What are some companion plants that can be planted with tomatoes? This article will list the best tomato plants to grow alongside your tomato crop.
Planting a variety of plants with tomatoes in your garden can help to minimize the risk of disease and pests, as well as provide a more diverse diet for your tomato plants. Here are some great companion plants you should consider planting with tomatoes. Read more in detail here: what to plant with tomatoes in a container.
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Grow a large harvest of tomatoes by pairing them with companion plants.
You’ll need a lot of light, heat, and moisture to produce tomatoes. If you live in a warm region, you can grow tomatoes outside; if you live somewhere colder, you’ll want to plant tomatoes in a conservatory.
If you’ve already figured out all of these details, that’s fantastic! Is there anything more you might do to help your tomato plants thrive?
Do you know what companion plants are? We’ll go through each one in detail below and assist you in selecting the ideal tomato companion plants. They’ll help you produce more tomatoes while also naturally warding off pests.
What exactly are tomato companion plants?
Companion planting is when you grow plants together that benefit each other in some manner. This is often done in order to keep pests away from your plants.
It may also aid in the improvement of soil quality and growth conditions for your veggies, as well as attract pollinating insects.
The benefit of companion planting is that you won’t need to use chemical pesticides to control insects that may otherwise consume your veggies.
It’s usually a good idea to maintain a natural balance of pests and predators in your garden, and companion plants may help you achieve that.
Tomatoes benefit from being cultivated in the company of other plants. They don’t enjoy coming too near to certain plants, however! Continue reading to learn more.
Tomatoes’ Best Companion Plants
This is a comprehensive list of tomato companion plants that we hope you will find helpful in your garden.
You may maximize your growing area by studying which plants grow best together.
Trying things out and experimenting is one of the greatest ways to learn, so check out a few of them and see what works best where you live.
Choose some companions for your tomatoes; they’ll aid in the production of a big harvest.
To keep pests at bay, grow tomato companion plants.
To begin, we’ll look at tomato companion plants that aid in the control of insect pests of all kinds. Many of these plants are attractive in addition to being helpful (and smell good too).
Below, we’ll take a closer look at these tomato companion plants:
- Nasturtiums
- Marigolds
- Parsley
- Mint
- Thyme
- Oregano
- Basil
- Bee balm
- Onions, garlic, and chives
- Borage
Planting nasturtiums and marigolds near your tomatoes can deter bugs. Nasturtiums and marigolds can entice aphids away from your tomato plants. Aphid-eating insects are attracted to the blossoms.
Marigolds are also supposed to aid with tomato protection by releasing a chemical into the soil that kills dangerous worms. They are beneficial to all plants, so put them throughout your food garden.
Grow herbs beside your tomatoes, among your super-powerful flowers. Aromatic plants provide a pleasant perfume that might help repel pests. This is when parsley, mint, thyme, and oregano come in handy.
Basil is commonly referred to as the “King of Herbs,” and it makes an excellent tomato companion plant. With its scent, it is supposed to increase the taste of the fruit, keep tomato plants healthy, and repel undesired insect pests. What more could you ask for in a friend?
All of the herbs mentioned above provide excellent ground cover at the base of tomato plants, whether in the ground or in containers, since they assist to keep the soil wet and decrease evaporation.
Bee balm, with its magnificent magenta blossoms, is another fragrant plant that helps prevent pests with its smell. It’s also appreciated by bees, as the name implies. It is supposed to enhance the flavor of tomatoes, similar to basil.
Garlic, chives, onions, and other alliums all have the same effect: the strong odor repels numerous insect pests, including aphids.
Borage is an annual plant with brilliant blue blossoms that looks lovely growing next to tomatoes. This plant attracts bees and other pollinators. Borage is a great tomato companion because it keeps tomato hornworms away.
Companion plants for tomatoes to enhance growth conditions
Some of the greatest plants for growing tomatoes near them serve to improve the soil. To make the most of your area, combine veggies with similar growth patterns, such as vertical climbers like beans and tomatoes.
Below, we’ll take a closer look at these tomato companion plants:
- Beans
- Horehound
- Yarrow
- Squash
- Celery
- Salad leaves such as lettuce and various greens
- Cucumbers
- Asparagus
Beans are nitrogen-fixing organisms. This means they take nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, increasing the condition of the soil. This promotes the growth of other plants, such as your tomatoes. Although tomatoes aren’t recognized for requiring a lot of nitrogen, they get along swimmingly with beans and can help each other out.
Horehound is a mint-family fragrant plant with a modest growth rate. It’s thought to help tomato plants produce more fruit, so it’s worth considering as a tomato plant companion.
Yarrow is a great tomato companion plant as well. It’s often thought of as a weed, however it offers several advantages for vegetable gardeners. It attracts aphid-eating insects and enhances soil quality, and it may be used in compost like comfrey.
By sheltering the earth, squash’s broad spreading leaves might aid to preserve moisture around your tomato plants. Squash and tomatoes go well together since they thrive in comparable environments.
Tomatoes and celery may coexist harmoniously, and the shade provided by tomato plants may benefit your celery plants.
Leafy low-growing plants like Salad leaves such as lettuce and various greens are useful tomato companion plants that conserve moisture in the soil and prevent weeds from invading.
In exchange, your tomato plants will provide shade throughout the summer. Purslane is a nice plant to try if you don’t have a lot of water. Low-growing spinach, arugula, and American cress are other good options.
Cucumbers are a great tomato plant to have around. Tomatoes and cucumbers have similar nutritional requirements and can grow well together on supports. You can make the most of a little area this way.
When the asparagus crop is harvested in the spring, the beds become “free.” In late April, fill the void with tomatoes and other companion plants to maximize your area.
The plants that are the most difficult to cultivate with tomatoes
Tomato companion plants should not include potatoes. This is because both plants are susceptible to a disease known as blight, which may readily spread between plants if they are near together.
Corn and tomatoes, on the other hand, aren’t normally thought of as good bedfellows since they’re both plagued by the same pests. After they’ve done with their first course, the bugs that attack maize will move on to your tomatoes!
The development of your tomato plants will be limited if you put them near cabbages. Brassicas such as broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, brussels sprouts, and kale fall within this category.
Do you want to learn more about vegetables? Check out the following:
Tomato Plants: 15 Different Types with Pictures
With Pictures of 23 Different Types of Lettuce Varieties
When Is the Best Time to Start Growing Potatoes?
The “permaculture tomatoes companion planting” is a system of growing plants together in a garden or farm that helps to increase the yield and health of both plants. This can be done by adding certain plants to the soil around your tomato plant, which will help with pest control.
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