Growing Early Cucumbers And Tomatoes On The Windowsill

2023 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-07-30 21:03

April cucumber with the aroma of summer

In spring, I really want fresh vegetables with a delicate crust and natural aroma. Remember how the first cucumbers smell dizzyingly. No, not store-bought, but those that are grown in their own garden.

To approach the first harvest of the season, some enthusiastic gardeners and gardeners grow vegetables on window sills or on warm loggias. I also tried this experiment.

Last year I already talked in a magazine about how I grew my first pineapple on the windowsill. Last season, we decided to grow more prosaic, but no less desirable and tasty crops there - cucumbers and tomatoes.

In January, we prepared the soil - added biohumus to the purchased land - for better nutritional value and coconut substrate - for the lightness of the soil. And soon after the New Year - January 12, four seeds of the Dynamite F1 hybrid cucumber were sown for growing on the windowsill. There was an annotation on the seed bag stating that it was a plant from the "Harvest on the windowsill" series. Early ripe cucumber - 45-50 days from germination to the beginning of fruiting, salad.

Gardener's guide

Plant nurseries Stores of goods for summer cottages Landscape design studios

At the same time, we sowed three dwarf tomato seeds of the Minibel variety. It was written on the bag that its plants, which are covered with red small tomatoes, look very decorative and will decorate your windowsill and balcony.

It was also noted that this variety is recommended for growing as a pot culture in indoor conditions and on the balcony, it can also be grown in the open field. The variety is early ripe (90-100 days). Plants are low (25-30 cm) with excellent setting. Fruits are small, weighing 10-15 g, intense red color, excellent taste.

Sowing was carried out, but, probably, something was not taken into account or the seeds were let down, because as a result, on January 17, only one tomato plant emerged. I had to repeat the sowing - on January 24, we sowed seeds again and in the same amount. A week later, on January 31, the first sprout of a cucumber and three tomato sprouts emerged. The next day, the second cucumber rose, and all the plants began to gradually gain strength.

At the end of February, tomatoes had from 3 to 7 leaves, while cucumbers only had the second real ones.

We fed the seedlings with a solution of liquid vermicompost, and then the cucumbers decided to take revenge - they released whips and began to grow actively. The first flower appeared first in cucumbers - on March 16. On April 5, the first tomato bloomed, and on April 12 we already tasted the first fragrant, juicy, most delicious cucumber of the new season with a thin skin.

Of course, the harvest of cucumbers grown on the windowsill did not impress us with the number of fruits, because the bag said that one plant gives 6-7 kilograms of cucumbers. Apparently, this applies to growing the variety in greenhouses. We only got a dozen cucumbers. And still it was nice to pick from the branch and savor the juicy and fragrant fruits. We decided that this year we will continue our experiment with cucumbers, but we will draw up a plant growth schedule.

Tomatoes began to sing at the very beginning of May. Of course, there were far fewer of them than in the photo from the seed bag. Ripe red fruits - a little more large peas, as the people say - "one tooth." But these tomatoes had the same real "tomato" smell and taste, as if you were eating a southern fruit. We can say that we grew these tomatoes rather for moral and decorative pleasure.