Companion Planting Guide: Sow Easy
Companion planting is a great way to maximize the efficiency of your garden. For almost every vegetable you grow, there is likely to be a beneficial companion plant that will help increase soil nutrients, chase away pests, and help you get the most out of your garden. Here are the 10 most popular vegetables grown in the United States and their friends (and foes) in the garden.
Companion Planting For These Top 10 Veggies
1. Tomatoes
Friends: Basil and tomatoes were made to go together, not only in sauces but in the garden, too. This herb helps tomatoes produce greater yields and it repels both flies and mosquitoes. Marigolds are another good companion, repelling nematodes and other garden pests. Other friends to tomatoes include asparagus, carrots, celery, the onion family, lettuce, parsley, and spinach.
Foes: Cabbage, beets, peas, fennel, dill, and rosemary. Corn and tomatoes both suffer from the corn earworm, and tomatoes and potatoes are affected by the same blight, so keep these plants separate to prevent the spread of pests or disease.
2. Peppers
Friends: Basil is a good friend to peppers, helping repel aphids, spider mites, mosquitoes, and flies. It’s also thought that basil improves the pepper’s flavor. Other good companions include onions, spinach, and tomatoes.
Foes: Beans so the vines don’t spread among the pepper plants.
3. Green Beans
Friends: Corn and beans grow well together because beans will grow up the cornstalks, which means you won’t have to build them a trellis. Beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, which is good for the corn. Marigolds, nasturtiums, rosemary, and summer savory repel bean beetles, and summer savory improves growth rate and flavor. Other companions include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and other members of the cabbage family along with cucumbers, peas, potatoes, and radishes.
Foes: Beets or anything from the onion family. Onions, in particular, impede the growth of bean plants.
4. Cucumbers
Friends: Plant marigolds and nasturtiums among your cucumbers to repel aphids and beetles,. Beans, celery, corn, lettuce, dill, peas, and radishes are also good companion plants.
Foes: Aromatic herbs such as sage which will stunt the growth of cucumbers.
5. Onions
Friends: Carrots should be planted near onions because onions will repel the carrot fly. Onions will also chase away the aphids, so plant them near aphid-prone (but onion-friendly) veggies. Other good friends of onions include beets, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, parsnips (which also suffer from carrot fly), tomatoes, and spices like marjoram, savory, and rosemary.
Foes: Asparagus, beans, and peas.
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https://www.farmersalmanac.com/companion-planting-guide
Dill is supposed to be a good companion for cruciferous plants. I had trouble with asparagus beetles last year so have planted some dill among them. My herb garden is near the asparagus bed.
The asparagus is not showing yet.
I had some two year old onion seed I had saved from Stuttgarter onions I had planted and figured, what the heck, and sowed them and got more onions than I know what to do with. I was impressed at how many were viable.
Planted purple basil at the foot of my Tomato Plants. Just love the purple basil...such a rich taste.