Companion Planting

[yumidesign]

Companion planting in Organic Gardening

Cut and pasted from variou sources.

When the right companions are planted together, they grow quicker, stronger, need less water, taste sweeter, have less pest damage etc.

For example the carrot fly locates carrots by smell so if you can mask the smell of the carrots she may not find them. Tomato plants protect asparagus from asparagus beetle.

Plants are choosen as companion plants for the functions that they can provide, which can be grouped into the following categories: dynamic accumulators, edible nitrogen fixing species, green manures, weed inhibiting plants and weed barrier plants. Nasturtiums are well-known to attract caterpillars, so planting them alongside or around vegetables such as lettuce or cabbage will protect them, as the egg-laying insects will tend to prefer the nasturtium.

Crops which suffer from greenfly and other aphids may benefit from the proximity of marigolds: these attract hoverflies, a predator of aphids, and are also said to deter other pests.

The use of plants that produce copious nectar and protein-rich pollen in a vegetable garden is a good way to enhance the population of beneficial insects that control pests. Some insects in the adult form are nectar or pollen feeders, while in the larval form they are voracious predators of pest insects.

Generally speaking, plants that are in the same "family" will coexist and grow well in the same area of your garden. However some pairings are less than positive.

Some companion planting combinations you may wish to avoid:

* Asparagus & Garlic / Onions

* Beans & Onions

* Beets & Beans

* Broccoli & Beans

* Cabbage & Strawberries

* Carrots & Celery

* Corn & Tomatoes

* Onions & Peas

* Potatoes & Tomatoes

onions and beans hate each other

A very good chart can be found at:

http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/companion.htm

[loong]

Nasturtiums are well-known to attract caterpillars, so planting them alongside or around vegetables such as lettuce or cabbage will protect them, as the egg-laying insects will tend to prefer the nasturtium.

I'm not sure if the blackfly are the same in Thailand as in Uk, but Uk blackfly will nearly always go for nasturtium.

Some companion planting combinations you may wish to avoid:

* Potatoes & Tomatoes

This surprises me as they are both the same family. I know that it's not a good idea to grow tomatoes where you have grown potatoes the previous season, but I thought that was because they can suffer the same diseases. Anyway, I've found growing potatoes in Thailand impossible - only success, one potato the same size as an eggplant.

[jandtaa]

Hi YD

Thanks for the link ! I use companion planting in the UK and have a nice book by Bob Flowerdew on the subject . 

Out here in the tropics I'm only just beginning to learn which synergistic relationships work and which don't. Please could you make some suggestions for which species to use in Thailand  based on your 25 years experience growing in the sub-tropics . Often observation is the key in organic farming/gardening and we could all benefit from your years of experience, as Lickey so rightly pointed out in a recent post hopefully as the forum matures we will have a lot more info based on personal experience and experimentation rather than the research and technical papers we are currently discussing !! Your lengthy personal experience could well help other members so please do share  !! 

Where abouts in the sub-tropics have you been growing previously and what are you growing at the moment out here ??

Also can you please shed some light on the term a "mad womans breakfast" not one I've come across before ? I worked as a chef in a high security Psychiatric hospital many moons ago and we served bacon and eggs and always made sure there was plenty left for the kitchen staff many of whom, myself included were far more certifiable than any patient  !!

Keep the posts coming !!

regards Jandtaa

  

[Lickey]

Its strange when posts like companion planting jogs your memory!! Mum & Dads garden [ 1 acre] in the UK, there would be 3/4 rows of carotts, then a row of chrsanthemum flowers, then were the rasberry bushes, 4 rows of potatoes, more flowers, cabbage and sprouts ,broccoli,white & purple sprouting,more flowers,rows of turnips and parsnips,swedes and more flowers, and a big strawberry patch with marigolds in it,

It was my dad who gave me the idea of a "chicken tractor" a moveable run and house for the chickens, he used to time it just right, once the run was moved, he would go over the soil with his BMB ploughmate and plant the tates asap, with really good results, the taste still lingers on my palate!! i dont remeber dad ever buying any cides, no blight,no aphids,no mealy bugs, he only bought cow manure from the local farm, the rows would be a foot apart, so harvesting the veg would not compact the soil near the plants,companion planting in the 50s/60s/ 70s 80s. who would have thought it??

Potatos, SAP gave me some great advice last year about growing tates, i done everything he told me, but i think the beds were still suffering from the chem overdose and only 2 of the 20 apeared, and these died too.

Genuine seed tates are of course the best option, these are hard to find in Thailand, most supermarket tates have been treated, but your local village market tates might be ok, nows the time to buy, keep cool for a few months, bottom drawer of the fridge is ok, most fridges are 6c or above, planting time would be mid november, I will try again this year, with a straw and manure mulch in place,will keep you all posted on the results,,

Cheers, Lickey,,

[jandtaa]

Hi Lickey 

Yeah Its the same with my parents allways plenty of tagetes and nasturtium (the flowers and leaves of the nasturtium are also edible ,nice peppery taste, and I usually add a few to my salad mixes that I sell !!) growing in the veg patch, my dad tells me he was taught this by his father and uncles (allotment growers in London) so companion planting is another technique that gardeners have been aware of for ages but with the recent resurgence in organics has become a bit of a buzz-word.

Also known as "guilds" in the permaculture world these methods go back to the time of the native American Indians with their "three sisters" guild of corn, squash and beans  ;

 " The Legend of the Three Sisters

 

  The term “Three Sisters” emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the  earth began when “Sky Woman” who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the  sky and fell through to an endless sea. The  animals saw her coming, so they took the soil  from the bottom of the sea andspread it onto  the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place  for her to land. This “Turtle Island” is now what we call North America.  Sky woman had become pregnant before she  fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a  daughter. When the daughter grew into a  young woman, she also became pregnant (by  the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the “new earth.” From her grave grew three

special gifts from Great Spirit : Corn, beans and squash".

I've used this in the UK with sweetcorn, French beans and butternut squash in the poly tunnel to good effect. The Idea behind the thinking is that the corn acts as a support for the beans which fix and supply extra nitrogen whilst the squash act as a living mulch, shading the roots of the corn. It's an excellent way of getting a maximum crop yield from the ground (known in permaculture as "stacking"). I tried it last year out here in my kitchen garden using corn, yardlong bean and pumkin and although I need to work on the planting times of the three crops it is certainly a method I'm going to persist with !!

Here's a link to a PDF I uploaded a few months back companion planting  it's a nice overview and covers the "three sisters" in depth, giving plant spacings and timings.

Cheers for now J 

     

[drtreelove]

" The Legend of the Three Sisters

The term “Three Sisters” emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the earth began when “Sky Woman” who lived in the upper world peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea andspread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This “Turtle Island” is now what we call North America. Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she also became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the “new earth.” From her grave grew three

special gifts from Great Spirit : Corn, beans and squash".

Now we got a Brit quoting native American legends and a good ol American boy signing off with Cheers. What's happnin here? And we thought

the US was the melting pot.

[jandtaa]

Now we got a Brit quoting native American legends and a good ol American boy signing off with Cheers. What's happnin here? And we thought

the US was the melting pot.

 Yeah TV organic forum the "new" melting pot !!

Grew up like many Brits in a gentler time when cowboys and indians was a common play time occupation, watch a few westerns on the box and then off to the woods to re-enact !! ( I was always an Indian chief and had a mighty fine set of feathers !!)

Always had a fascination with native tribes and how they lived sustainably from the land and I think a lot can be learnt from their methods. I like the fact that Indian hunters would only kill the weaker animals for food there by helping natural selection along its way and increasing the quality of the gene pool etc.They Like the Aborigines and others lived in total harmony with nature and never took more than they needed.

In actual fact my mother is a dual citizen and my grandfather and his forefathers hail from Virginia so I've a bit of hillbilly in me !! Probably explains why I'm so at home up here in the back of beyond mountains of Chiang Rai !!

Any way old chap I've just hung up my bowler hat and am looking forward to a round of cucumber sandwiches and a nice pot of darjeeling so toodle-pip for now and remember stiff upper lip what !!

cheers J 

[yumidesign]

there is so much historic valuable information locked away here.... how to get out to the Thai farmers... where there is a will there is a way??? any suggestions... workshops, publications? I did attend a really advanced farming display at Khon Kaen university a couple of years ago that could be a way of transferring information. Does anyone have any contact with the ag. dept at this uni?????

[Lickey]

Hi Yumidesign,

I went to the farm today hoping mr poo would be there to help cutting up banana culms for compost mix, i called mrs, she said he go school today, learn about making compost and using, [local Agri office] so word is getting round about giving back to the soil what plants take out, we recently bought 100ks of pigeon pea for 100 bht, its a great green cover crop, perhaps check your local agri office to see what deals they have, mrs does every week!

Cheers, Lickey..

[jandtaa]

Hi Folks

Been trying to put together some sort of planting plan for my plot when I return in the autumn and want to use some companion planting in the scheme. Finding info relevant to the tropics as always is a bit of a challenge but here are some that are probably worth a try ;

Mint-Cabbage (mint repels cabbage butterfly/moth and improves the general health of the cabbage, also improves health of tomatoes)

Basil-Tomatoes (basil improves the flavour of the tomatoes)

Marigold/Tagetes-Tomatoes (marigolds help deter harmful root-knot nematodes)-Curcubits (marigolds repel squash vine borers and cucumber beetle) Marigold should not be planted with brassicas or beans

Rat-tailed radish-Curcubits (radish helps to prevent damage by the cucumber beetle)

Papaya-Sweetcorn (papaya helps deter corn pests such as stem borers)Do not grow papaya and curcubits together as they share the same vectors of disease (This is the reason tomatoes and potatos together should be avoided).

Dill-Cabbage (dill promotes stronger and healthier growth) Do not grow dill with carrots as it will inhibit their growth.

Chives-Carrots (chives improve the flavour of the carrots). I've also come across references to rice straw mulch improving the sweetness of carrots.

Coriander- enhances the flavour of a number of vegetables and repels aphids also attracts predatory insects if allowed to go to seed.

Anyone come across any others suitable for the tropics, do your Thai families have any local knowledge of companion planting ??

Cheers for now J 

                         

[BigSnake]

Thank, some good tips here, also remember to keep the garden clean, free or weeds and grass, don't little snakes hiding out.

[loong]

I found these links, probably much the same as the others already posted except the first one for companion planting to increase yield.

http://www.gardensablaze.com/Companions/CompanionYield.htm

http://www.gardensablaze.com/Companions/CompanionAttract.htm

http://www.gardensablaze.com/Companions/CompanionPest.htm