Companion planting in the vegetable garden

In short: Companion planting means deliberately growing different vegetable species next to each other, instead of planting large areas with just one crop. Good neighbours promote growth, bad ones can harm each other.

In more detail: Plants influence each other through root exudates, shading, nutrient demand, and their attraction of pests or beneficial insects.

In detail

• Good partners: Tomatoes and basil, carrots and onions complement each other well and often benefit from one another.
• Bad partners: Some plants, such as beans and onions, don’t get along well and should be kept separate.
• Pest control: Strongly scented herbs like lavender can keep certain pests away from neighbouring plants.
• Space use: Fast- and slow-growing species can often be combined well to use space efficiently.
• Nutrient competition: Deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants next to each other reduce competition for nutrients in the soil.
• Crop rotation: Companion planting should be combined with thoughtful crop rotation to avoid straining the soil one-sidedly.
• Planning: A rough planting plan before the season helps account for good and bad neighbours from the start (tomaten-anbauen, duengen-grundlagen).