Shouldn't Grow Together
Companion planting is one of the best ways to naturally control pests and increase the growth of vegetables, herbs, and flowers. However, as useful as this gardening exercise can be, not all plants make good partners in the garden, and there are some plants you should never grow together. Poor companion plants can suppress the growth of their neighbors, compete with each other for light and nutrients, and even attract pests. In this guide, you'll find the 7 worst companion planting mistakes to avoid.
1. Fennel and most herbs and vegetables
When it comes to companion planting, fennel is one of the trickier plants because it doesn't grow well with most plants. As it grows, fennel releases compound into the soil that suppresses the growth of nearby herbs and vegetables. Additionally, fennel can cross-pollinate with other related plants, such as dill, which reduces the flavor and quality of the seeds.
While this can make growing fennel near other plants challenging, fennel grows beautifully in pots placed throughout your garden. When kept in containers, fennel will not affect the growth of other plants and its flowers will attract pollinators and other beneficial insects to your garden.
2. Brassicas with strawberries
Brassicas, including broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, are often targeted by cabbage loopers, which entangle their leaves with holes. Unfortunately, these pesky insects are not picky eaters and can devour other fruit and vegetable plants as well. In particular, strawberries grown near brassica plants are more likely to develop cabbage looper infections. So, when you're looking for a place to put your strawberries, avoid your brassy vegetables.
3 Sage with cucumber
Many aromatic herbs, such as dill and oregano, can provide plenty of pest protection for cucumber vines, but not all herbs make good cucumber companions. For example, sage restricts the growth of nearby cucumber vines and reduces harvest. Additionally, sage and cucumbers have different watering needs, and growing them in the same area can result in overwatered or submerged cucumbers.
4 Allium with asparagus
Onions, garlic, and other allium plants have a strong odor that naturally repels many garden pests. While this makes alliums a great companion to most vegetables and herbs, asparagus and alliums just don't mix. Alliums stunt the growth of asparagus and their large bulbs can interfere with asparagus crowns. Even worse, when you start harvesting alliums, it will disturb your perennial asparagus plants and make them less likely to grow.
5 Legumes and Allium
Aside from asparagus, alliums also do well with legumes, including beans and peas. When planted together, allium can stunt the growth of leguminous plants and reduce harvest yields. Also, onions and other alliums have natural antibacterial properties that can inhibit nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the roots of leguminous plants.
6 Tomatoes and corn
Both corn and tomatoes make good salsas, but these two plants are not good partners in the garden. Both tomatoes and corn are susceptible to corn earworms (also known as tomato fruit worms), and growing these plants together will make it easier for the pests to spread throughout your crops. Additionally, corn and tomatoes are both heavy-feeding plants and can compete with each other for nutrients in the soil.
7 dill and carrot
Both dill and carrot belong to the umbellifer family and have similar growing requirements. However, these plants are so closely related that they can cross-pollinate with each other and produce substandard hybrid seeds. On top of that, dill will attract carrot flies to your carrots and these pesky insects will chew holes in root vegetables.
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