companions

tricia snedden

I have been asked to do a workshop on companion planting for veg at my garden pproject can anyone help as i feel i have limited knowledge HELP 

Thanks Tricia

chilli lover

Hi Tricia - can't you rope in someone to help who knows more?

I'll start off with growing nasturtiums to attract blackfly away broad beans

BobTheGardener

Growing climbing beans with sweetcorn works well.  These are two of the "three sisters" growing method (google it), the 3rd being squashes.  The beans fix nitrogen with nodules on their roots which helps feed the sweetcorn (which loves any feed with high nitrogen.)  The beans can be trained to grow up a sweetcorn stem and across to others, helping to support them against wind damage, instead of using twine as you normally do when growing sweetcorn in a block.  I normally plant a couple of bean seeds next to each corn plant, once the maize plants are about 30cm tall (if you plant them when the corn is too short, the beans will grow too fast.)

Of course, we need a reasonably sunny summer to grow sweetcorn in the UK - this year was a disaster!

Busy-Lizzie

This is a good site about companion planting http://www.growveg.com/growguides/companion-planting.aspx

I grow french marigolds and nasturstiums in the veg garden.

flowering rose

companion plants are good way of diverting pests away from main plants.Marigolds,nasturtiums ,garlic e.t.c. do this well especially for vegetables.I planted garlic by my roses to keep black spot at bay and other pests or to distract those insects that go by scent to detect a plant .

artjak

I have a huge poster in my studio that lists all the 'sympathetic' plants and the 'non-sympathetic' plants. Tomorrow in daylight I will try and see who printed it and give you the info.

Zoomer44

French marigolds grown next to toms ward off aphids. Basil with toms is supposed to improve the taste. Grew both and I didn't have a big problem with aphids in the GH this year and the toms were ever so tasty.

Garlic grown next to veg wards off aphids, as does coriander and mint,. Chevil is supposed to ward off aphids from lettuce although I've not tried that one.  

Tansy - a strong smelling plant is supposed to deter ants, not tried that one either.  

Nasturtiums are supposed to be a magnet for caterpillars and are good grown next to brassica's, the jury's still out on that one, I grew both this year, although the nasturtium was several feet away from the brassica's and a path in between, the brassica's were covered in caterpillars and not one on the nasturtiums.

I've grown cornflowers in troughs next to my veg beds and they've attracted aphids.  One of the nice things about planting in troughs ot pots, once infested, you simply move the trough or pot away and the problem goes with it.

chilli lover

Have you had a powercut artjak?

artjak

No, chilli lover, but am settled in front of fire watching pirate film! Let's get our priorities right!  (and I always wanted to be a pirate when I grew up)

Dovefromabove

Still waiting Artjak? 

Zoomer44 wrote (see)

Nasturtiums are supposed to be a magnet for caterpillars and are good grown next to brassica's, the jury's still out on that one, I grew both this year, although the nasturtium was several feet away from the brassica's and a path in between, the brassica's were covered in caterpillars and not one on the nasturtiums.

 

Yep, seems to work the other way round - brassicas grown near nasturtiums keeps the caterpillars away from the nasturtiums 

Busy-Lizzie

I grow nasturtiums next to the broad beans to attract the blackfly, but it's not always easy to get the nasturtiums to flower early enough. Last year I sowed them too late and this year they got hit by a late frost. (The one that ruined all the flowers on the fruit trees, no cherries, apples or plums this year).