Cucumbers and tomatoes are two of the most popular vegetable crops that are often grown in greenhouses.
They have a lot in common: they love warmth and light, require watering and feeding, and produce a bountiful harvest.
But there are also significant differences that make them incompatible in the same greenhouse.
Different temperature and humidity requirements
Cucumbers are heat-loving plants that are sensitive to temperature changes and cold.
They grow well at temperatures of 22-28 degrees during the day and 16-18 degrees at night.
Tomatoes are more resistant to cold and can withstand temperatures up to 10 degrees at night.
They grow best at temperatures of 20-25 degrees during the day and 12-15 degrees at night.
In addition, cucumbers like high air humidity - about 80-90%, and tomatoes like low humidity - about 50-60%.
High humidity promotes the development of diseases on the leaves and fruits of tomatoes, such as late blight, alternaria, anthracnose, etc. Low humidity negatively affects the pollination of cucumber flowers and leads to the fall of ovaries.
Different methods of pollination
On one cucumber plant there are flowers of both sexes - male and female. This means that cucumbers are monoecious plants. Pollination of cucumbers occurs due to insects or wind.
Tomatoes are dioecious plants, meaning that one plant has only male or only female flowers. Pollination of tomatoes occurs through self-pollination or shaking of plants.
If you grow cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse, these crops may cross-breed. This will lead to a deterioration in the quality of the fruit: they will be small, deformed, bitter or tasteless.
Different planting and harvesting times
Cucumbers are early plants that can be planted in a greenhouse from April to May. They yield a harvest in 40-50 days after planting and continue to bear fruit until autumn.
Tomatoes are late plants that can be planted in a greenhouse from May to June. They yield a harvest 60-80 days after planting and bear fruit until frost.
If you grow cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse, you need to take into account the different planting and harvesting times.
For example, if you plant cucumbers before tomatoes, they will take up space and light from the tomatoes, which will lead to shading and slower growth of the latter.
If you plant tomatoes before cucumbers, they will interfere with the ventilation and watering of the cucumbers, which will lead to over-watering and rotting of the cucumber roots.
Conclusion
Cucumbers and tomatoes are different plants by nature and require different growing conditions. Therefore, it is not recommended to grow them in the same greenhouse, as this will lead to a decrease in yield and quality of fruits.
It is better to allocate a separate greenhouse for each crop or divide one greenhouse into two parts using film or mesh.
In this way, you can provide optimal conditions for the growth and development of cucumbers and tomatoes and get a good harvest of tasty and healthy vegetables.
