![]() ![]() Plants work in synergy for a number of reasons. Once I have a list of plant combinations that are likely to fail, I look for the opposite: plants that thrive side by side. Potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant The striped Colorado Potato Beetle is a nightshade nightmare and will feed on any plant related to potatoes, such as tomatoes, peppers or eggplant.Ĭucumbers, squash and melons Pickleworms prefer cucumbers, but will happily munch their way through a nice squash or melon. Keep some distance between the corn and tomato patches. Take care to avoid the following combinations:Ĭorn and tomatoes Call it a corn earworm, call it a tomato fruitworm - it’s the same beast in either case and likes both crops equally. Pairing them up offers predatory insects a one-stop smorgasbord. Some insect pests have a taste for several different kinds of plants. ![]() A cabbage planted among broccoli will attract cabbage moths as though it was among other cabbages. Close cousins carrots and parsnips don’t get along neither do potatoes and tomatoes. They may be afflicted by the same pests or compete for the same nutrients. Sometimes, plants within families don’t grow well together. For example, members of the cabbage and onion families don’t get along with members of the tomato and pea families. You can avoid many problems by keeping a few entire plant families away from each other. Antagonists should have at least six feet between them in a bed. Thus, it is particularly important to avoid antagonistic relationships - those in which the growth of either or both plants is inhibited. In beds, on the other hand, plants may be only inches apart, so roots can spread and intermingle. In a traditional garden, the root systems of plants in adjacent rows are kept apart by a wide band of compacted soil that roots cannot penetrate. This is especially important if you plant in beds rather than in rows. The first step, then, in planning a companion garden is to eliminate the combinations that don’t work. It’s important to remember, however, that while certain plants will help others thrive, some plants inhibit their neighbor’s growth. Eliminate the NegativeĬompanion planting begins with the liberating notion that we can sow different plants in the same garden space. But I can show you how we started while sharing some of things we learned along the way. I can’t take you on the whole companion journey, because we’re still en route ourselves. In fact, every year’s garden is an experiment. My wife Sylvia and I have spent years trying different combinations, and our garden now looks quite a bit different from the garden we had in our first companion planting years. I have found, however, that there’s a lot more to companion planting than simply pairing up plants that benefit from one another’s company. The idea appealed to me in a general way because it’s closer to the way things happen in nature, where you won’t find big blocks o f just only one kind of plant.Ĭompanion planting is based on the observation that some plant seem to have synergistic relationships with certain other plants One or both of them grow better, yield more, and sometimes even taste better when they grow near one another. ![]() It now seemed reasonable to consider mixing different plants and I found myself revisiting the notion of companion planting. Then I started planting in beds, where the growing area is two and-a-half to three feet wide.
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