Knowing which plants thrive together in a vegetable garden can help eliminate pest issues, weeds and soil diseases while simultaneously increasing yield and enriching flavor. Companion plants also add another level of protection from weather elements while increasing production yield and flavor!
Plants that grow well together can provide nutrients to the soil, provide shade, repel pests and attract pollinators species; additionally they can add beauty and even be used as ingredients in cooking!
Tomatoes
Planting companion plants near your tomato garden is an effective way to reduce pests, boost production, and enhance flavor of vegetables. The ideal companions will either deter insects from attacking the fruit directly, provide nutrients or improve soil conditions, attract pollinators/beneficial insects or serve as trap crops to draw away pests from nearby crops.
Marigolds are one of the most frequently recommended companion plants for tomatoes due to their ability to repel various types of insects that damage tomato crops. Marigolds add color and fragrance to vegetable gardens while making excellent cut flowers. Borage (Borago officinalis) also works well, helping keep thrips at bay and drawing beneficial insects such as an aphid parasitoid into protecting tomato fields from damage.
Beans and peas make excellent companions for tomatoes as heavy feeders that replenish soil nutrients, improving air circulation, and decreasing fungal diseases spread by wind or rain. Bush beans and peas work particularly well as space fillers in tomato gardens while pole beans may do just as well.
Carrots make a wonderful companion for tomatoes as they quickly expand, helping aerate the soil for easier absorption of nutrients by tomatoes, while simultaneously drawing parasitic wasps to provide pest control against tomato hornworm and caterpillar problems.
Successful companion planting requires keeping it simple and focusing on achieving your desired results. Cramming too many different plants together may only add more problems; overcrowding may impede one another’s growth or result in lower yield. When using companion plants for specific uses, ensure you follow recommended spacing distances to prevent overcrowding and ensure plants don’t interfere with one another’s growth or reduce yield.
Potatoes
Potatoes require many essential nutrients for growth and can exhaust soil resources quickly, so pairing them with economical companion crops that support soil health is crucial to their success. Companion planting creates a more natural environment which supports soil microorganisms while deterring pests.
Potatoes have deep roots, yet take up minimal space above ground, so they pair perfectly with plants with shallower root systems like beans (Phaseolus vulgaris). Beans – and all legumes – help improve the health of your potato crop by fixing nitrogen into the soil, cutting back on fertilizer costs while protecting local water sources from contamination by preventing runoff of nutrients into local waterways.
Nasturtium (Capsella bursa-pastoria), is another excellent companion plant to grow for your vegetable garden, as its beautiful blooms help keep pests at bay by attracting hoverflies and other beneficial insects which prey upon potato beetles and other pesky insects. If you’re concerned that its potential to attract other pests is outweighing its benefits, try growing it as a trap crop by surrounding your potato plants with fencing or row covers and destroy once its purpose has been served by drawing away potential threats from your garden!
Marigold (Centaurea spp) flowers make excellent companions for potato farms, acting as both an effective barrier against weeds and an effective defense against common pests such as aphids that feast upon them, such as slugs. Furthermore, their secretions deter other soil-dwellers such as snails from devouring your crop! Space them 4-6 inches apart along your rows. Alyssum offers even greater advantages as a ground cover that also serves to keep pests at bay!
Radishes
Radishes are fast-maturing vegetables that can be harvested within just 30 days after planting! Preferring cool temperatures and succession sowing, these quick-growing veggies make the ideal addition to a spring or fall garden, being harvested before peppers or tomatoes begin flowering or produce seeds, providing an ideal option to fill gaps left by slower-growing veggies like peppers or tomatoes that start seeding early.
Radishes make fantastic companion crops for all sorts of other vegetables, such as carrots, lettuce, beets, spinach, kohlrabi, and squash. Radishes particularly excel as companion crops with brassicas (cole crops like broccoli, kale, cauliflower and mustard). Herbs can also make excellent partners; their strong oniony aroma deters pests while simultaneously improving flavor – Chervil is particularly effective at doing this as its strong fragrance repels Japanese beetles, slugs, and other damaging insects from damaging attacks! Other herbs that make great companion crops with radishes include parsley, cilantro and chives – among many other wonderful companion crops!
Cucumbers make an ideal companion vegetable when growing radishes, as their presence helps deter cucumber beetles and squash bugs from attacking radishes, while they both thrive under support such as trellises. When planting them together, try planting both at roughly the same time to ensure even harvests.
Since they grow quickly, radishes can often be harvested ahead of other vegetables. If you’re uncertain if yours are ready, gently brush aside some outer leaves to see if the roots have fully developed down below; if that is the case, they are ready for eating; otherwise you can wait a bit longer and thin them out further as needed.
Beans
Beans are nitrogen-fixing plants that bind nutrients in the soil. As such, they make excellent companion plants for vegetables with heavy feeding requirements or that need an additional source of nitrogen such as tomatoes, carrots and peppers; also good companions are kale, chard, kohlrabi and mustard greens; also great are herbs like oregano (to repel bean beetles), chamomile and nasturtiums which aerate soil, reduce competition from weeds, and enhance flavor – these help aerate soil, reduce competition from weed competition while increasing flavor!
The Three Sisters method of planting corn, beans and squash is an exemplary case of intercropping at work. Corn provides a trellis for beans to climb while providing nutrients to the soil and covering ground weeds with squash choking out pests away from beans. Basil works particularly well to enhance bean flavor while repelling thrips egg-laying armyworms as well as many other pesky insects which plague gardeners.
Bush beans and spring radishes can cohabit in the same bed if properly spaced; however, you should avoid planting bush beans with carrots, radishes or onions due to similar root systems that attract insect pests. Onions, fennel or leeks can compete for nutrients with nearby beans while also secreting substances which restrict their growth.
Pole and lima beans pair well with celery, lettuce and other cool-season crops such as cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower in beds; however, they don’t do as well when grown near the ground such as Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Cabbage and beans may cohabit if planted alternate rows to allow each crop to reach full size before being overtaken by another crop’s growth cycle – this way no plants become overwhelmed and crowd out one another’s blooms.
Lettuce
Lettuce plants thrive when planted alongside companion plants that protect from insects, improve soil conditions and encourage plant development. Aromatic herbs like chives, basil, thyme, rosemary, sage and dill work well when combined with lettuce as their strong scent deters pests that damage it. Marigolds make an excellent companion plant to lettuce, as their flowers mask its pungent odor while drawing pollinators while helping repel aphids from your plot. Onions and garlic make excellent companions for lettuce because their pungent aroma drives away aphids, flea beetles, and other leafy garden pests. Planting herbs like basil is also advantageous, as its roots penetrate further than lettuce’s shallow ones and therefore don’t compete for space or nutrients with each other. Beans, peas and carrots make excellent companions for lettuce as they add additional nitrogen to its crop. In particular, carrots help loosen soil by adding organic matter; making cultivation easier.
Radishes and lettuce thrive together because both species prefer cool, moist soil conditions. These plants make an ideal combination for those with limited garden space as they offer shade to the lettuce while not taking up as much room as other vegetables. Strawberries make an especially good companion plant to enhance flavor as well as provide additional nutrition.
Avoid planting brassica vegetable crops (broccoli, cauliflower and mustard) near lettuce as these releases chemicals that could inhibit germination and stunt its growth. Furthermore, proximity can result in competition for sunlight and nutrients as these plants grow.