Tomatoes are one of those fruits one must have in the garden. It is a fruit you can enjoy in a salad but cannot add to a fruit salad.
It makes for a delicious add-on in cuisine to sauces, and you can enjoy eating them straight from the plant.
So, if you plan to grow tomatoes, check out our article on the best fertilizer for tomatoes to grow healthy plants.
But what are the best tomato companion plants to grow with this delicious fruit? And why should you consider companion planting?
Let’s find out!
Companion planting is one of the best practices to partner plants with similar needs, from water and light to nutrients.
Companion plants will benefit each other when growing as they provide pest control, increases crop production, and helps with pest control.
Growing specific plants with tomatoes can improve growth, control diseases, provide pollination, and even enhance flavor.
Benefits of Companion Planting?
We discussed some of the benefits of choosing the best tomato companion plants and described what they are. But you can find a few plants that offer multiple benefits for growing tomatoes.
For example, growing strongly scented herbs can help repel pests while adding flowers to attract pollinators. With low-growing herbs, it acts as a living mulch planted with tomatoes in a pot.
Meanwhile, root crops help aerate the soil for healthier tomato root growth and repel small bugs. Then you have ornamental s that attract the beneficial insects for pest control. So when you do tomato companion planting, you can expect the following:
Pollinators like attracting butterflies, birds, and bees to the vegetable patch
Companion planting helps you to use the available space efficiently
It helps improve the garden soil and helps with weed control
The companion plants can improve the tomatoes’ health or can provide health for both plants as they can repel fungal disease, leading to healthier plants
You can expect to grow another edible crop
Still, some tomato companion plants, known as trap crops, might need to be sacrificed to improve your tomato yield.
A trap crop is a plant that attracts pests from neighboring plants, which can help save your main crop. In most cases, the plants you grow together with your tomatoes are also edible.
So, the best is to consider what you need the most and experiment with the variety of tomato companion plants listed with us here.
10 Best Companion Plants For Tomatoes
If you have not yet started your vegetable garden, find a perfect spot with full sun to grow your tomato plants.
After the last frost, prepare the space with a tiller or loosen the soil with your shovel. Remove the grass and weeds and amend the soil with some organic matter.
Amending compacted soil will provide your tomatoes with the drainage they need. Then, work on some fertilizer mentioned at the beginning. Do this about one week before planting your seeds or seedlings.
The plant spacing will vary depending on the variety of tomatoes you grow, but the general rule is 24-36 inches apart in rows about five feet apart. Dig a hole according to your plant’s root ball or follow the instructions on the packet of seeds.
Remember to water well after planting and provide your tomatoes with a support structure like cages or stakes, depending on the variety.
Then, decide on the companion plants for tomatoes you would like to grow in your vegetable garden. Check this article Tomato Cages Tips And How To Use Them Correctly for more tips on tomato support guide.
Garlic Grows Well With Tomato Plants
Garlic is a great companion plant and excels as it has a strong scent that naturally repels common tomato pests. In addition, it can repel slugs, mites, aphids, rabbits, and deer. As it grows low above the ground, it will not block sunlight around your plants.
What makes garlic exceptional is that you can harvest it with your tomatoes in summer. When you harvest at this time, you can free up some valuable gardening space around your tomato plants during the growing season.
Once your tomatoes die back in the fall, you can plant some more garlic cloves to start the process again. Another interesting thing is that using garlic spray helps prevent late blight.
Onions Make For an Excellent Companion Plant
Similar to garlic, your onions are natural repellents against bugs as it also have a strong odor. Still, if you struggle with thrips in your garden, it is best to avoid planting garlic, onion, or leeks near your tomatoes. While they make for exceptional companion plants, these vegetables are susceptible to thrips.
Peppers Are Good Companion Plants
Whether peppers can be grown as a tomato companion plant is still debatable. Still, the general thought is that tomatoes and peppers grow well together. The best part is together, they make a mean salsa.
Yet, the debate is that you may find an increased risk of diseases as both come from the nightshade family.
Basil is a Good Neighboring Planting
Regarding herb plant growth, Basil is ideal in the kitchen and excels with tomatoes in the garden. It makes for the best plant pairing as it has a strong scent. In addition, Basil repels bugs like spider mites, aphids, tomato worms, armyworms, and thrips.
Even better, when grown together, they enhance each other’s flavor. As you use them together in your food, it helps to plant them near to each other. You can grow them together in containers as they are small, and it can maximize space.
The tomatoes will help shield Basil’s delicate leaves from the bright sun.
Parsley Helps Boost Plant Growth
As with basil planting, parsley also has a solid aroma to keep garden pests away from your plants. In addition, parsley attracts hoverflies that enjoy feasting on other bugs in the garden. Parsley can help improve the taste of your tomatoes as well.
The best part is that parsley has similar growing needs regarding watering. Hence, the parsley will not deprive the tomato roots of water and nutrients. Thus, the two plants can grow together without any fuss.
The parsley plant is small; you can interplant them between the tomato patch rows. Alternatively, you can grow them together in a container.
Chives Provide Natural Pest Management
Like garlic and onions, a chive plant provides natural pest control for your tomato patch. It repels mites, aphids, rabbits, deer, and more. In addition, when your chives bloom, they attract beneficial predator insects and pollinators to the garden.
Still, chives grow in tight mounds and grow well with tomatoes in container gardens. Chives do not have invasive roots that spread like other herb plants and will not take over your vegetable garden.
Celery The Bug-Deterring Planting
Celery can also deter pests when planted close to your tomatoes, as there is something about the smell that prevents bugs from enjoying eating the fruit.
Asparagus For The Best Tomato Plant Growth
Asparagus plants and tomatoes form a symbiotic relationship that works for both plants. Why, as tomatoes repel asparagus beetles with a natural chemical called solanine.
On the other hand, asparagus produces a natural fungicide to prevent early blight and botrytis. It can also help avoid root-knot nematodes, which is a soil-borne disease.
Still, it would be best to consider growing them as companion plants with your tomatoes. The plant comes back yearly.
But the asparagus crown can take three or more years to grow edible spears, and you will need loads of patience.
Lavender Are Great Growing Plants With Tomatoes
The lavender flowers’ sweet smell helps repel pests like mosquitoes and other flying bugs. It also repels aphids away from your vegetable garden for cucumbers and strawberries, not blueberries. It attracts beneficial pollinators like bees to help pollinate crops, leading to healthier yields with high-quality produce.
French Marigolds as Companion Plants
French Marigolds have bright colors and a strong scent, making them an excellent deterrent in the garden. They keep bugs away from the tomato flowers like aphids and control tomato hornworms. By planting a row of this fragrant flower, you can divert insects away from young tomato plants to feed on flowers instead.
Worst Tomato Companion Plants
While you get great companion plants like the ones mentioned, you also get poor companion plants you should avoid.
Broccoli and Cauliflower Are Bad Companion Plants
Most Cole crops belonging to the Brassica family cause stunted growth for your tomato plants. Some other vegetables to avoid in the family are cabbage, Brussels sprouts, collards, kohlrabi, and ornamental kale.
These plants are heavy feeders and will deprive your tomatoes of the essential nutrients needed to grow.
Potatoes Are Not Good Companion Plants
Potatoes belong to the same nightshade plants as tomatoes. Hence, it would be best if you did not plant them together. The reason is that these plants share similar bacterial and fungal diseases.
Eggplant Shares Similar Bacterial and Fungal Diseases
Like potatoes, eggplant belongs to the same nightshade family as tomatoes. Thus, they can share the same fungal and bacterial diseases.
Fennel: The Worst Companion Plant
Fennel, like dill, makes harmful companion plants as it will deprive your tomatoes of the nutrients it needs, and they share common problems with pests and diseases.
Never Grow Walnut Trees Close To Garden Beds
While you do not plant a walnut tree close to a vegetable garden, it helps to keep this in mind. The tree releases juglone, a chemical that can cause walnut wilt and can inhibit the growth of most plants around it.
Corn Gets Bothered By The Same Garden Pest
Corn, like tomatoes, gets bothered by insect pests like the tomato fruitworm and the corn earworm. So if your corn gets infested with the worm, it will also enjoy eating the tomato plants. Another problem with corn is that it is a heavy feeder, depriving your tomatoes of the soil nutrients needed to grow healthy.
Frequently Asked Questions
While marigolds work well with tomatoes, you can add other flowers to prevent animals and bugs from eating your tomato plants. We recommend bee balm, nasturtium, mint, borage, and anise, to name a few.
The three sister plants are nasturtium, sunflowers, marigolds, and Bergamot which help repel insects naturally, like the squash bugs.
Yes, there are some plants you can grow between your tomatoes. Think of strong-scented herbs that do not grow huge, like garlic or parsley. These herbs attract beneficial insects and repel other bugs, and they serve as living mulch growing as ground cover to prevent weeds.
It helps to add compost, eggshells, worm castings, bone meal, or Epsom salts to the soil to grow healthy tomatoes. These are some of the best fertilizers adding the nutrients your young plants need to thrive.
Some exceptional cover crops are winter rye and oats. You can leave the mowed stems and plant your transplants through them.
You can grow tomatoes in the garden or in containers. Still growing them in the ground remains the best option as they are less hassle to remove. But grown in a pot, your plants will most likely not get diseases, but you may find that pollination does not occur.
Whether you want to buy, sell, or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!
