Companion planting vegetables is process to plant a vegetable with other vegetables or other plants such as herbs and flowers to make a healthy and beautiful garden. Experts said the companion planting vegetables with herbs, flowers or other vegetables have mutual benefits and extra power for helping each other to grow.
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| Flowers and Vegetables Companion Planting |
Benefits of Companion Planting Vegetables with Other Plants
1. Companion planting vegetables will use vegetable garden space efficiently. For example you can plant 2 plants in one patch such as vining plants will cover the ground while upright plants grow up.
2. Companion planting vegetables will help each other to grow. For example, tall plants will provide shade for sun-sensitive shorter vegetable or other plants.
3. Companion planting vegetables will attract beneficial insects. You can use this beneficial insects as predators of pests.
4. Companion planting vegetables will prevent pest problems. For example, onion plants can repel some pests while other plants can lure pests away from more desirable plants.
Winning Companion Planting Vegetables with Other Plants
Below, you can find example of companion planting vegetables with other plants that give mutual benefits as described above:
1. Companion Planting Tomatoes and Cabbage
Tomatoes can repel cabbage pests such as diamondback moth larvae, caterpillars that eat cabbage leaves.
2. Companion Planting Chives and Roses
Garlic chives can repel rose pests and their small white or purple flowers in late spring looks great with rose flowers and foliage.
3. Companion Planting Cabbage and Dill
The cabbages will support the floppy dill while the dill will help cabbage plants such as Brussel and broccoli. The dill will attracts the beneficial wasps to control cabbageworms and other cabbage pests.
4. Companion Planting Cucumbers and Nasturtiums
The nasturtium's vining stems make a great companion rambling among your growing cucumbers and / or squash plants. Nasturtiums can repel cucumber beetles and as habitat for insects predator such as ground beetles and spiders.
5. Companion Planting Peppers and Pigweed or Ragweed
Leafminers will prefer the pigweeds or ragweed than pepper plants. But keep in mind to remove the weeds' flowers before they set seed or you will have trouble in controlling the weeds.
6. Companion Planting Lettuce and Tall flowers
Tall flowers such as cleome (spider flower) and nicotiana (flowering tobacco) will provide lettuce the light shade that lettuce grows best in.
7. Companion Planting Cauliflower and Dwarf Zinnias
Dwarf zinnias can help protect cauliflower. The nectar from the dwarf zinnias can lures ladybugs and other predators.
8. Companion Planting Corn and Beans
Bean vines can climb up the corn stalks while the beans can attract beneficial insects that prey on corn pests such as leafhoppers, leaf beetles and fall armyworms.
9. Companion Planting Radishes and Spinach
Companion planting radishes among your spinach will keep leafminers away from the spinach. The damage on radish leaves caused by the leafminers will not disturb the radishes from growing nicely underground.
10. Companion Planting Potatoes and Sweet Alyssum
Planting sweet alyssum alongside bushy crops such as potatoes or just letting it spread to form a living ground cover under arching plants such as broccoli. The flowers of sweet alyssum can attract delicate beneficial insects such as predatory wasps. And as bonus, the fragrance of this plant will scent your garden all summer.
photo credit: en.wikipedia.org