Pro tip: My neighbor swears by companion planting but I think it's a load of hype

I was talking to Frank from three houses down last Saturday and he told me I was wasting space by not planting basil next to my tomatoes to improve flavor and repel pests. He claims his yields went up 40% after he started pairing marigolds with his cucumbers, but I've never seen any real evidence that it works beyond coincidence. Has anyone here actually tested companion planting side by side with a control group or is this just gardening folklore passed around?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew_bennett2420d ago

Honestly, I tried companion planting once and my basil got so aggressive it choked out the tomatoes. Maybe my plants just didn't get the memo about teamwork.

johnson.faith20d ago

@drew_bennett24 I had the same problem with basil being a bully in the garden. What finally worked for me was giving each plant its own space, about 18 inches apart, and trimming the basil back hard every couple weeks. That way it couldn't overpower the tomatoes before they got established. I also started planting the basil on the north side of the tomatoes so it got less direct sun and stayed smaller. Once I did that, the tomatoes actually grew better and the basil still did fine. You might have to play around with spacing and pruning to find what clicks in your garden.