This is my first time gardening and I live in an apartment with a small south facing patio. I planted 1 diva cucumber, 2 patio hybrid tomatoes, 1 cilantro, 1 basil, and 3 marigolds in this elevated garden bed about a month ago.
Is it too crowded? I was thinking of moving marigolds and herbs into their own hanging planters on my patio railing. Thoughts?
by nimsaja
19 Comments
I’d put them in a hanging pot personally.
The tomatoes alone probably need one of those to themselves
Yeah unfortunately that’s almost definitely going to be too crowded.
Personally, I’d move the marigolds and cilantro into hanging planters, leave the basil (it’s commonly recommended as a companion plant for tomatoes and shouldn’t be an issue where you have it) get rid of the cucumber and relocate the tomato plants to the far left and far right of the bed.
Overcrowding is a common mistake for beginners so don’t beat yourself up. It’s definitely easy to get carried away when you’re in an apartment and don’t have a lot of space.
The sweet spot for tomatoes when using containers or things of that sort is at least 7 gallons of potting mix per plant per container, etc. I’m afraid you’re not going to have enough room. Tomatoes, for example, have extended root systems and they need that room for growth.
I’m not saying they *wouldn’t* grow, but your yield, if any, will be far lower.
I would have put only the two tomatoes, but spaced all to the left and all to the right, basil in the middle. The two like each other, if I remember right the basil keeps some bug away (pls chime in who knows better), although just one tomatoe would have been happy with that pot by itself. Get at least the cucumber out, maybe plant it in a 10-20 Liter bucket, if you don’t have one even a (stable thick material) bag filled with 10-20 Liters of proper soil with lots of nutrients and grow it in there. But those three in there, and all so close, it will become an absolute hassle. Might steal each others light as well, esp the cucumber with its big leaves growing over the tomatoes putting them in shade. Also leads to more disease if there is no good airflow once they grow into one intertwined mess
Densely planted? Yes. Overcrowded? Nah. The tomatoes will grow tall whereas the cucumber will grow outward and the basil/cilantro/marigolds will stay relatively short.
Additionally, the basil is a great companion plant for the tomatoes and marigolds will attract pollinators. The only combination I’m weary of is the cucumbers/tomatoes given the susceptibility of cucumbers to powdery mildew, then spreading to the tomatoes.
Way
Thank you so much to everyone for your feedback!
I’m thinking of keeping just the 2 Patio Hybrid tomato plants and basil in the garden bed and relocate the cilantro and marigolds to some hanging planters. The cucumber will be repotted into its own container with a trellis.
Yeah I’d probably get a second box and move half of it
Yes.
Yes. Not enough room. Looks great now but those tomatoes will crowd each other once they’re bigger.
Triple crowded. They’re only starting. I suggest getting things separated with proper space before the roots loop and intertwine- less headache later.
Something I haven’t seen anyone else note so far…
Your soil depth is very very low. Your planter is only 10 inches deep and it looks like you’ve shorted it another 4-5 inches. That means you’ve got about 5-6 inches of soil in there.
How long ago did you plant the cucumber because they are finicky and don’t do well with transplanting – so just know it might not make it.
So much bad advice in this thread.
Idk what’s happened to this sub. It’s basically Facebook at this point.
The blind leading the blind here
That’s enough space for one tomato plant and the cilantro.
Lol, no, you’re good. Update us in a couple months.
No
That squash alone would dominate that