Companion Planting 2.0 – Part 2

Vegetables That Are Companions

The mere mention of the term “Companion Planting” will make some agricultural nostrils flare with disdain, as they view it as pure hype, and some suggested companions out there may very well be. However, you may have to backtrack a little if you poo poo its effectiveness as an increasingly number of studies conducted by reputable institutions bear out the viability of companion planting.

            This article and related video is Part 2 of a series which covers the vegetables that have a beneficial relationship in being planted together.

Spacing For The Friends and Foes

In ground planting, obviously, is different than container planting.  The general spacing rule for in ground:  plant the “friends” very closely (often referred to as intercropping or inter-planting,) or within 2-3 rows of each other. In container planting, you’re talking about plants residing:  in the same container, or in their own containers that sit in close proximity to one another.

Plants that are known to have a detrimental relationship should be planted three or more rows apart for in ground planting. For container planting there are only a few to be concerned with and I will address those “foes” first.

Bad Neighbors – Do Not Plant Side-By-Side

Many of the old “don’t do” combinations just don’t apply in container planting simply because they are not sharing the same soil.  For example, you wouldn’t want to plant tomatoes in the traditional in-ground or raised bed garden next to an established mature perennial dill plant. While young dill does enhance the growth and flavor of tomatoes, mature dill inhibits their growth and fruit development, but in container planting, you could have dill in its own container right next to a container of tomatoes.

The few exceptions I’ve found so far for “foe” container neighbors:

 Tomatoes near Potatoes

  It is not a good idea to place these next to each other because tomatoes near potatoes can make the potatoes more susceptible to potato blight.

Cucumbers near Potatoes

This is true especially for the late-growing variety of potatoes.  This isn’t so much for the benefit of the cucumbers, but rather for the potatoes.  Cucumbers encourage potato blight to form in late potatoes, which can endanger your entire crop.

Cucumbers near Melons

It’s long been held among backyard gardeners that you shouldn’t plant cucumbers, melons, and pumpkins together, because they’ll cross-pollinate and affect the flavor in the harvested fruit.  While it may seem logical, this isn’t true for one simple reason: cucumbers and other melons are different sub-species and they can’t cross-breed.

That being said, it’s still not a wise idea to plant cucumbers near other gourds, especially in a small garden.  Reason being…all of these plants have similar insect enemies, and combining two or more varieties in a small space will create a virtual veggie banquet for the local insect pests. The effect on your cucumbers will be a more difficult season trying to get them to mature without damage.  I speak from experience on this one!

Friendly Neighbors – Do Plant Side-By-Side

As I mentioned earlier, except for the few I just mentioned, in container planting you can really plant anything next to each other because they are not sharing the same growing medium.  Having said that, there are five that I’ve found that are particularly beneficial to plant as neighbors to one another. 

Celery – (known for repelling white cabbage moths) 

Plant celery near: cabbage, bush beans, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, and leeks. 

Beans near Potatoes

Beans repel the Colorado potato beetle and potatoes repel the Mexican bean beetle. 

Eggplant near Potatoes

Eggplant can serve as a trap crop for the Colorado potato beetle. 

 Bulbing Onions – The sulfer compounds in onions keep multiple bugs away by producing an odor that garden pests do not like. Onions repel a plethora of pests such as ants, aphids, flea beetles, carrot flies, and mosquitos.

Plant these in their own containers next to any garden vegetable. For example: planting a container of onions next to a container of lettuce will keep the aphids off of your salad greens.

 (In ground planting, do not plant near peas, beans, or asparagus.) 

Garlic Bulbs – Like onions, the sulfer compounds repel many pests such as the cabbage looper, white flies, carrot rust fly, root maggots, and the peach tree borer.

Again, you can plant these in their own containers next to any garden vegetable.

(In ground planting, do not plant near peas or beans.)

Cozy Neighbors:  Vegetables That Can be Planted in the Same Container

            When thinking about planting more than one plant in a container, it is paramount to consider how fast they mature, the depth of the roots, and the nutritional pull from the potting mix.

            Generally speaking, the smaller, fast maturing vegetables can be inter-planted with larger, slower maturing ones. So, here is my suggested list of four vegetables: 

1.Radishes – (These little, crunchy guys guard against pests such as carrot rust flies and cucumber beetles.) In planting them with larger vegetables, you would want to just seed 4 or 5 toward the front of the container and leave them to mature.

Plant radishes with: beets, broccoli, cucumbers, melons, peas, pole beans, spinach, tomatoes and carrots.

Notes:

•  When inter-planting radishes with carrots, you will harvest the fast maturing radishes long before the carrots need the space to get fatter.  Additionally, the shallow radishes help to keep the potting mix loose and fluffy.
• Definitely use fill method #2 for the containers in which you intend to plant radishes.  My RGGS playlist on youtube has a video demonstrating the two methods of filling.  Additionally, my blog describes the process in detail in the article titled, Basic Guidelines for RGGS/ KPGS.

2. Greens – Most greens are a cool season crop, but you can plant a few with the summer growing tomato family (i.e. tomatoes, peppers, eggplant.) The shallow-rooted, fast maturing greens act like a mulch and will be harvested before the slower maturing vegetables get large enough to shade them. Two caveats here…

• Tomatoes, especially, need to be completely mulched when transplanting into their final homes. They are extremely susceptible to soil borne fungi which can be easily transmitted to the plant if the leaves touch the soil and if splash up of soil onto the leaves and stem occurs during rain or improper watering.   If you decide to inter-plant anything with the tomato family group, add a mulch (I prefer EZ Straw with Tack,) then use transplants for the companions, not seeds as they will not grow on top of mulch.
• If you follow a spray regime for bugs using pure neem, you shouldn’t plant greens you intend to eat as a living mulch without protecting them from the spray.  It is not harmful to ingest this horticultural oil, but it has a very bitter taste and is next to impossible to wash off the taste.

            This same concept works for any type of fast maturing greens such as:

Spinach, Lettuce, Mesclun, and Arugula.

            Greens can additionally be inter-planted with cole crops such as:

Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts.

            Again, the greens will mature and be harvested before the others crowd them out and shade them.

3. Green Onions and Chives – The benefit of alliums has been discussed above when planting as neighbors. 

      Again, you need to use transplants and not seeds for this.  If you are on the ball many weeks in advance and seed start these, you’ll be ready to go when the timing is right to transplant out into their permanent homes.  I cannot say that I am always in that “on the ball” category with onions and chives every year. So, many springs I buy onion sets and chive transplants.  Onion sets have already gone through one year’s growth stage.  They are not very good to leave and expect a bulbing onion because onions are biennial, meaning that second year when left to mature, they cross over to survival mode forming seed pods on the green tips before the buried end forms a big bulb.  Therefore, these sets are truly only best planted and harvested as green onions. 

            The beauty of using sets (either seed started or bought,) is that most can be harvested in 3-4 weeks. If you just want the greens, just snip them off and they will grow more.  If you want the bulb too, just pluck it up and plant another set in its place. (Store extra sets in a heavy paper bag in the refrigerator for this purpose.) Chives can get pretty big, especially if not harvested frequently, so only include a small transplant in the front of the container.  Definitely harvest before flowering; it doesn’t taste good at this point.

            Plant green onions and chives with:

Beets, Cabbage, Carrots, Parsnips, Leeks, Kale, Tomatoes (chives are said to improve the flavor,) Strawberries, Kolrabi, Eggplant (protects against ants,) and Squash (deters squash borers.) Additionally, chives planted with carrots and tomatoes is said to improve the flavor, and…planted with cucumbers may help prevent powdery mildew.

            Do NOT inter-plant any alliums with:

Beans, Peas, Lettuce, Asparagus 

4. Garlic Chives – Like onions, onion chives, and garlic bulbs, garlic chives are smelly plants. Aphids steer clear of these stinky specimens.  Garlic chives additionally deter Japanese beetles and cabbage moths.

            Plant garlic chives with:

 Tomato, Eggplant, and Cole Crops.

Do NOT inter-plant garlic chives with:

Beans, Peas, and other Legumes

Confusing the Enemy

Companion planting does not necessarily imply a mixed-up mess of a garden.  In addition, it does not mean that inter-planting any crops will work in you favor either. There is a science to all of this, which can lead to a very intricate dance for the gardener.    

One of the true beauties of companion planting is confusing the enemy, the garden pests.  An additional way to do this is to step away from traditional planting where all of a certain type of vegetable is planted in a row. 

            Even container planting, often times, mimics the traditions “all in a row” planting pattern.  Since most of my containers are sitting on gutters (the self-watering reservoir,) they ARE actually all in long rows, but there are still ways to create distraction and confusion for those bad bugs. It’s really very simple. Mix them up! 

For example, instead of nine five gallon buckets of peppers, put five buckets of peppers alternating with four buckets of bush beans. On a gutter with trellising, alternate containers of cucumbers and pole beans, or muskmelons and climbing legumes like black-eyed peas. Planting a bucket of a particular herb or flower at the ends of the row can act as a trap crop for pesky insects that go for certain vegetables. Conversely, planting a particular herb or flower that draws beneficial insects that feed on those specific pests is very beneficial. As the number of pests increases, you want the number of pest predators to do the same.

            It takes a bit of planning making sure you aren’t creating neighbors that don’t serve each other well, but it’s all in studying and mapping it out.  In fact, I will be showing you my four garden bed layouts (what I plant, where, and why,) on my blog along with an accompanying video as a Part 5 wrap-up to this Companion Planting Series.

            In closing, purists will always demand scientific proof, but the lack of study doesn’t prove anything.

            My advice…experiment in your garden and trust your own observations and experiences. Most importantly, record them in a gardening journal preserving them not only for yourself, but for future gardeners.

“There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.”

Janet Kilburn Phillips