Companion planting fact or fiction?

[mrpaulbradley]

I have dabbled somewhat with companion planting but can't make up my mind if it's just keeping me happy and not really doing anything miraculous for the plants.
Has anyone had real proof positive of successful results ?

I'll keep doing it anyway I guess, as i said i like the idea of putting friends together and it all sounds so plausible, but just wondered how other folk did it and what results they've had?

[Davyburns]

I always plant Basil and Marigolds with tomatoes, supposedly keeps thrips and whitefly away, seems to work, on the otherhand you could say it keeps bats away, as I havent seen any of those either

[Snadger]

I don't understand all the science behind it but, by copying Mother Natures way and mixing everything together it seems to give a more holisti, natural approach to gardening and certainly works for me.

[arpoet]

for years I have sowed white turnips in with my cabbages to detere white fly and it seems to work. I also sprinkle lime before planting to stop the tigers trampling the young plants. Not seen a tiger for years.
Roger

[Newton]

I have marigolds with my toms. Courgettes between my beans like monty. Seems to work.

But I do grow all my veggies on the same small allotment. So far I have seen no bats or tigers. Saying that I have not been down after dark. I thought I saw something that looked like a giraffe from a distance yesterday. Could be wrong tho....

[Two_Sheds]

I've had a go at a bit of companion planting, and taken notice of the "don't plant this with that"

Onions aren't supposed to be planted with beans - well I found they were fine

Don't plant sunflowers with other plants as they exude some substance that repels other plants: nope, that's not true either, sunflowers grow in and amongst all my beds

I tried French marigolds to deter whitefly for several years - that doesn't work


What does work for me is to grow flowers amongst my veg all year round, and I have loads of bees & predatory insects like hoverflies & ladybirds

Nasturtiums are also very useful as a sacrificial plant: if you plant them amongst beans & brassicas they will get covered in blackfly & CW caterpillars. I can then rip the whole plant up, pests an all, and shove in the daleks

[chris]

Glad you said that about sunflowers, TS - as i've planted sunflowers up the south facing posts of my bean frames! (thought it'd look cool - oh, and attract bees to my plot)

[Bren In Pots]

I've planted sunflowers either end of my bean frame then read the small print on the packet that says 'pollen free cut flowers' hopefully the bees will still come to look at the flowers but sadly they won't get anything out of them.

[hamsterqueen]

I was really careful for years to rotate everything ( obviously not while they were growing) This year because of PSB that took ages to mature I have just been shoving stuff in wherever there was a space with handfuls of salad seed sprinkled about every week or so. Also have self seeded fennel and chives between every thing. It all seems to be thriving.

[JamesM]

I always plant Basil and Marigolds with tomatoes, supposedly keeps thrips and whitefly away, seems to work, on the otherhand you could say it keeps bats away, as I havent seen any of those either

Ditto, seems to do a job for me too

[Aberdeenplotter]

French marigolds work for me in the greenhouse where I haven't seen whitefly since I started using them. They also seem to do the business in the onion bed where I haven't been troubled with onion root fly since I started using them. They don't work against thrip in my exhibition onions and leeks though .

[Comfreyfan]

French marigolds work for me in the greenhouse where I haven't seen whitefly since I started using them.

Ditto

I also wonder if generally it keeps me more happy than the plants, but I'll try anything that's not too expensive and if I'm growing both plants anyway - might as well grow them together. Also planting something useful gives the weeds less space!

[zazen999]

And planting anything to bring insects [esp pollinators] into your patch can't be a bad thing and will increase pollination at the very least.

[Gearoid]

Well, my parents' gooseberry bush gets stripped each year by sawfly so, after reading that planting broad beans next to a bush deters them, I decided to plant a bunch of beans and so far there has been no sign of sawfly damage. Could just be a coincidence, but if the bush gets through the summer without being eaten to a bunch of sticks, I'll definitely do it again.

[mothhawk]

I have potaoes growing among my broad beans - pure chance - nowhere else to put the last few tubers - and it has certainly confused the blackfly, there's not a trace on any of the beans, so I shall grow them like this deliberately next year.

Used to grow leopard's bane and it kept the garden completely free of leopards (and tigers).