Before you plant anything in your home garden, you need to plan where you're going to place your crops to ensure that they grow well. This is crucial since certain fruit-bearing plants and vegetables shouldn't be planted together. (h/t to AskAPrepper.com)
Plant incompatibility basics
Sometimes, plants with different heights don't grow well together, like tomatoes and other smaller plants.
Other plants require different levels of moisture, while some plants are more susceptible to diseases. Keeping these disease-prone crops from other plants helps restrict possible infections to a small patch of land.
There are plants that chemically damage other plants or even prevent their growth. These allelopathic plants leave behind chemicals that harm or kill other crops.
Most of the plants mentioned in this article are allelopathic, so pay attention and don't plant them together. Allelopathic plants can make planning your garden more difficult, but doing your research can prevent crop failures.
Below is a list of 18 flowers, fruits, and vegetables that don't grow well when planted together.
Asparagus
Asparagus requires some space, so don't let other plants grow too close. It is particularly susceptible to poor growth when planted next to garlic, onions, and potatoes.
Beans and peas
Beans and peas both have negative effects on certain plants, especially all kinds of sweet and hot peppers. Beets are also affected by all kinds of pole beans.
Beets
Beets won't grow well near mustard plants or members of the bean or pea family.
Broccoli and cauliflower
Both broccoli and cauliflower won't grow well near peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, and squash of all types.
Brussels sprouts
This cruciferous vegetable don’t grow well next to strawberries or tomatoes.
Cabbage and cauliflower
Planting cabbage and cauliflower together makes them susceptible to Plasmodiophora brassicae (club root). Club root makes the plant's roots swell and unable to take up water, which then kills the plant.
Radish and tomato also don't grow well near cabbage and cauliflower.
Carrots
Carrots won’t grow well if you plant them near dill. Additionally, carrots don’t like to share space with parsnips. (Related: One seed at a time: Tips for growing your own vegetable garden.)
Celery
Celery can be a bit difficult to grow under normal circumstances. To ensure optimal growth, keep celery away from parsnips or potatoes.
Corn and tomatoes
Separate corn and tomatoes because both are vulnerable to a common fungal infection. If tomatoes are infected, they will infect the corn if both plants were planted too close together.
Corn and tomatoes are susceptible to cotton bollworm (also called corn earworm and tomato fruit worm).
Cucumbers
Novice gardeners find it easy to grow cucumbers, but note that these vegetables don't like being planted near cauliflower, potatoes, or tomatoes, or any strong aromatic herbs like basil, cilantro, lavender, rosemary, and thyme.
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi, a cruciferous vegetable in the cabbage family, doesn't grow well when planted near pole beans, strawberries, or tomatoes.
Lettuce
It's easy to cultivate lettuce, as long as you plant them away from beans, beets, and parsley.
Marigolds
Marigolds are often included in vegetable gardens because they keep away many pests. However, these brightly colored flowers can stunt the growth of peas and pole beans.
Melons
Melons are susceptible to fungi caught from squashes. They should also be kept away from cucumbers and potatoes.
Onions and the allium family
Alliums like onions, garlic, leeks, and shallots will stunt the growth of beans and peas.
Potatoes
Potatoes aren't compatible with a lot of other plants. To remedy this, grow potatoes in a far corner of your garden.
Even though potatoes and tomatoes belong to the same family, they don't grow well when planted together. Potatoes slow the growth of tomatoes and the former becomes more susceptible to Phytophthora (potato blight) when the plants are together.
When rotating crops, don't plant potatoes or tomatoes where the other grew the previous year. Plant potatoes away from cucumbers, melons, squash, sunflowers, tomatoes, and turnips.
Potatoes will grow well when planted near coriander, nasturtium, or sage.
Sunflowers
Sunflowers emit a chemical from their roots that prevents nearby plants from growing. This chemical will affect an area of about 12 inches around the plants, so keep other crops away.
Take note that sunflower seed shells also contain toxic chemicals that will kill grass and other plants. Always harvest the seed heads before the seeds start to fall. Since sunflowers grow tall, they may shade out other sun-loving plants.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes won't grow well when planted near cilantro and cucumbers.
If you want to start a home garden, decide what kinds of plants you want to grow and plan where you will plant each flower, fruit, herb, and vegetable to maximize crop yield.
Sources include:
Please contact us for more information.