shaefins
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Cukes + sage or tomatoes = bad?

Just read on a couple other sites that you're not supposed to plant cukes with sage or tomatoes. I have all 3 in my 16 sq' bed.

See if you can follow this one: C=cukes; T=tomato; S=sage; P=pepperoncini; M=marigold; R=rosemary; E=empty - the number is how many plants are in the 1 sq' space (+ means lots). Orientation is north at the top.

R(1) C(2) C(2) C(2)
S(+) M(1) M(1) M(1)
E T(1) T(1) T(1)
P(1) M(1)D(1) M(1) M(1)

That south row has a dill squeezed in between two marigolds. So...what's going to happen to my sage/cucumbers? Used the sage over the weekend and it seemed fine. No cukes yet, just flowers.

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applestar
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What do they say will happen if sage is planted near cucumbers?
I really don't consider vague advice not to plant near each other without specific reasons to be very reliable, though I do think there really are valid reasons for planting close or not close in some instances.

One good reason I can see for not planting sage near cucumbers is that cucumbers' vigorous growth may overly shade the sage. If you decide to move one or the other, I suspect that the sage can be transplanted more easily than the cucumber.

I HAVE read that cucumbers and tomatoes planted near each other will stunt each others' growth. I admit that one year, I planted cukes near tomatoes and they didn't do well, but there were other factors like cool weather and brand-new garden bed.... On the other hand, there have been some advice to plant squash with tomatoes.

That said, 16 sq. ft.... as in 4ft x 4ft? Are you planting a tomato plant in each square? ... I.e. 12" apart? Most people recommend 24" apart. Is this a Jeavons type double-dug, bio-intensive bed or Bartholomew type shallow, soilless mix bed?

I'm sorry to tell you this but I think you have planted too close..... Also, the marigolds under all that foliage will not be happy even if height-wise, they might fit. A shade-loving low-growing plants would've worked better.

kgall
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I can tell you that I planted my tomatoes 1.5 feet apart and they are way to close to each other so I have learned my first lesson for this year. (I couldn't resist planting them all, I hated the thought of discarding them.) :oops:

On a bright note however...I planted tomatoes and cukes next to each other and neither have been stunted! In favt the toms closest to the cukes are the biggest ones. Probably a coincidence but not stunted all the same!

shaefins
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It's Square Foot Gardening (Bartholomew) - 1 tomato plant per square and there are 3 of them. They're kind of crowded, but so far everyone seems happy. I've pruned all low foliage, so the marigolds in front of the tomatoes are happy as clams - no shading issues. The ones between the tomatoes and the cukes also seem to be doing well, which surprises me given their location. I threw them in there as an afterthought, really. Figured if they help w/ pests at all, that's great. If they die, that's OK.

I think that the rosemary and sage are in bad spots, but I'm not sweating them. The sage was another afterthought, and it's doing well. The rosemary was an extra I had and I'm pulling it this week to take on vacation anyway.

There's a good 18-24" between the tomatoes and the cukes, given their orientation in their squares. Next year I'll be putting the cukes in front of the tomatoes I think - they're a little bit shaded in the afternoon.

As for the sage/cuke thing, the only thing I saw was that it would make the cukes bitter - saw the same thing for tomatoes planted near cukes. No cukes yet, so no idea if it's true or not. Really hoping it's not!

garden5
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There's a lot of companion planting information out there and some of it has no real basis.

I'm growing a particular row of tomatoes 1 ft. from the cucumber trellis this year, so I'm going to hope that this particular rule happens to be one of the baseless ones :? :lol:.

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soil
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people say your not supposed to plant onions near peas or lettuce. when in fact I grew all 3 next to each other this year and they did better than my other peas, lettuce and onions that were all apart.

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applestar
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Despite the usual advice against planting them together, I think it was hendi_Alex who had an interesting theory about planting the peas close to garlic so the N-fixing peas can supply the extra Nitrogen that garlic needs. Same might apply for onions. Lettuce and onions are supposed to go well together though.

specgrade
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My cukes are planted next to my corn and I have to keep the corn from being strangled. I know better for next year. That's the only science I understand.

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applestar
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Heh. This morning, I was forced to cut off some Atlantic Giant Pumpkin tendrils that had wrapped around some of the lower popcorn leaves. I wasn't ready for the giant pumpkin vines to try to climb up the corn! :shock:

Although now that I think about it, it would make a HUGELY fabulous Halloween decoration if one could design a living sculpture out of them -- I'm picturing really sturdy, tall growing corn -- like Bloody Butcher, maybe -- with a giant pumpkin that had climbed up and fruited somewhere at waist level. Set up a cleverly disguised platform to support the pumpkin, gather up the tops of the corn -- weave some stalks together -- into sort of looming figures.... Hmm... 8) Maybe someday, when I get the GROWING part of it down. :roll:



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