This document discusses various methods of companion planting, including pairing plants that repel pests, attract beneficial insects, or help each other grow. Specific plant combinations are provided as examples, such as roses and chives, potatoes and sweet alyssum, tomatoes and cabbage. Guidelines for container gardening include suitable containers, growing mixes, fertilizing, and pairing vegetables and flowers in containers.

1. South Haven Garden Club
Nancy Daugherty
February 9, 2009

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Potatoes and Sweet Alyssum

11. 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.

12. 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.

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

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

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

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. Rose with Cherry Tomatoes

19. Hollyhocks, Petunias, and
Squash

20. Chives and Iris

21. Blue
Sweetpea
and
Sweet 100’s
Tomato

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

23. Planting Partners

24. Flowering Kale and Daffodils

25. Combination Garden

26. Combination
Garden

27. Combination
Garden

28. Ornamentals and Edibles

29. An Island Raised Bed

30. Colorful Herb
Combinations

31. Herb Garden

32. Combining Shrubs with
Vegetables and Herbs

33. Edible and
Ornamental
Combinations

34. Daisies,
Poppies,
and
Bachelor
Buttons
with Herbs
and
Vegetables

35. Apple Tree and Vegetables

36. Artichokes, California Poppies,
Alyssum, and Vegetables

37. Climbing Beans
with Vertical Supports

38. Bean
Tripod

39. Tomatoes
on a
Trellis

40. Bitter Melon
is a decorative climber

41. 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.

42. Lettuce and Tall Flowers
Nicotiana (flowering tobacco) and cleome
(spider flower) give lettuce the light shade it
grows best in.
Cleome Nicotiana Lettuce

43. Annual flowers and vegetables
combined in a raised bed

44. Containers

45. 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.

46. Container Gardening
Guidelines
• 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.

47. Container Gardening
Guidelines
• 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.

48. 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.

49. Different way to fill container

50. 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.

51. Container Gardening
Fertilizer
• 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.

52. Container Gardening
Watering
• 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.

53. Container Gardening
What to Plant - Vegetables
Container Vegetable
Size
Snap Beans – Blue Lake, Contender, Topcrop, Greencrop,
5 gal (Pole)Blue Lake, Kentucky Wonder
window Lima Beans – White Dixie Wonder
box Beets – Early Wonder, Detroit Dark Red
Lettuce – Salad Bowl, Ruby, Oak Leaf, Little Gem,
Buttercrunch, Bib, Romaine, Dark Green Boston
Onion – White Sweet Spanish, Yellow Sweet Spanish, Green
Radish – Cherry Belle, White Icicle, Champion, Scarlet Globe
Spinach – Melody, America, Avon Hybrid
Broccoli – Super Blend, or Italian Green Sprouting
15 gal tub
Cabbage – Discovery
3-5 plants Chinese Cabbage – Michihli
Peppers – Yolo Wonder, Keystone Resistant Giant, New Ace,
(Hot)Jalapeno, Red Cherry

54. Container Gardening
What to Plant - Vegetables
Container Size Vegetable
Tomatoes - Tiny Tim, Small Fry, Sweet 100, Patio,
5 gal pot 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, Senator
Eggplant – Florida Market, Black Beauty, Long Tom

55. Container Gardening
What to Plant - Annuals
Annuals suitable for containers include:
Alyssum Latana Petunias
Begonia Lobelia Salvia
Browallia Marigolds Sanvitalia
Coleus Periwinkle Snapdragons
Geraniums Nasturtiums Thunbergia
Impatiens Pansies Zinnias

56. Herbs in
a Terra
Cotta
Pot

57. Vegetable Combinations

58. Salad Window Box

59. Trailing
Nasturtium,
Parsley and
Tomato

60. Upside Down Tomato

61. Upside Down Tomato
with Herbs Planted on Top

62. Window
Box of
Herbs
Parsley,
Oregano,
and
Verbena

63. Beans and Parsley in a Hanging
Basket

64. Edible Containers