Companion Planting for Beginners

Companion planting is defined as a method of closely planting two different plants to enhance each other’s growth or protection from pests.

0:33 When should you think about companion planting?
0:38 Does Companion Planting Work to Deter Pests?
1:39 Will companion planting improve the flavor of food grown next to each other?
3:38 Does companion planting attack beneficial insects such as pollinators?
4:22 Polyculture as a method of companion planting to increase harvests

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[1] Nematode impacts

[2] Floral scent emission and pollinator attraction in two species of Gymnadenia(Orchidaceae)

[3] Effect of intercropping white cabbage with French Marigold (Tagetes patula nana L.) and Pot Marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) on the colonization of plants by pest insects

[4] Nematodes

[5] Polyculture
[6] Companion planting – do aromatic plants disrupt host-plant finding by the cabbage root fly and the onion fly more effectively than non-aromatic plants?
[7] Secondary plants used in biological control: A review
[8] Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999:
[9] University of California Davis paper:

[LifeIsMessyImLearningAsIGrow]

Thank you for sharing this video. I’m a YouTube gardener too trying to learn as much as I can about companion planting and gardening. I think it will help maximize my garden space and hopefully Colleen bugs in their place. It’s my 3rd year and I know I still have so much to learn. That’s how I found your channel . Im so happy I did because you have so much to offer. I hope we can learn from each other. Happy Planting!

[rhumball]

I've just started gardening last year and planted my crops in rows like in traditional farming method. I lost almost all my brassicas to caterpillar; tons of cabbage moths coming. Some of the companion planting suggestion work. This year I plant my crops surrounded by flowers and herbs. I don't plant in rows anymore. I hardly see cabbage moths in my garden. Mostly they just fly by not hanging out. Companion planting Spearmint does work well for brassicas. I put mint in containers and place them next to brassicas. Everything nears mint is untouched by cabbage moths. If i have too much mint, i use it as mulch around my brassicas. I lost less than 5% to caterpillar.

[richard]

I tried companion planting for the first time last year. Here is some of my results:

1) Marigolds for pest deterrence/confusion: partial success. They failed to keep away vine borers. They worked well as a trap plant for slugs, in that they generally preferred them over my food plants. It made it easier for me to locate the slugs and salt them to death.

2) Sunflowers near food plants to attract pollinators: success. The bees of all kids came to the sunflowers in large numbers, and also stopped at the nearby food plants. However, something came along and ate all or part of several of the smaller sunflower plants before they reached maturity. Circumstantial evidence suggested deer.

3) Corn with pole green beans and squash types: fail. The green beans took over and choked out the corn, and eventually shaded out the rest.

4) Tomatoes with basil, garlic, and wild onions: mostly success. The basil did keep away the tobacco horn worms for the most part, only found one on the whole season. The garlic failed, but I think that I might have done something that screwed that up.

[newhaven]

I grow in a sunroom and this year I put a grape vine in it and the ladybugs are a magnet to it! they're doing a great job keeping the aphids and spider mites at bay!

[OneYardRevolution]

Excellent information, Stephen! I've never followed specific companion planting recommendations but have had great results growing in polycultures.

[bradleyclark]

I'm thinking of buying a house plant such as a Kentia Palm. Can I add a herb, like Mint to the same plant pot? I like the idea of adding some foliage and interest to the soil and also an aroma to the room. Is this a good idea? Would it be beneficial to either plant or is it pure madness and potentially harmful to the palm?

[LightFF]

inch distancing, and now it’s been 15 days since we have transplanted the tomato to field beds, can I now plant 3 garlics in between each tomato plant and along with it can I prepare Basil flat bed to plant it later with garlic in octagonal design spacing of 12 inches and along with garlic planting can 2 plants of marigold be planted on the side borders in between tomato gaps ?

[sideeyes]

This is my first time planting flowers in my garden. I'm curious to see the results of your test. I have only one complaint with regards to the companion plants; flowers mature a slower rate. My tomato and pepper and eggplants and the like are well established and producing fruit, meanwhile my companions are still relatively small and are nowhere near flowering or what seems to me as beneficial at the moment. I will continue planting flowers, because they just look great. Excellent video!

[BobMelsimpleliving.]

Thanks Stephen. I agree that Polyculture is a great method. Best wishes Bob.

[jimkinson]

Great video. my huge concern is space. I hand pick bugs most bugs. As far as cabbage moths, I have used floating row covers for a few years now. For cucumber Beatles, I make several trips trips to the garden daily and crunch those little beggars along with the Colorado potato Beatles and put them in a can and give to the chickens.

I have read where marigolds help with some of the pests, so will plant some seeds around the garden which should help with pollination also.
Thanks my friend for this video and will be watching to see what approach you take.
Blessings,
Jim

[dkulikowski]

Thank you Stephen for giving this important information and the time you put into giving us these informative links. Much appreciated my friend.

[FaizanShaikhpk]

Hi, Can you please tell me If i can plant 3 vegetables in one rectangular pot. Rows by rows. As per my googling carrot, lettuce & radish are companions.

My container size : 30 inches length, 50 litres soil capacity.
I want to put 1 carrot row, then 1 lettuce row then 1 radish row and then again carrot row. Thanks

[SirTrollingham]

What materials did you use to build your trellis shown at 1:57?

[RADARTechie]

Stephen, I have an odd question regarding flowers. I need more color in my garden, as its mostly just green so far. When I go to big box stores, I wander around the plant section and smell every flower. I probably look like a loon, but hey, I dont mind. The problem Ive found is flowers that I remember having great scents either have muted aromas or none at all. Is that due to the varieties sold, my sense of smell remembering my youth differently, or are flowers from those stores just over fertilized and need a more natural environment to regain their intended odors?

[melovescoffee]

I like polyculture better as well. of course there is something to say for strict crop rotation too, but as long as i don't have any problems, i don't see why i can't do polyculture. I mainly interplant slow growing single rows with fast growing rows and i don't look at plant families. If something had dificulties last year, i'm not going to put it in the same place next year. Sofar i'm not having any major pest issues. Cabbages are always difficult. If they wern't so nutricious, i probably wouldn't go through the trouble of growing them. Everything seems to want to eat cabbage. Last week i said to Raf, i'm not having slug issues! Came into the garden a couple of days later after some much needed rain, half of my cabbages and sunflowers nibbled off. :D Slug pellets! where are my beer traps! Quiiiick!

[karenbartlett]

Nice video. I don't depend on peer-reviewed journals, but I value the advice of experienced truck-farmers (Charles Dowding on YouTube is good) and home-gardeners. Seems like you have a bit of both scientific knowledge and gardening experience. Good deal.

[PermacultureHomestead]

i posted this video a month ago !  Love companion planting, and shared some of its benefits, didnt go as far as to read the peer reviewed literature though.      i wish you mentioned carrots and tomatos, there is scientific review about the benefits, there is an exudate from the carrots that benefits the tomatos health, check it out.

[saulfalcone]

very informative and data / research driven. Thank You

[keyplayrgreenhousehydrop]

Good job, my friend! There are some good charts for companion planting available online ; )

[thesimpleaussie]

A friend of mine just keeps loads of diversity in her garden. Your polyculture. She's "too lazy" to work out specific companions. It works well for her, and that's what I'm working towards too. :D
I do enjoy some of the science-y stuff too, though. There's a paper I found on google scholar that confirms the benefit of using marigold to reduce some root-feeding nematodes (like those that attack tomatoes). The living plant roots release exudates that act as a pesticide for these nematodes, helping bring down numbers around its root zone.