Companion plants with your tomato plants

[alexia.brake]

Hi All,
Just wondering what types of companion plants you use with your tomato plants or maybe you don't?

I use basil and marigolds around my plants and so far they have kept most of the bugs and tomatoe worms away (though I do eye check for the worms in the evening and pull of my hand if found).

And the basil is great for making huge batches of pesto

[lorax]

I use root crops, especially carrots and beets, as well as basil and marigolds.

[lilturtle]

marigolds here also..I will have to try the basil too..does it matter what kind of basil? I have some cool looking tri color basil that would look neat with the tomatoes.

[garden5]

A companion plant you wouldn't think of for your tomatoes is zucchini .

[lilturtle]

well your right would not think of that...size alone would be a problem for me..zuchini plants can get quit big.

[lorax]

LT, I have some seeds for a smaller cultivar of "bush" zucchini that I'm field-testing right now behind my Roma tomatoes. If they stay as small as they are right now (which is smaller than the tomatoes) - and they're starting to fruit, so it's pretty likely - I'll send some your way.

[lilturtle]

ok that sounds great girl:) I love seeds from you! Looking foward to the 4 o'clocks also....there is just somthing about the wild varieties that is so cool.

I have not heard of a small zuchini so that will be very interesting. I am growing a mini cantelope first time this year..it grows in a pot! It is flowering now so I am hopeful..if it does well I will save seeds and send some yor way if you like.

[MaryDel]

I don't have insect problems on my tomatoes, an occasional hornworm but that's about it. I do sometimes put a few extra tomato plants in between the cages, sometimes a volunteer watermelon or a basil that has nowhere left to go.

[alexia.brake]

marigolds here also..I will have to try the basil too..does it matter what kind of basil? I have some cool looking tri color basil that would look neat with the tomatoes.

Hi lilturtle,
No I don't think it matters what type of basil you use. I have some purple basil as well as my sweet and large basil. And I also have a lemon basil too.

All I know is that when the bugs come they attack those plants and leave my by babies alone for the most part.

[alexia.brake]

I have three tomatoe plants in containers in my enclosed back porch and in those pots have planted basil and tyme and orgengo. It's working well.
(I can't take credit for the idea my local nursary had a display with their tomatoe plants and I thoguh geez.....why didn't I think of that

[rainbowgardener]

I have a bed for tomatos. Very early in the season, a month before last frost, I transplant broccoli starts into it. When it's warm enough I put the tomato seedlings behind them. By the time the tomato plants need more room, the broccoli is done and I pull it.

In the meantime, I put in marigolds, nasturtiums, onions and carrots around the edges. This year I tried borage, which is supposed to be a good companion plant for tomatoes, but in my limited space it quickly got too huge and was crowding everything, so I pulled it out again.

Soon I will start some lettuce in any spaces left, for a fall crop. (Carrots are about ready for harvest) The tomatoes will provide shade for the lettuce while it is still hot. Once the tomatoes are done for the season I will put plastic over the lettuce and hope to keep it going for awhile. By this means, I will have things growing/ producing in that bed, from early March well into November. Pretty good for zone 6!

[gixxerific]

In the meantime, I put in marigolds, nasturtiums, onions and carrots around the edges. This year I tried borage, which is supposed to be a good companion plant for tomatoes, but in my limited space it quickly got too huge and was crowding everything, so I pulled it out again.

What RBG said but add garlic and lots of basil and the borage didn't do squat for some reason.

I haven't had a problem with pest all year......... so far. Though I normally don't Even with the fungal problems I do a little care for but they always seem to come back on there own.

[LindsayArthurRTR]

I planted collard greens, basil, nasturtium, and french marigolds throughout. I have not seen 1 THW in the patch this year. Have seen some cornworms, but no hornworms.

I just don't have room for zucchini between the tomatoes.

[Skian]

How would mint do around tomatos? Are they a companion?
I had a little aphid problem with my radishes, drop a couple mint leafs on the radish leafs and poof! No more aphids. Would it work on tomatos?

[LindsayArthurRTR]

oh yeah! But I wouldn't plant it directly in the ground of my garden because it tends to be invasive. Well, it IS invasive, and extremely prolific. I sometimes wish it had never been planted here. It sends runners, it's roots send up suckers, and it readily reseeds. I take that back, I do like the way it tastes in sweet tea. And I do like the way it smells when step on it as I turn on and off the hose pipe. and weedeat...It is a great benefial insect attractant...and it's pretty. Maybe plant it in pots! But be vigilant! and yank em out quick if they start to spread.

[applestar]

Cilantro in spring, now dill are flowering and attracting tons of beneficial insects including [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=135080#135080]aphid mummy makers[/url] and hover flies. Overwintered parsley, by far, has the longest flowering period. I'm sowing parsley everywhere right now (latest to establish parsley is said to be 7/15 around here).

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28039

[applestar]

OK, [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28176]here's ANOTHER grouping[/url].

Luffa and pole beans plus the unknown squash -- maybe ornamental gourd -- do not seem to be slowing down the tomatoes any. The Daylilies along the wall flowered before the tomatoes and the other vining plants started taking off. There is also a watermelon growing through the tomatoes in the back, also a small clump of Black-eyed Susans and Tansy.

In the front are Calendula and Stevia as well as two hot pepper plants and yet another smallish curcurbit that might be a melon.

[alexia.brake]

Wow, applestar you got some super compaion plants going on there.

On the flip side of the question, what plants shouldn't you plant tomtoes with?

[lorax]

Potatoes, peppers, & other nightshades. They're all prone to similar diseases & generally should be kept separate.

[rainbowgardener]

Corn.. they are both heavy feeders and would be competing for nitrogen, plus the corn gets tall and would shade the tomatoes.

Some companion planting will say not broccoli, but I don't know why. I do that and it works for me, although it probably helps it not be a problem that I pull the broccoli so early -- by mid May or so the broccoli is gone, so not an issue for most of the tomato season.

[RyanDe680]

I have a bed for tomatos. Very early in the season, a month before last frost, I transplant broccoli starts into it. When it's warm enough I put the tomato seedlings behind them. By the time the tomato plants need more room, the broccoli is done and I pull it.

In the meantime, I put in marigolds, nasturtiums, onions and carrots around the edges. This year I tried borage, which is supposed to be a good companion plant for tomatoes, but in my limited space it quickly got too huge and was crowding everything, so I pulled it out again.

Soon I will start some lettuce in any spaces left, for a fall crop. (Carrots are about ready for harvest) The tomatoes will provide shade for the lettuce while it is still hot. Once the tomatoes are done for the season I will put plastic over the lettuce and hope to keep it going for awhile. By this means, I will have things growing/ producing in that bed, from early March well into November. Pretty good for zone 6!

How do you get lettuce to grow well in the heat?

Mine gets a small head and then just bolts...

[rainbowgardener]

To start with, I have better luck with leaf lettuce than head lettuce, which I don't grow any more. Then I plant the seeds in the shade of the tomatoes beginning of Aug. By the time they are sprouted they only have a few weeks of summer heat. By labor day, we are pretty well done with summer here. It will be warm, but not hot, humid, muggy, like summer. Once it cools off, they are fine.

[gixxerific]

To start with, I have better luck with leaf lettuce than head lettuce, which I don't grow any more. Then I plant the seeds in the shade of the tomatoes beginning of Aug. By the time they are sprouted they only have a few weeks of summer heat. By labor day, we are pretty well done with summer here. It will be warm, but not hot, humid, muggy, like summer. Once it cools off, they are fine.

That is a great plan my friend one that I will be going my myself. Fall is just around the corner so we need to really start thinking about it.

By the way I have tomatoes right next to potatoes. The spuds went down but the tomatoes are doing great. So who knows if this myth is really something or not. My other spuds went down as well in a different garden well away from any tomatoes. So it wasn't' the grouping's fault just luck of the season.

[imafan26]

Basil and parsley. Dill helps tomatoes until they bloom and then they will stunt the tomatoes. Pulling the dill when they bloom fixes that. Borage, marigolds, green onions, and chives are good companions too. I have fennel in a corner of the garden. It attracts a host of beneficial insects and is good to eat too. It does not like company, that is why it is off in the corner next to horseradish, ginger, and gynuura. They are not bothered by the fennel.