Rotation of Crops Prevents Depleted Soil
Plant Combinations - Combative or Supportive? Read more below
Companion Plants
CAUTION: DO NOT USE SUNFLOWERS AS ORGANIC MATTER. THROW AWAY!
Marigolds and Vegetables
Marigolds ward off aphids, whiteflies, nematodes and squash bugs, among other pests, making it beneficial to most vegetable plants. Marigolds give off a secretion most pests abhor. Marigolds have a detrimental effect on beans and peas. Pole beans, bush beans, peas and cabbage plants should be planted far away from the marigolds.. Plant marigolds at the corners of your garden beds or along the garden borders. Not only do they provide pest control, they also attract beneficial insects such as lacewings and parasitic wasps.
Corn, Beans and Squash
The Native Americans call the trio of corn, bean and squash plants the Three Sisters. Beans fix nitrogen in soil and corn requires alot of nitrogen to grow. The corn also provides the bean with support, as the beans use the corn stalk as a trellis. The squash, with its large, fan-like leaves, keeps the soil cool and moist, protecting the delicate root systems from the summer’s heat.
Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic
Tomato, basil and garlic together make a satisfying pasta sauce. Grow them together in your garden as well. Garlic repels aphids, beetles, snails and a host of other pests. Plant the bulbs close to the stem of the tomato. Plant the basil a bit further away, as it requires space to grow outward as well as upward. The basil plant repels spider mites and aphids.
Companion Vegetables
Beans are companions with carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, spinach and beets. Carrots do well and encourage the growth of onions, lettuce, radishes and peas, but they don’t care for dill. Corn will grow taller and produce larger ears if you grow it along with beans, melons, peas, cucumbers and all types of squash. Don’t grow corn near celery and tomatoes. Eggplant favors spinach and beans as its neighbors, but doesn’t care for fennel. Tomatoes thrive when you grow them near basil and mint, asparagus, beans, cucumbers, asparagus, onions and lettuce. Avoid planting tomatoes near corn, dill cabbage and potatoes. Turnips and peas are compatible plants, but plant your turnips far from your mustard.
PLANTS THAT DO NOT GROW WELL TOGETHER
CAUTION: DO NOT USE SUNFLOWERS AS ORGANIC MATTER. THROW AWAY!
Sunflowers do not mix with beans and potatoes. Beans and potatoes are especially susceptible to this chemical and cannot be planted near sunflowers. Do not till the sunflower remains back into a vegetable garden either, as the chemicals will remain in the soil for some time.
Potatoes and tomatoes are both in the Solanaceae family, but these vegetables do not grow well together. Do not plant these two crops next to one another because the presence of the tomato plant lowers the potato plant's individual resistance to Phytophthora infestants, commonly known as blight. This disease affects both tomato and potato plants. Once a plant is infected, blight spreads quickly from one plant to another, and even to other gardens close by. It can wipe out entire fields, and was the cause of the Irish potato famine in 1845. Potatoes grown near tomatoes often slow the growth of the tomato plant. When using crop rotation techniques, next season, do not plant tomatoes or potatoes where the other one was the previous season.
Keep onions out of the pea and bean patch. Onions and their close relative, shallots, stunt the growth of all types of beans and peas. If you have a small garden and wish to grow all three plants, try planting a row of beans, then a row of cabbage. Follow that with a row of onions, a row of lettuce, a row of radish then a row of peas. This way the plants are not side-by-side, and a plant that benefits both plants is growing in between them.
Cabbage and cauliflower are not enemies. The reason these vegetables don’t grow well together is that they are both affected by Plasmodiophora brassicae, commonly known as club root. This fungus causes the roots to swell up. Once this happens, the roots are no longer able to take up water. The leaves will wilt and turn yellow. The only way to deal with this is to remove the plants--roots and all. Other vegetables that don’t grow well together with cabbage and cauliflower include radish and tomato.
4 Major Plant Families
Plants within the same family grow well together.
Vegetables in Solanaceae Family (Nightshades)
Eggplant
Peppers (bell and chili))
Pimento
Tomatoes
White potatoes
Vegetables in Brassica Family (cruciferous)
Broccoli
Bok Choy
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Collards
Kale
Mustard Greens
Radishes
Turnips
Legumes
Beans
Peas and southern peas
Peanuts