Bobberman
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Why don't seed companies sell packs with companion seeds!

I think in the future when some of these companies realize how good plants grow with a companion plants they will mix seeds. arow of lettuce now has about 6 varities mixes so why not add a few seeds of marigolds or anything that is a proven deterent of a certain bug! Reserch should show them that! I know you can add your own but I would buy something that has a track record according the the seed company!.
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There are probably even catalyst plants that bring good bugs or in rich the soil for some plants. I would say planting a pea or bean alternated with a plant that likes nitrogen would work since beans and peas roots give off nitrogn to the soil! I need something to plant with cukes since I have trouble growing them!

DoubleDogFarm
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There are probably even catalyst plants that bring good bugs or in rich the soil for some plants. I would say planting a pea or bean alternated with a plant that likes nitrogen would work since beans and peas roots give off nitrogn to the soil! I need something to plant with cukes since I have trouble growing them!
Outside my fenced garden I will be planting a cover crop of White Dutch clover. Into the clover I will be planting corn in the Spring.

Eric

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jal_ut
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For the most part, plants compete with each other for available soil nutrients, water and sunshine. If you inter-plant your companions leaving plenty of space for each variety, they should do well, however if the companions crowd each other, it may be like having weeds. Competition. Not much help.

Legumes will add nitrogen to the soil only if the Nitrogen fixing bacteria that is compatible to the species is present in your soil. Have you ever dug a bean plant and looked for the nodules to see if they are present? If not, you may be able to buy some inoculant and introduce them to your soil. In any case, the nitrogen made by the nodules, is mostly used by the plant it grows on and is not available to the companion. When the legume dies and decomposes then it adds nitrogen to the soil which will be available to what ever plants grow there. All plants do this. This is why we add organic matter to the garden every chance we get.

[url=https://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/a-129.pdf]Here is a good paper on the subject. Worth a read.[/url]

DoubleDogFarm
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That was a good read. Thanks James.

Eric

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rainbowgardener
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In the meantime, it's difficult to pre-package seed mixes like that because there's a zillion different choices for companion plants for different purposes. Perhaps you like to plant nasturtiums with your tomatoes, your neighbor likes to plant carrots, I like to plant both, but with the carrots arranged on the outside row to get sun and the nasturtiums in the middle. Seed mix wouldn't allow me to do that.

Some people like to grow garlic, onions, chives with tomatoes as general insect repellant, some people like to grow borage with tomatoes to help repel hornworms, some people like to grow basil with tomatoes because they increase each other's vigor and flavor.

So you are a seed company and you want to do a companion planting mix, what will you package together??

Also if I want to grow garlic with my tomatoes, I will plant the garlic the fall before. If I want to grow borage with my tomatoes, I will plant the borage much later, because it sprouts and grows so much faster. If planted in a seed mix with the tomatoes, it would completely overwhelm them.

Even your idea of marigolds and lettuce; for me the marigold is much slower growing than the lettuce. I direct seed my lettuce in the ground, but I start the marigolds indoors and give it a good head start. I think if I planted them together, the lettuce would be about done, by the time the marigold got well going.

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gixxerific
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-wall-

Dillbert
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it's an interesting idea - but some where I may have missed the bus.

"inter-cropping" / "companion planting" I always understood to be planting need/alternating rows/plots/whatever.

not sure I'd be so happy to see marigolds coming up in my "row" of lettuce, whatever....

so that would mean: seeds not mixed, just suitable packets of various plants types packaged / sold "as one"

and since everyone agrees on which companion should go with which crop, should be a very simple thing......

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gixxerific
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Dillbert wrote: and since everyone agrees on which companion should go with which crop, should be a very simple thing......
That is the thing not ALL peopl agree on which should go where. And others don't belive in CP at all. A lot of it is just whim, though some can really work.

Dillbert
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>>though some can really work.

I plant broccoli and cauliflower every year. frankly I don't expect to get a crop unless I'm tediously studious with my row covers. which (sigh) usually does not go as well as it did in my January snow-bound dreams.....

but, they do draw all kinds of bugs away from my other things....

iffin' I had to make an opinion, I'd say "trap crops" work better that "repel crops" - but I am limited in that experience.

DoubleDogFarm
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The "mixed bag" would also need to associate with each growing zone.

Eric

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GardenRN
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Bobber maybe the better way for them to go would be to sell a package containing a few main crops and one or two companions for each. You have a good idea. But also they are targeting fairly small gardeners. And a lot of them are probably not interested in companions or even know about it. If you could package it and make it look "greener" or more ecologically responsible, you might get more people's attention, but that wouldn't be accurate marketing. And in an economy such as the one we have, they are finding ways to cut costs. This would amount to a more expensive pack of seeds. But you could do it yourself and sell it on ebay maybe? Don't wait for burpee to do it, slap your name on it and get it out there!

Bobberman
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The average gardner just like the average fisherman wants to perform without studying about it! Just a few introductions would work like a row of lettuce and carrots mixed with maybe a 4 to on lettuce! Something simple! How about a few marigolds mixed in seeds like cole crops that are eaten alive by bugs.Most people do not know what some of the detered bug flowers are and would become acquainted with them!

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jal_ut
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From my own experience, arugula is an excellent trap crop. Marigolds do seem to deter some bugs.

Bobberman
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Letting some radish go to flower seems to bring more bees and butterflies. I also noticed that lettuce grows better with some radish on the south side going to flower so it shades the lettuce when the june heat comes! I am trying to learn all the tricks to make a better garden! I welcome any suggestions?



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