Companion planting.

[grannyjanny]

Has anyone used companion planting & how successful has it been.
Janet.

[grannyjanny]

[1066]

Not yet - but plan to try a few things this year so will be interested in evreyones replies. I could post my results later in the year tho?
I was recommended Carrots love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte - interesting and thorough read so far.
1066

[thifasmom]

I've dabbled in it in the pass but not enough to give a true opinion on its merits, plan to go all out this year (and actually sow the seeds of the flowers/ herbs that will be needed for my crops :-\) also because i use a raised bed system when i plant my veges i try and group them in the beds according to the companion gardening guide and so far they all seem to do well. i also use the square root gardening guide re spacing in my beds.

[Susiebelle]

I have used the "three sisters" successfully,(sweetcorn,beans&squash)
but I always use the complimentary flowers such as tagettes basil & parsly with Tomatoes, sweet peas with the climbing beans,poached egg plants to bring in the early pollinators and they seem to work for me. I would like to experiment further but always run out of time and get left with the thought that theres always next year!

[mikey]

I do almost the same as Susiebelle (post above at 10:08 today), the only addition is I sow climbing Nasturtiums with my tall Beans, Runners and French.

Tagetes, Basil and Parsley seem to work well in my cold Greenhouse, hardly ever see Green - White or Black fly

Mikey

[Mowhay]

I use tagetes in three or four small pots around my 6 x 8 cold greenhouse and agree with mikey, hardly see any flies. Also a row of carrots and then a row of onions and so on, apparently this disguises the smell which the flies "home in on"

[Barnowl]

I've grown marigolds round my brassica and it seems to inhibit whitefly. Certainly last season, when the birds ate my marigold seedlings before they had a chance to flower, the whitefly problem was greater.

[saddad]

Welcome to the site Mowhay...  :)

[Mowhay]

Thanks saddad, been around a while and read lots of posts but not posted much on this site

[manicscousers]

we do the basil , marigolds and chives with the tomatoes, plant coriander in the poly and let it flower, brings the ladybirds, hoverflies, etc in, they eat the greenfly.
outside, we grow sweet peas with beans, bring the insects in, sunflowers, I grew them with squash last year, they both seemed to like it..we have nasturtiums and borage outside, the cabbage whites lay eggs on the nasturtiums and we can eat the flowers and bees like the borage, and we can eat it  ;D
all the herbs we let flower, bees like them, too  :)
hiya, Mowhay  ;D

[Mowhay]

Hi manicscousers and every one else on the board, looking forward to getting some useful info from all of you

[tonybloke]

Welcome to the site, Mowhay, ;)
I use companion planting, sweet peas with my runners, poached egg everywhere, tagates in and around the greenhouse, english marigolds to bring colour every day of the year! nasturtiums near brassiccas, squash under my sweetcorn, leeks between my strawberries for the winter, broad beans planted at same time as spuds in between the spuds, (something for the fleece to rest on if there is a frost) lettuce plants divert slugs from sweetcorn, (lettuce seed easy and cheap, just sow a few and prick out between sweetcorn)  feverfew for the blackfly (they love it) etc, etc , I could go on and on, but try Bob Flowerdew's book on companion planting? rgds, Tony ;)

[christianw81]

I've always found onions and garlic work with carrots. I'm trying this year at putting in loads of wild flowers at the bottom of my plot in the hope of bringing in more bees!

[PJW_Letchworth]

I tried companion planting a couple of years ago and I don't think I planted enough marigolds as they didn't do much.  Actually, the pigeons enjoyed them before they touched the cabbages so perhaps it did work!  ;D

I intend to grow loads of marigolds this year and plant them everywhere.  Hopefully they will keep the whitefly off the kale.  I guess there is always the added benefit the flowers will help attract bees and we all know they're going to need as much help as possible.

[tonybloke]

Hello christianw81, welcome to the site!! ;)

[Susiebelle]

Just a quick Hello & welcome to Moyhah & Christianw81 Hope you enjoy the site as much as I do :)

[hopalong]

Welcome to Moyhah & Christianw81 from me too.  This is a great site.

I went in for companion planting in quite a big way last year. French marigolds (Tagetes patula) looked good but didn't seem to deter the whitefly very effectively - certainly not from the kale. Marigolds and nasturtiums may have helped keep blackfly away from the broad beans, however, and I'm sure that poached egg plants and pot marigolds (Calendula officinalis), by attracting hoverflies and bees, will have helped control aphids and assist pollination. Chives and garlic planted near the carrots may have helped deter carrot root fly.  Anyway, I'm certainly going to try all this again this year..... but not rely on it totally.

[Barnowl]

Perhaps try some African marigolds?

[manicscousers]

hiya, christianw81, nice to meet you  ;D
forgot about the tagetes, stink like cats but they're supposed to keep something away, can't remember what it is but it was nasty  ;D

[tonybloke]

wotcha to Mowhay, as well! ;)