Growing tomatoes and cucumbers for my garden

My cherry tomatoes from last year. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Last year, I grew tomato and cucumber seedlings in styrofoam cups on my kitchen's southwest windowsill. After a couple of weeks, they were a couple of inches tall! My cucumbers are once again rapidly growing. This year's cucumber and tomato seedlings (along with other herb seedlings) are sitting on my living room windowsill, which roughly faces southwest.

This year's seedlings growing on my windowsill. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​So this year, I'm sharing my gardening journey, pitfalls, mistakes, triumphs, and tips. This will probably be the first in a series of articles following my journey from planting the seeds to using my homegrown vegetables in recipes.

Planting my tomato & cucumber seeds

If you haven’t read it, you can read my blog on planting seeds, including tomatoes and cucumbers. The seeds are sown in small pots covered with plastic to help them sprout.

Pots and seeds for this year's tomato and cucumber plants. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​I tend to plant too many seeds in one pot, so now I’m stuck with the problem of which plants to cull or whether I can safely transplant some to other pots. Cucumber seeds are supposed to be planted no more than two per pot. Well, I planted probably 8-10 seeds in one six-inch pot! It’s a rookie mistake I make every year in my haste to plant seeds and get as many plants to grow as possible.

Cucumber seedlings after about two weeks. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Cucumber plant getting its true leaves. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​So I called my dad—an avid gardener—for some advice. There’s good news, and there’s some bad news. The bad news is that cucumber plants don’t like to be transplanted or messed with, and I really shouldn’t have planted more than two in a pot anyway (so I could cull the weaker one). An even better option would’ve been to simply wait until the weather got warm enough to plant the seeds directly into the ground. The good news is that cucumbers sprout fast, and seeds are cheap! So if my little cucumber sprouts die, I can always purchase new seeds and replant. No harm done. As for the tomatoes, according to my dad, they are incredibly hardy and will most likely tolerate being separated and transplanted. He told me to plant two seeds per pot and only plant what I have room for in my garden. (As it is now, I have no idea what to do with the extra ten or eleven plants EACH of cucumbers and tomatoes! Maybe they'll be put in pots outside.)

Tomato seedlings after about two weeks. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Tomato plants after about four weeks. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

How to separate the seedlings

Which brings me to the next issue…How—and when—do I separate the tiny plants in the pots? Can I do that safely without damaging my fragile plants? Some sources say not to pull out the tiny plants but to cut them at the soil level so as not to disturb the roots of the other plants. So it may well be that I’ll have to cut at least half of my new seedlings. The newly sprouting seedlings will soon crowd each other, so there needs to be a plan to separate some or cut most of them down. But I should determine how many plants I can fit in my garden. It may well be that I don’t need all of the plants that came up. I still feel bad about killing off half (or more) of my new plants! And I may just pop some in pots, just so I don’t have to feel guilty about killing little plants.

When to transplant outside

Cucumbers can be planted outside when they have 3-4 leaves on them, and there is no danger of frost. The tomatoes should be about 4-6” tall before planting outside, with nighttime temps staying more or less above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Small metal fence partitions (used as a lattice) are leaned against a wall in my garden so my tomatoes and cucumbers can climb. My dad helped me dig up the ground and add some better gardening soil in preparation for planting, so I’m hoping for better results this year.

My tomato seedlings outside waiting to be planted. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

Tomato seedlings planted in the ground. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

More tomato seedlings planted in a pot. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2022.

​Issues with growth from last year

I have not gotten decent results the past couple of years growing cucumbers and tomatoes in pots. One of the things I will be on the lookout for this year is the blossom end rot on my tomatoes. There's been an issue with rot in the last couple of years. It’s an issue with the soil, the pH levels, and nitrogen. The soil needs less nitrogen and more phosphorous, and I need to regulate the water levels better. Also, growing these plants in pots is not optimal. Wherever possible, it’s better to grow them in the ground. 

I don’t have an issue with cucumbers, except that sometimes the fruit is small and gourd-like instead of oblong. This may also be a symptom of being grown in a pot with water level issues and insufficient nutrients. 

Changes will be made in the planting process (with help from my dad) to improve the soil, light, and watering needs. I would like to have a decent crop this year! I will try to provide updates, so keep checking back for more on this year’s garden projects!

Yellow cucumber flower. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Last year's cucumber growing on the vine. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Last year's grape tomatoes growing on the vine. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

Last year's cherry tomatoes growing on the vine. Photo by Diane M. Lilly, 2021.

​Related blogs you may want to read:
Tips for planting seeds indoors
How to repot a pothos plant
How to propagate bromeliad pups
Six herbs I planted indoors
It’s planting season again

​This article may contain a few items or commercial mentions, but I only used them for demonstration purposes only. I am not endorsing any particular product or receiving any monetary gain for this blog.