Flower - Vegetable Companion Gardening - South Haven Garden Club, Michigan

South Haven Garden Club

Nancy DaughertyFebruary 9, 2009

Flower/Vegetable Companion Gardening

Companion gardening is a concept where you plant specific plants close to each other in order to achieve a desired effect - such as

better yields, bigger flowers, or repelling insects. People are discovering more

combinations all the time. Why certain plants are compatible and others are not isn't well

understood.

Roses and Chives

Gardeners have been planting garlic with roses for eons, because garlic is said to repel rose pests. Garlic chives probably are just as repellent, and their small purple or white flowers in late spring look great with rose flowers and foliage.

Intercropping

Companion planting, or intercropping, allows us to take advantage of certain chemical interactions between plants. These interactions can be used to encourage plant growth and health in a symbiotic manner. Every plant releases different chemical agents, either above ground through its leaves, or below ground from its roots.

Chemistry of Companion Planting

These chemicals attract or repel insects, and either aid, or discourage their growth and reproduction.

Below ground, plant roots release amino acids, vitamins, sugars, tannins, alkaloids, phosphatides, and glucosides into the soil, affecting plants either positively or negatively, resulting in plant health, or disease. Chemicals emitted from plant roots will either attract or repel underground insects.

How does companion planting work?

• Companions prevent pest problems—Plants like onions repel some pests. Other plants can lure pests away from more desirable plants.

• Companions attract beneficial insects—Every successful garden needs plants that attract the predators of pests.

How does companion planting work?

• Companions help each other grow—Tall plants, for example, provide shade for sun-sensitive shorter plants.

• Companions use garden space efficiently—Vining plants cover the ground, upright plants grow up. Two plants in one patch.

Corn and Beans

The beans attract beneficial insects that prey on corn pests such as leafhoppers, fall armyworms and leaf beetles and bean vines climb up the corn stalks.

Potatoes and Sweet Alyssum

The sweet alyssum has tiny flowers that attract delicate beneficial insects, such as predatory wasps. Plant sweet alyssum alongside bushy crops like potatoes, or let it spread to form a living ground cover under arching plants like broccoli. Bonus: The alyssum's sweet fragrance will scent your garden all summer.

Potatoes and Sweet Alyssum

Radishes and Spinach

Radishes attract leafminers away from the spinach. The damage the leafminers do to radish leaves doesn't prevent the radishes from growing nicely underground.

Cucumbers and Nasturtiums

The nasturtium's vining stems make them a great companion rambling among the cucumbers. Nasturtiums are reputed to repel cucumber beetles, but they also can be used as habitat for predatory insects, such as spiders and ground beetles.

Tomatoes and Cabbage

Tomatoes are repellent to diamondback moth larvae, which are caterpillars that chew large holes in cabbage leaves.

Collards and Catnip

Studies have found that planting catnip alongside collards reduces flea-beetle damage on the collards.

Collards Catnip

Cauliflower and Dwarf Zinnias

The nectar from the dwarf zinnias lures ladybugs and other good predators that help protect cauliflower.

Cabbage and Dill

Dill is a great companion for cabbage family plants, such as broccoli and brussel sprouts. The cabbages support the floppy dill, while the dill attracts the tiny beneficial wasps that control imported cabbageworms and other cabbage pests.

Peppers and Pigweed or Ragweed

Leafminers preferred the weeds to pepper plants in a study at the Coastal Plains Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia. Just be careful to remove the weeds' flowers before they set seed or you'll have trouble controlling the weeds.

Rose with Cherry Tomatoes

Hollyhocks, Petunias, and Squash

Chives and Iris

Blue Sweetpea

and Sweet 100’s

Tomato

Aesthetic CombinationsStrawberries and love-in-a-mist

Tall, blue-flowered love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena) looks attractive planted among a patch of strawberry plants.

Planting Partners

Flowering Kale and Daffodils

Combination Garden

Combination Garden

Combination Garden

Ornamentals and Edibles

An Island Raised Bed

Colorful Herb Combinations

Herb Garden

Combining Shrubs with Vegetables and Herbs

Edible and Ornamental

Combinations

Daisies, Poppies,

and Bachelor Buttons

with Herbs and

Vegetables

Apple Tree and Vegetables

Artichokes, California Poppies, Alyssum, and Vegetables

Climbing Beans with Vertical Supports

Bean Tripod

Tomatoes on a

Trellis

Bitter Melonis a decorative climber

Short and Tall Plants

Plants have different sun and shade requirements, and plants that prefer shade should be planted under those that want sun. Lettuce and spinach will benefit if planted under the shade of a taller companion.

Lettuce and Tall Flowers

Nicotiana (flowering tobacco) and cleome (spider flower) give lettuce the light shade it grows best in.

Cleome Nicotiana Lettuce

Annual flowers and vegetables combined in a raised bed

Containers

• Almost any type of container can be used for growing vegetable plants. For example, try using bushel baskets, drums, gallon cans, tubs or wooden boxes. The size of the container will vary according to the crop selection and space available. Pots from 6 to 10 inches in size are satisfactory for green onion, parsley and herbs. For most vegetable crops such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, you will find 5-gallon containers are the most suitable size. They are fairly easy to handle and provide adequate space for root growth.

Containers

Container GardeningGuidelines

• Avoid containers with narrow openings. • Cheap plastic pots may deteriorate in UV sunlight

and terracotta pots dry out rapidly. Glazed ceramic pots are excellent choices but require several drainage holes.

• Wooden containers are susceptible to rot. Redwood and cedar are relatively rot resistant and can be used without staining or painting. Avoid wood treated with creosote, penta or other toxic compounds since the vapors can damage the plants. One advantage of wooden containers is that they can be built to sizes and shapes that suit the location.

Container GardeningGuidelines

• Use containers between 15 and 120 quarts capacity. Small pots restrict the root area and dry out very quickly. The size and number of plants to be grown will determine the size of the container used. Deep rooted vegetables require deep pots.

Container Gardening Growing Mixture

• When you add your soil to your container, leave a 2 inch space between the top of the soil and the top of the container. You will be able to add 1/2 inch or so of mulch later.

• Most container gardeners have found that a "soilless" potting mix works best. In addition to draining quickly, "soilless" mixes are lightweight and free from soil-borne diseases and weed seeds. These mixes can be purchased from garden centers.

• Make your own mix of equal amounts of peat moss, potting soil, and vermiculite, perlite or clean sand. You can also add your own compost for better water retention.

Different way to fill container

Container Gardening Sunlight Requirements

• Your container garden will need at least five hours of direct sunlight each day, and many plants will benefit from even more. As a general rule, leafy vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce can tolerate the most shade, while root crops such as beets and carrots will need more sun. Fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers need the most sun. The amount of sunlight needed by flowers varies depending on the varieties grown. Check the flower guides for sunlight requirements.

Container GardeningFertilizer

• Since potting mixes drain water rapidly, fertilizer will be washed out of the container as you water. Lighter mixes will require more frequent fertilizing than heavier mixes. It's a good idea to use a dilute liquid fertilizer with every other watering. Liquid fish emulsion or liquid seaweed are great plant boosters, but remember that you need to provide your plants with a variety of nutrients. Check the labels on the products in your garden center to be sure that they contain a complete, balanced solution that includes trace elements.

Container GardeningWatering

• In an exposed location, container plants loose moisture quickly. Some plants will need to be watered daily, especially during hot, dry weather.

• A light layer of organic mulch will help retain moisture.

Container GardeningWhat to Plant - Vegetables

Broccoli – Super Blend, or Italian Green SproutingCabbage – DiscoveryChinese Cabbage – MichihliPeppers – Yolo Wonder, Keystone Resistant Giant, New Ace, (Hot)Jalapeno, Red Cherry

15 gal tub3-5 plants

Snap Beans – Blue Lake, Contender, Topcrop, Greencrop, (Pole)Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder Lima Beans – White Dixie WonderBeets – Early Wonder, Detroit Dark RedLettuce – Salad Bowl, Ruby, Oak Leaf, Little Gem, Buttercrunch, Bib, Romaine, Dark Green BostonOnion – White Sweet Spanish, Yellow Sweet Spanish, GreenRadish – Cherry Belle, White Icicle, Champion, Scarlet GlobeSpinach – Melody, America, Avon Hybrid

5 gal window box

VegetableContainer Size

Container GardeningWhat to Plant - Vegetables

Tomatoes - Tiny Tim, Small Fry, Sweet 100, Patio, Burpee's Pixie, Toy Boy, Early Girl, Better Boy VFN, Pixie, Red Robin, Sugar Lump, Spring Giant, Saladette,

Tumblin' Tom (hanging baskets)Cucumbers – Burpless, Liberty, Early Pik, Crispy, Salty, Spacemaster, Bush, Salad Bush Hybrid Squash – Dixie, Gold Neck, Early Prolific Straight Neck, (Green) Zucco, Diplomat, SenatorEggplant – Florida Market, Black Beauty, Long Tom

5 gal pot

VegetableContainer Size

Container GardeningWhat to Plant - Annuals

Annuals suitable for containers include:

Impatiens

Geraniums

Coleus

Browallia

Begonia

Alyssum

ZinniasPansies

ThunbergiaNasturtiums

SnapdragonsPeriwinkle

SanvitaliaMarigolds

SalviaLobelia

PetuniasLatana

Herbs in a Terra Cotta Pot

Vegetable Combinations

Salad Window Box

Trailing Nasturtium, Parsley and

Tomato

Upside Down Tomato

Upside Down Tomatowith Herbs Planted on Top

Window Box of Herbs

Parsley, Oregano,

and Verbena

Beans and Parsley in a Hanging Basket

Edible Containers