Can I Plant Tomatoes and Cucumbers Next to Each Other?

There are plants that grow well when together and others that need to be kept apart.

This is similar to how humans live! If you’re incompatible with someone, you won’t be able to flourish together and need time apart. But if you are able to connect, then the better you grow with one another.

This begs gardeners to ask, “can I plant tomatoes and cucumbers next to each other?”

If you’re planning to companion plant tomatoes with cucumbers, read my article first to learn more about the two plants together.

Can I Plant Tomatoes and Cucumbers Next to Each Other?

Companion planting isn’t as difficult as you think, especially with tomatoes! This is something useful to do, especially when you have a small home garden where you value space more than the next gardener.

Fortunately, many plants grow well with one another, hence the term companion planting. But how about cucumbers and tomatoes?

YES, it’s possible to grow tomatoes and cucumbers beside one another. Cucumbers are considered compatible when next to tomatoes. In fact, they are companion plants and mutual benefit from one another.

Both benefit from one another such as making it hard for pests to adapt to the single plant’s defenses. Both can also provide food and shelter for the beneficial insects that help them grow.

If you’ve seen posts about tomatoes hating cucumbers, don’t believe it. Tomatoes may not be compatible with some plants from the cucurbit family (where cucumber is from), but that doesn’t mean cucumbers are immediately the enemy.

What you SHOULD watch out for when planting tomatoes are all relatives of cabbage from the Brassica family, corn, dill, eggplant, fennel, and walnuts. Both tomatoes and cucumbers hate potatoes as well!

Do you want to know more about companion planting with tomatoes and cucumbers? Check out this interesting video:

What to Know About Companion Planting Tomatoes and Cucumbers

Tomatoes and cucumbers are easy to companion plant because they share the similar needs. Cucumbers need around 50-70 days until it reaches maturity, while tomatoes require 55-105 days. This would depend on your variety, though.

Furthermore, both plants area warm-season crops, requiring good drainage and soil pH levels between 5.8 to 6.5. They also need deep watering and consistent water supplies for proper growth and fruit development. It’s why having both tomatoes and cucumbers share the same space in your garden works well.

As for placement, you should let cucumber vines grow around the ground, in the area between your tomato plants. You can also train vines onto the same supports used for your tomatoes.

This one is known as diversified planting, which would make it more difficult for pests to find and kill certain crops. With this technique, it gives both plants more space for air circulation between plants, preventing any mold problems from the moist conditions and crowding. Make sure that when planting them together, they have space apart for optimum growth!

Wrapping It Up

If you want to plant cucumbers and tomatoes together, don’t worry, they are completely compatible and thrive well. However, this only happens when you plant them properly, so make sure that you know what varieties to get and prepare the high-quality soil to encourage better growth and development. After that, you can watch them mutually benefit from one another and enjoy harvesting your fruits.

I hope that this article answered your question, “can I plant tomatoes and cucumbers next to each other?” Now that you know the answer, start learning more about companion planting and how to do so with tomatoes and cucumbers!