Companion Planting CheatSheet

Tomatoes

:

• Borage improves tomato plant health and can improve the taste, also repels the tomato hornworm.
• grow with carrots
• grow with petunias
• grow with basil which repels spider mites, aphids, and whiteflies; attracts bees and other pollinators
• Beans, celery, cucumbers, lettuces, mint, garlic, chives, parsley, bee balm, oregano, sage all get along with tomatoes
• Avoid planting near cole crops or corn ( use beans and pumpkins with corn instead)
• black walnut trees inhibit growth
• Do Not grow with fennel (which generally suppresses growth of companions) or dill
• Nasturtiums are a catch crop… they shout ” Choose me, choose me!” to the aphids which want to suck the juices from your tomato plants; and are pretty
• Marigolds are the classic companion. They repel bad insects and interfere with bad nematodes. French marigolds (varieties include ‘Nemagold,’ ‘Petite Blanc,’ ‘Queen Sophia,’ and ‘Tangerine’) are most effective*

Other Veggies

:

• use collards to draw the diamond back moth away from cabbage
• Legumes, AKA peas, beans, and clover, have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen for their own use and for the benefit of neighboring plants
• Cabbage good with celery, dill, onions and potatoes; not good with strawberries, tomatoes and pole beans

Ornamentals

• White geraniums reputed to ward off Japanese beetles from roses
• Four-o-clocks magnetically draw Japanese beetles, then they eat the foliage and die. This plant also poisonous to humans- don’t eat it
• Marigolds for ridding damaging nematodes from the soil
• Nasturtiums as aphid catch crop (also called “trap cropping”)
• Basil can be helpful in repelling thrips, said to repel flies and mosquitoes, also. Don’t plant near rue.
• Clover good around apple trees, under grapevines
• Hyssopus officinalis stimulates growth of grapes
• Calendula repels tomato hornwoms and asparagus beetles and attracts caterpillars, leafhoppers, aphids, whiteflies. So it can be used to repel certain pest from tomatoes and used as a “catch crop” for other plant’s pests. It is bright and pretty in the garden

Roses

Bury used tea bags under mulch around the base of the roses to make soil more acidic. Coffee grounds will give a steady dose of nutrients.

Rotten bananas, using the entire thing, dug into the soil around the base of the roses provides potassium to boost your blooms.

Underplant with white geraniums (pelargoniums) to deter Japanese beetles.

Remember to make use of “The Good Bugs“.

*footnotes:nematode guidelines
companion plant wiki