hybrids “Malachite”, “Stella”, “Moscow Greenhouse” and “Zozulya” (TSHA-77). Their advantage is a pronounced salad taste, high yield per plant and the appearance of ovaries without pollination. In order to increase air humidity to a normal level, the leaves are sprayed with warm water.
Read more in the article “Cucumbers on the balcony.”
As for tomatoes, the best option is considered to be early-ripening cherry varieties intended for the greenhouse. For example, “Siberian early ripening”, “Verlioka”, “Nevsky” and “White filling”. In this case, the harvest will appear much earlier than when growing ordinary tomatoes, but you need to be prepared for the fact that the fruits will not be very large.
Tomatoes “Siberian early ripening”
When growing cherry tomatoes on the balcony, give preference to low-growing (standard) varieties. These are “Pearl”, “Tiny Tim”, “Angelica”, “Florida Petit”, “Oak”, “Baby”, “Room Surprise”, “Balcony Miracle” tomatoes. Among tall tomatoes, the leading positions are occupied by “White filling” and “Bull’s heart”. They can be grown if a large container is selected for them and the balcony is spacious enough.
