Companion planting has intrigued and fascinated gardeners for centuries. Companion planting consists of planting together plants that assist each other to grow well and to repel insects. On the other hand certain plants will diminish each other's ability to grow by either root secretions or odors. This is the first of a three part series on the ABC's of companion planting.
ASPARAGUS - Asparagus and parsley planted together gives added vigor. It also likes basil and tomatoes. Plant tomatoes along the asparagus rows to repel asparagus beetles.
BEANS - Bush beans planted with potatoes protect them from the Colorado potato beetle. The potatoes benefit by being protected from the Mexican bean beetle. Plant in alternating rows for the best effect. Bush beans also like cucumbers, strawberries, and corn. Dislikes fennel. Pole beans do well with summer savory, radish, and com. Pole beans dislike beets, kohlrabi, and sunflower. All beans dislike onions.
BROCCOLI; BRUSSELS SPROUTS; CAULIFLOWER; COLLARDS; KALE; KOHLRABI - Does well with dill, celery, sage, peppermint, rosemary, potatoes, beets, and onions. Does not like tomatoes, pole beans, or strawberries.
CARROT - Onions, leeks, rosemary, and sage act as a repellent to carrot fly. Carrots like leaf lettuce and tomatoes but do not like dill.
CORN - Sweet corn likes potatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkin and squash. Plant pole beans around the base of the corn when it's knee high and it will help anchor the corn during winds and add nitrogen to the soil which the corn will appreciate. The melons, squash and cucumbers like the shade provided by the corn and they in return protect the corn from animals which do not like to travel through the vines. Corn does not like tomatoes.
CUCUMBER - Likes beans, peas, radishes, and sunflowers. If you plant radishes with the cucumbers and let them go to seed it will protect the cucumbers form the cucumber beetle. Cucumbers dislike potatoes and aromatic herbs.
GARLIC - Garlic grown around fruit trees is good against borers. Planted around roses and tomatoes will protect them from red spider mites. All alliums inhibit the growth of legumes.
LETTUCE - Lettuce likes onions, strawberries, cucumbers, carrots and radishes.
MELONS - Practice of crop rotation is your best bet to beat pests, but do not rotate melons, squash, and cucumbers with each other. Melons do not like potatoes. They grow well with corn and sunflowers. If you want to ripen your melons faster, take a coffee can and spray paint it black and set the melon on top of it. The black can will absorb heat and ripen the melon. This also works well for pumpkins.
ONIONS - Onions like the cabbage family, strawberries, beets, lettuce, and tomatoes. They do not like the legume family.
PEAS - Peas like radishes, cucumbers, corn (grow it up the stalk), beans, potatoes, turnips, carrots and herbs. They do not like beans. Remember to plow your pea and bean vines into the ground to return nitrogen and humus to the soil.
PEPPERS, SWEET - Basil and sweet peppers love each other. Also grows well with okra.
POTATO - Potatoes like corn, cabbage, beans, horseradish, marigold and eggplant. They do not like pumpkin, raspberry, squash, cucumbers, tomato and sunflowers. They also do well following a rye crop.
PUMPKIN - Grows well with corn and datura weed but do not like potatoes.
TOMATO - Tomatoes and the brassica family, corn, and potatoes do not like each other. Tomatoes do like alliums, carrot, marigold, parsley, and garlic. Unlike most vegetables, tomatoes like growing in the same spot each year which is okay unless there is a disease problem in the soils in which they should be planted in a new area.