Planting Combinations to Use/Avoid – Fruit and Vegetables

• Asparagus – Asparagus takes a long time to propagate and grow to edible size from seeds. You want to make sure you give its development all the advantages it can use.

Planting asparagus with carrots, tomatoes, and parsley can help improve the flavor and increase production.

Avoid planting near onions, garlic and potatoes.

• Beans – Beans grow fast and will continue to produce as long as you harvest them prior to their maturity.

Beans grow well with many veggies and fruit including carrots, celery, corn, eggplant and peas. Like asparagus, beans with onions, garlic and potatoes is not a good idea.

Any allium planted near beans will suffer and will affect both the growth rate and productivity of the bean plant.

• Beets – The beet is one of the few vegetables that benefit from a direct planting with garlic. In addition to garlic, beets also thrive when in the general vicinity of lettuces, onions and kohlrabi.

• BroccoliBroccoli plants require a lot of calcium. Vegetable companion plants that are good for broccoli include beans, cucumbers, garlic, lettuces, onions and potatoes.

Grapes, berries,and mustards of all types introduce chemicals into the soil that broccoli plants just can’t handle.

• Cabbage – Cabbage is almost like the “O Positive” of companion plants as it improves the growth and flavors of many plants.

The only vegetables that cannot tolerate the presence of cabbage include tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, lettuce and pole beans.

Strawberries and grapes also have a negative effect on cabbage growth.

The herb, dill, planted together with cabbage can attract the wasps that prey on cabbage worms.

• Carrots – Carrots and lettuces, onions and tomatoes go perfect together in the garden. Although some species of tomato plants can stunt the growth of the carrots, the flavor will still be good.

• Celery – Celery can be most successful when planted with beans, cabbages, onions, spinach and tomatoes. Unfortunately, the high nitrogen levels required by corn and some potatoes make them a bad companion for celery.

• Chard – Chards are those leafy lettuce-like plants that end up in many a southern cooking dish.

The chard can be planted near beans, cabbages, tomatoes, and onions.

The effect that Chards have on melons and corn though can affect both plants negatively.

• Collard Greens – These vegetables seem to favor others that grow underground. Garlic, Onions, potatoes and radishes will do well with collard greens as neighbors.

Beans, cucumbers, and lettuces also do well.

The collard green plant cannot do too well planted near grapevines.

• Corn – The second in the pairing of the Three Sisters method.

Corn does well with just about any other vegetable with the exception of celery and tomato plants. The nitrogen levels tomato plants demand will starve the corn.

Corn can act as a trellis for more than just beans, so keep that in mind when planning your garden.

• Cucumbers – The spiny vines of most cucumber plants do well with both corn and bean plants.

Potatoes however don’t do well with cucumber plants nearby.

• Eggplant – An eggplant and pepper combination is a win-win for both plants. Beans, peas and spinach also help eggplant growth and taste.

• Garlic – Garlic is nature’s antibiotic and a valuable addition to your garden. Many gardeners use garlic as a border plant to repel aphids and other insects including moths, Japanese beetles, snails and more.

• Grapes – To produce healthy and delicious grapes, the vines need a trellis of some sort to keep the fruit off of the ground. Beans, peas and blackberries all do well near grapes. Mustard plant is also beneficial to grow with grapes to help control nematodes.

Radish and cabbage however should be planted well away from the grapevines.

Leeks – Leeks are a little like onions and while they help improve the growth of carrots, celery and onions, they do not like potatoes of any kind.

• Lettuce – Lettuce grows well in almost any combination of vegetables and fruits with the exception of cabbage. Planting tall flowers like sunflowers or nicotiana can help shade the lettuce from the harsh rays of the sun.

Cabbage will affect both the growth and flavor of lettuces.

• Melons – Melons get along with everyone in the garden. Ideal companions are corn, radish and the different types of squash.

• Okra – Okra serves a multi-function purpose in gardens. It can be used as a shield from high winds for peppers and eggplants.

It grows well with cucumbers, melons and peas.

Okra also repels aphids.

• Onions – Other than peas and asparagus, onions can help the other veggies in the garden in growth and flavor.

They are also planted with strawberries to help fight diseases.

• Peas – Like beans, peas contribute nitrogen to the soil which is a real benefit to corn and tomatoes.

Beans, carrots, celery, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and turnips all enjoy the company of pea plants. Onions and potatoes do not grow well with peas.

For fruit, keep grapes away from peas.

• Peppers – Most species of peppers do well in locations with tomatoes, onions and carrots. One curious combination of peppers and apricot trees can lead to a common fungus that afflicts many pepper plants killing the entire apricot tree.

• Potato – Potatoes appear to be the most picky of all vegetables when it comes to companion planting.

Asparagus, cucumbers, pumpkins, rutabaga, squashes, tomatoes and turnips all have a devastating effect on potato plants.

Corn, peas, onions, celery and carrots are just fine.

Use a border plant to keep the potato bugs away, like garlic or horseradishh.

• Pumpkins – Pumpkins are hardy squashes. They do best companion wise with corn, melons, and other members of the squash family.

• Radishes – Another multi-function veggie! Radishes planted around leafy vegetables draw away insects from those veggies. The insects infest the leaves of the radish plant leaving a healthy bulb safely tucked underground. They keep bugs away from broccoli, spinach and more. Cauliflower and Cabbage plants do not like radishes. Even if you eat them, they make a great addition to the compost pile as a good supply of calcium for your gardens of the future!

• Rhubarb – Rhubarb acts as a deterrent to mites and aphids.

Cabbage, beans and broccoli all benefit from rhubarb in their area.

• Spinach – Spinach plants benefit from the shade that pea and bean plants give. Spinach also grows well with cabbage, cauliflower, celery, eggplant, onions and Hannibal Lecter’s favorite, the fava bean.

Radishes planted amongst spinach plants can help draw away the leafminer insect that can devastate a spinach crop.

• Soybeans – The crop that is planted in the fallow years in corn fields is soybeans. They replace the nitrogen levels that the corn has depleted.

They can also be planted with the corn if you are harvesting manually.

• Squash – There are just as many bugs that love squash as there are people. Other than the potato, most other vegetable plants do just fine with squash.

It is after all the third member of the three sisters grouping.

Cucumbers, melons, onions and pumpkin all provide excellent companion skills for the lowly squash.

Tomatoes – Other than potatoes, kohlrabi, cabbage and cauliflower, the tomato plant is every vegetable’s best friend.

• Turnip – Turnips do not like other root growing vegetables near them. That includes potatoes, radishes and more. Peas replace some of the nitrogen turnips use and make a good companion plant for turnips.