Best companion plants for tomatoes.

Companion planting is a technique where two plants are grown near one another so that they benefit from each other. Practising companion planting in your garden is an excellent way to attract pollinators, beneficial insects, and repel pests. When herbs and flowers are grown near vegetables they help to improve the flavor of these vegetables. While certain plants benefit from each other certain plants don’t benefit when grown next to each other. Growing certain herbs and flowers near your tomatoes can improve the flavour of the fruit, increase pollination and repel pests.

Best companion plants for tomatoes:

Flowers

1.Cosmos

Growing cosmos near your tomato plants helps to attract bees and pollinators to your plants. This helps in increased pollination.

2.Marigolds

Marigolds are known to repel nematodes which can harm your tomato plants. Growing marigolds and tomatoes together is a good combination. Marigolds also require average soil conditions to grow well and they will not compete with your tomato plants.

3.Nasturtium

Nasturtium acts as a trap crop and attracts pests such as aphids towards it. You can plant it as a decoy crop so that these pests don’t attack your tomatoes.

Herbs

1.Mint

Growing mint near your tomatoes is a great way to repel pests from coming to your plant. Mint masks the scent of tomatoes from insects. You can grow mint next to tomatoes if you are growing in containers as mint can get quite invasive.

2.Borage

Borage helps to improve the quality and size of the fruit. It also helps to make your tomato plants more disease-resistant. It also repels tomato hornworms.

3.Sage

Sage helps to protect tomatoes from pests like flea beetles.
It helps to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects to your plants.

4.Parsley

Parsley helps to improve tomato flavour and overall plant growth. Tomatoes also protects parsley from warm climatic conditions.

Vegetables

1.Carrots

Photo by Jonathan Pielmayer on Unsplash

Growing carrots can help to improve the aeration in the soil. They also break down soil nutrients and help tomato roots absorb more nutrients. They also help to improve the flavour of tomato plants.

2.Spinach

When tomatoes and spinach are planted together they benefit from one another. Spinach acts as a ground cover and tomatoes protect spinach from hot weather conditions. Here is how to grow spinach from seeds in containers.

3.Garlic

Growing garlic near your tomato plants helps to repel aphids and spider mites.

4.Radishes

Planting radishes near your tomatoes is a good way to repel flea beetles. Tomato plants provide shade for your radishes. Here is how to grow radish from seeds in containers.

5.Beans

Beans are good companion plants for tomatoes as they help to fix nitrogen in the soil. Tomatoes are heavy feeders and planting beans near them is a good way to increase nitrogen levels in the soil.

Avoid planting potatoes, corn, and cilantro near your tomatoes.

Potatoes are heavy feeders and your tomato and potato plants will compete for nutrients. Corn attracts pests such as corn earworms which may harm your tomato plants. Cilantro needs more nitrogen and may end up competing with your tomatoes for nutrients.