Companion Planting Chart For Popular Vegetables
Did you know that some vegetable plants grow well with others, while not so good with other companions? Here are some examples of companion planting…
Burpee says, “It’s helpful to think of building good plant communities when planning your garden. This is the most important concept behind companion planting. Time-tested garden wisdom holds that certain plants grown close together become helpmates.”
– Some vegetable garden plants should NOT be planted next to each other.
– Other vegetables LOVE to grow next to each other…
Certain plants, when grown together, improve each other’s health and yields.
For instance, some plants attract beneficial insects that help to protect a companion, while other plants (particularly herbs) act as repellents.
Additionally, plants that require a lot of the same nutrients as their neighbors may struggle to get enough for themselves, producing lackluster crops.
– Farmers Almanac
There are numerous benefits to companion planting. Plants can attract beneficial insects and pollinators, deter pests, and act as insect repellents. Plants also play a role in soil fertility by improving the nutrient supply, availability, and uptake from the soil.
Tip: Flowers, especially Marigolds are as good as gold when grown with just about any garden plant. They will naturally control pests and attract beneficial pollinator insects, which will increase the fruit-set.
Tip: Separate foes and friends on opposite sides of the garden, or at least 4 feet away.
Companion Planting Chart
| CROP NAME | FRIENDS | FOES |
|---|---|---|
| BEANS | Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Cauliflower Celery Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Peas Potatoes Radishes Squash Strawberries Summer savory Tomatoes | Garlic Onions Peppers Sunflowers |
| CABBAGE | Beans Celery Cucumbers Dill Kale Lettuce Onions Potatoes Sage Spinach Thyme | Broccoli Cauliflower Strawberries Tomatoes |
| CARROTS | Beans Lettuce Onions Peas Radishes Rosemary Sage Tomatoes | Anise Dill Parsley |
| CORN | Beans Cucumbers Lettuce Melons Peas Potatoes Squash Sunflowers | Tomatoes |
| CUCUMBERS | Beans Cabbage Cauliflower Corn Lettuce Peas Radishes Sunflowers | Aromatic herbs Melons Potatoes |
| LETTUCE | Asparagus Beets Brussels sprouts Cabbage Carrots Corn Cucumbers Eggplant Onions Peas Potatoes Radishes Spinach Strawberries Sunflowers Tomatoes | Broccoli |
| ONIONS | Beets Broccoli Cabbage Carrots Lettuce Peppers Potatoes Spinach Tomatoes | Beans Peas Sage |
| PEPPERS | Basil Coriander Onions Spinach Tomatoes | Beans Kohlrabi |
| RADISHES | Basil Coriander Onions Spinach Tomatoes | Kohlrabi |
| TOMATOES | Asparagus Basil Beans Borage Carrots Celery Dill Lettuce Melons Onions Parsley Peppers Radishes Spinach Thyme | Broccoli Brussels sprouts Cabbage Cauliflower Corn Kale Potatoes |
Chart source: Farmers Almanac
The Most Popular Companion Planting Guide:
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Gardening
(view on amzn)
Here’s another companion planting guide – from Farmers Almanac:
Here’s another companion planting chart. This one is quite comprehensive. It’s set up for easy cross-referencing one plant with others. You’ll see…
It wouldn’t look right if I tried to post a picture of the chart (it would be too squished). So instead I’ll provide a PDF download link:
[ Read: Beneficial Companion Plants for Tomatoes ]
What has been your own companion planting experience?
Any other suggestions or tips?
Great charts, Ken! Many of these I practice every year, and have seen the benefits. Sometimes the effects aren’t easily observable, because they happen beneath the soil, or prevent a problem, so, “nothing to see here”, lol. Last year I tried using radishes as a trap crop for flea beetles. Worked amazingly well, and we still got radishes to boot. When growing food counts as much as it does now, it’s good to use every tool possible to maximize yield and success. Thanks for sharing this.
Nasturtiums growing around the garden and intermingled with the garden plantings are another one, keeps aphids off the other crops as it attracts them all to the vines, helps cover the soil too either to help keep it cool or to prevent runoff from heavy rains.
Ive companion planted many different crops for years, generally interplanting stuff like marigolds with other crops or mixing up slow growing with fast growing like corn and lettuce or lettuce and radishes or vining with tall growing like corn and squash or beans. Some times its not so much about interplanting as it is about proximity, like i usually keep my borders planted in stuff that attracts beneficials.
Right now my garden is a mess, i lost the cover on my greenhouse and that sent everything into a downward spiral, was a terrible garden year last year but good for helping some of the perennials get more established, have had comfrey, mamake ( a bushy Hawaiian medicinal plant, for tea) coleus, hawthorn, Hawaiian chilipepper plants( they grow into huge bushes and produce for years) and lemongrass along with elderberry.
Need to get in there and cut all the weeds down and spread mulch so i can get planting again, replaced the film on the greenhouse a few months ago so am back in business if i can get myold butt moving. Saw elderflowers starting to smile at me over the top of the fence so know i need to get moving.
great info Ken, thanks.
i tried planting hot peppers in with my tomatoes one year hoping they would cross pollinate and make some hot tomatoes,
but it didn’t work out. : ). good luck everyone and have fun with it.
Bugs do not care for marigolds. I put them between the tomatoes. Helps some. They say the French Marigold is best. A search will be helpful.
Slugs love to eat your marigolds they will eat a whole plant within a few days
CactusLadySouth
That is why you set out a small plate or saucer with a light coating of beer. Does not matter what kind just enough beer to entice the slugs to their finally party.
In case you were not aware of this knowledge.
Bummer! I knew about this and didn’t look it up before planting. I moved stuff around quite a bit this year. In two areas I planted beans and peppers together. Does anyone know the adverse effects with these together?
Papa J
You get peppers shaped like bean pods with huge seeds and beans that are hot as a jalapeno! 🤪
I’m glad to see someone else has an obnoxious sense of humor like me. 😂🤪😂
My understanding: the beans and peppers mature at about the same time and in the same way, possibly overstraining the available nutrients. Beans will put nitrogen into the soil, which in excess may prevent the peppers from producing as heavily (more green than fruit).
My guess is that nothing will happen unless your soil is exceptionally nutrient deficient. Let us know what happens.
I do know the problem with garlic and beans from my own experience. Garlic puts out sulfur through its roots. Beans take up the sulfur in excess, resulting in sulfur toxicity and death. Onions do the same, to a smaller extent, and for some reason beans are oddly susceptible to sulfur.
Lauren,
Yep, beans and onions do not play well together. On the other hand, cabbage seems to love being planted in the spaces previously occupied by alliums. At least that’s been my experience.
Yes, cabbage is a heavy sulfur feeder.
Thanks Lauren and the following posts. Been gradually increasing my gardening for the past 8 years or so. So much to learn and adapt to. It makes it extra difficult because of so many posts here and other places that are in different climate zones. I’m in Kalifornika and be probably have better growing seasons than most and still just keep on learning.
I will post my experiences with this in a couple months.
Thanks to you all
Papa J
Corn, squash, and beans are referred to as the three sisters by the Indian tribes. I’ve had good crops of corn plus pumpkins, but I think my timing for planting the beans was off, since they didn’t do well. I may try this again after I let my soil rest and rebuild it where I usually raise corn. Companion planting does make sense. Some of it becomes second nature after awhile. It’s all part of the great experiment of gardening!
QUESTION…does this advice hold true if you are strictly container gardening? I don’t have good soil or enough space to sow directly into the ground.
Yes and no. Sometimes its root issues that cause incompatibility and sometimes its proximity issues, some stuff will be fine if its close but not in same container, other stuff doesnt even like being within a few feet of others, got to just try stuff out to see really.
makes sense…Thank you.