Not all plants are good friends, and sometimes, they’re even enemies…
If you’re an avid gardener, then your vegie patch is probably your pride and joy.
And when your tomato crop or your bean stalks don’t produce fruit, or begin to wither away, it can be frustrating, and even disheartening to venture out into the garden. But, what if it has nothing to do with your gardening skills?
Sometimes, vegetable growth can actually be affected by the plants that grow around them.
Similar to the idea of companion planting, or that some plants thrive when planted with their ‘friends’, vegetables also have other vegetables that don’t grow well with them. Your plant growth, produce, and livelihood can be affected by simply being planted next to an ‘enemy vegie’. So, why does this happen?
Why are there some vegetables that don’t grow well together?
Some vegetable plants dislike each other, and can harm each other’s growth because:
- Competing for nutrients and resources: Plants that have a similar root system usually aim to compete for the same kinds of nutrients and amount of water. In a vegie garden, your plants are usually quite close together, making it even harder for them to grow and thrive. One plant may become more dominate when it comes to fighting for nutrients, while other plants around it will suffer in the long run.
- Releasing chemicals that are allelopathic: Some plants release chemicals into the soil that are toxic to other plants. While it’s not done on purpose, this allelopathy (as it is called) can easily affect the growth of other plants around one that releases these chemicals.
- Spreading disease and attracting pests: Certain plants, especially when they’re within the same family, can attract pests and disease that will harm themselves and other plants surrounding it.
5 vegetables that don’t grow well together
Potatoes and tomatoes
Potatoes and tomatoes are both part of the nightshade family. Because of this, and due to their growth cycle being completely different, they can attract disease to each other at the wrong time, and cause plant growth damage.
Planting these two next to each other means your tomatoes and potatoes can become easily diseased.
Beans and onions
Onions have allelopathic properties that can harm bean plants when positioned next to each other. Onions emit allicin (which is also the chemical that makes you cry when chopping it!) which kills urease bacteria. This bacteria is essential for bean plants, as it helps them create nitrogen within the soil.
Planting these two next to each other is a doomed friendship.
Fennel and tomatoes
Fennel isn’t a plant that likes company. Because it is part of the brassica family, it tends to inhibit the growth of most other plants around it, but especially seems to affect tomato growth.
It is recommended to keep any fennel you wish to grow in a separate container or pot plant so that it doesn’t harm plants around it.
Pumpkin and summer squash
This vegie pair doesn’t aim to hurt or harm, but instead tend to love each other too much. Planting pumpkin and summer squash together may lead to cross pollination, and the production of fruit that is not very tasty.
These two vegetables also share the same pests and diseases, so if one gets sick, so will the other one!
Broccoli and tomatoes
Broccoli and tomato plants are planted at different times of the year. Since broccoli goes first, it tends to compound a large amount of sulphur into the soil. This means your tomatoes, when planted, may grow to be stunted or small.
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