Companion Planting
Companion planting is the planting of different crops in proximity (in gardening and agriculture), on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture.
Use nasturtiums and the soft tips of Artemisia as sacrificial crops. They attract aphids and predatory ladybirds before the aphids spread to other plants. When infestations reach epidemic levels, snip off the tips, pests and all, and discard as your conscience allows!
Combine carrots that are resistant to carrot fly (such as 'Resistafly') with onions or other non-resistant carrot varieties. The onions help to mask the carrot smell and the non-resistant varieties act as a sacrificial crop if the flies do find them.
Use nasturtiums and the soft tips of Artemisia as sacrificial crops. They attract aphids and predatory ladybirds before the aphids spread to other plants. When infestations reach epidemic levels, snip off the tips, pests and all, and discard as your conscience allows!
Combine carrots that are resistant to carrot fly (such as 'Resistafly') with onions or other non-resistant carrot varieties. The onions help to mask the carrot smell and the non-resistant varieties act as a sacrificial crop if the flies do find them.
Plants can benefit one another often in surprising ways, so look for natural partnerships. These seedlings have happily self-sown in the crooks of the decaying lower leaves of a cordyline and are perfect for potting on.
Plants in the onion family have disease-preventing and cure-all properties. Some gardeners swear by growing chives under roses to help avoid black spot.
Plants in the onion family have disease-preventing and cure-all properties. Some gardeners swear by growing chives under roses to help avoid black spot.
Always grow a few flowers in your veg patch to attract pollinators and predatory insects - it looks pretty, too, Try easy-sow annuals, such as pot marigolds, cornflowers and poached-egg plants, as well as sweet peas for cutting. Lure in predatory hoverflies to feast on aphids, with the irresistible flower clusters of umbellifers, such as astrantia and fennel. If you're starting a meadow, sow the parasitic annual yellow rattle in autumn. This will eventually reduce the vigour of the grass and give wildflowers more legroom to establish.
Position French and African marigolds near crops of tomatoes (both outdoors and in the greenhouse) to deter whitefly away from crops. |
Remember to avoid planting successive crops in the same place to prevent the build-up of crop-specific pests. A four-year crop rotation of veg beds should see off most offenders.
Make use of 'trap' plants, which attract pests. Vine weevils, for example, love the shallow roots of house leeks, so stick some among your pots as a vegetative version of a canary down the mine. If the tops come away from the roots then vine weevils are at work and it's time to act, either with biological control or the chemical imidacloprid. Radish planted among brassicas and spinach takes the rap from flea beetle. |
You also get plants that don't smell but are still attractive to pests. These can be used as sacrificial plants if they are liked even more by the pest attacking your prized plant or crop. For example slugs love lettuce but if you place a marigold next to the lettuce they would prefer to eat that - therefore your lettuce will be saved. You also have plants, such as dill, fennel and marigolds that are very good at attracting beneficial insects such as hoverflies and ladybirds.
Hoverfly larvae and ladybirds and their larvae eat aphids, so by attracting them to aphid hotspots you're creating your own kind of bio-control, so there should be no need for chemicals.
Hoverfly larvae and ladybirds and their larvae eat aphids, so by attracting them to aphid hotspots you're creating your own kind of bio-control, so there should be no need for chemicals.
Marigolds & Tomato's
Although tomatoes have a natural scent to ward off aphids they can't protect themselves from eelworm, which is why marigolds (tagetes) are often planted up next to them. The roots of tagetes gives off a scent that drives eelworm away.
Foxgloves & Apples
The old fashioned purple foxglove is planted around apples, tomatoes and potatoes because it helps to stimulate growth and protect them against fungal diseases. Liquid feed made with foxglove blooms helps cutflowers live longer too.