Vegetable companion gardening can have a real impact on the health and yield of your plants.
In nature everything interacts to create a whole life force. This is a basic understanding... that everything organic and living has a mutual influence on every other living thing.
Every plant has an effect on every other plant and every creature has an effect on every other creature.
Over time, gardeners have observed these interrelationships, and scientists have studied them.
It’s well worth while reading a little bit about how and why companion planting is so important before we get into which specific plants go with what. . . .
Plants, unlike many people, are not timid. They are always actively engaged in growing as fast and as strong as they can and re-populating their species. They do all this by sending out root hairs as far into the soil as they can depending on their surroundings.
They select and reject nutrients; they create in their structure and the environment, complex chemical compounds, such as perfumes, pollen, essential oils, growth inhibitors, hormones, enzymes and some minute trace elements.
Different species accumulate certain substances that affect the surrounding ecology, often once the plant has died and the decaying tissue is carried away and re-deposited by insect droppings, or other go-betweens.
The companion effect happens naturally in the wild. Flora and fauna of fields, meadows, forests, swamps and deserts, all evolve for mutual benefit. It may seem like survival of the fittest, but the truth is some species prefer to grow with specific others, balancing out their differences and providing ideal conditions for optimising their unique traits.
Plants don't like to fight for their food, so shallow rooted plants prefer to grow near deep rooted plants and each can get their nutrients from different levels. Some smaller plants like a bit of weather protection from bigger plants. Conversely, dry loving plants sulk if grown alongside plants that thrive with wet feet.
Just like us, life's too short for putting up with bad conditions... so aim for the good life for your plants too!
Home veggie gardeners of course usually like to grow their food on as much available space as they can. They don’t want weeds, pests or ornamentals occupying valuable real estate!
But flowers for example make good companion plants as well as adding beauty. They can attract predators to go after pests and they bring bees to your garden for pollinating your fruit.
Aromatic weeds and herbs help confuse hungry pests that might go after your crops. Their fragrances can distract pests away or mask the odor from the pests’ normal favorite plants.
Intercropping or Interplanting goes hand in hand with companion planting. Read more here: Intercropping
Crop Rotation is also an indispensable ally for gardeners, and is another way of plants benefitting other plants. Read more here: Crop Rotation
The chart below lists the well-known basic veggie warm fuzzies... who loves who, who not, and why. For an excellent forum discussion, including a bit of argy-bargy, have a read of Spacing of plants when plant combining
Vegetable
Good Companions
Bad Companions
Asparagus
Basil, tomato, nasturtium, parsley, basil, dill, coriander, marigold, aster flower
(Parsley and marigolds repel asparagus beetles, solanine in tomatoes protect against asparagus beetles)
Onion, garlic, potato,
Beans
Carrot, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, celery, corn, marigold.
(Corn protects against wind, sun and provides climbing support. Squash has deep roots, beans are shallow and squash smothers weeds and provides a living mulch)
Cucumber, strawberries
(Particularly go well near dwarf beans)
Chives, leek, garlic, onions, tomatoes, peppers
Broad Beans
Brassicas, carrot, celery, corn, lettuce, potato
Fennel
Beets
Broccoli, lettuce, onion, sage
Bean (pole and runner)
Broccoli
Celery, chamomile, mint, dill, rosemary
(Dill attracts beneficial wasps to help control pests including cabbageworms. Rosemary repels cabbage fly)
Oregano, strawberry, tomato
Brussels Sprouts
Potato, thyme, dill
Strawberry, tomato
Cabbage
Beetroot, bush beans, celery, mint, onion, potato, oregano, dill, chamomile, sage
(Aromatic plants like onion, celery and herbs help keep cabbages pest free)
Strawberry, tomato
(Although tomatoes and cabbages usually repel each other, the solanine in a few nearby tomatoes will help deter diamondback moth larva)
Carrot
Bush beans, pole beans, lettuce, onion, garlic etc, parsley, rosemary, pea, radish, tomato
(Onion family plants, parsley and rosemary deter carrot rust fly)
Dill, parsnip
Cauliflower
Peas, beans, celery, oregano
(Peas and beans help fix nitrogen to supply to cauliflowers)
Nasturtium, potato, strawberry, tomato
Celery
Cabbage, cauliflower, leek, onion, spinach, tomato
(Leeks like similar high potash growing conditions as Celery and celeriac)
Parsnip, potato
Chard (Swiss chard, silverbeet)
Cabbage, endive
Corn
Beans, cucumber, melon, peas, pumpkin, potato, radish
(Peas and beans supply nitrogen)
Tomato
(The same worm (tomato worm and corn earworm) likes both plants)
Cucumber
Beans, peas, celery, lettuce, pea, radish, nasturtium, corn
(Nasturtium deters cucumber beetles and harbour beneficial spiders and beetles. Corn protects against bacterial wilt virus)
Cauliflower, potato, basil and any strong aromatic herbs
Eggplant
Beans, capsicum, potato, spinach, peppers
(Beans repel Colorado potato beetle which attacks eggplant)
kohlrabi
Onions, beets, lettuce
(Lettuce repels earth flies)
Strawberries, tomatoes, pole beans
Leek
Carrot, celery, onions, strawberry
(Carrots deter leek moth. Celery and celeriac like similar high potash growing conditions as leeks)
Lettuce
Carrots, radishes, strawberry, cucumber
Beans, beetroot, parsley
Melon
Corn, radish
Potato
Onion
Broccoli, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, strawberry tomato, beets, tomatoes, summer savory
Beans, peas
Pea
Beans, carrot, corn, cucumber, radish, turnips, spinach, mint, potatoes
Onion family
Potato
Horseradish, beans, corn, cabbage, pea, eggplant
(Beans repel Colorado potato beetle. Horseradish protects against potato bugs and stimulates growth)
Cucumber, tomato, Jerusalem artichokes, pumpkin, squash, sunflower, raspberries
(Cucumbers, tomatoes and raspberries attract potato phytophthora blight)
Pumpkin
Corn, beans, peas, radish
Potato
Radish
Lettuce
(Repels earth flies)
Spinach
Strawberry, celery, cauliflower, eggplant, radish
(Leafminers prefer radish leaves rather than spinach)
Tomato
Asparagus, celery, NZ spinach, carrot, parsley, basil, marigold, garlic
(Garlic protects against red spiders)
Corn, potato, kohlrabi, fennel, cabbage and other brassicas
Turnip
Peas
Zucchini
Nasturtium, flowering herbs
(Flowers attract bees for pollination)
