5 companion plants for tomatoes

In this video I will show you 5 of my favorite evidence based companion planting strategies for your organic garden tomatoes. Plus two plants that should never be planted near tomatoes.

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DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
01:18 – Grow Marigolds with tomatoes for root knot nematodes
02:10 – Grow alliums with tomatoes for red spider mites
03:26 – Grow cowpeas with tomatoes for stinkbugs
04:07 – Grow parsley with tomatoes for many benefits
04:52 – Grow basil with tomatoes for tomato hornworms
06:35 – Don’t grow potatoes near tomatoes
07:07 – Don’t grow black walnut trees near tomatoes

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in today’s video we’re going to talk about the best five companion plants for tomatoes and how they do such a great job to give you a bigger Harvest we’re also going to talk about two plants that you should never plant with tomatoes unless you want disastrous results our tomatoes are coming along nicely this year even if the colder weather this spring pushed our traditional planting date back a it there are two extremes when it comes to companion planting of any type uh the one side is like the magical mystical you know this plant loves this plant and this plant hates this plant these ones are friends that help them grow bigger or stronger this one helps this one taste better and then there’s the camp on the other end of the spectrum that really feels that companion planting should be backed by science when I set out to write my book I chose to go the route of science I do not discount that there have been several companion planting strategies that have been successful that have been passed down from generation to generation and a lot of those have been actually backed up by science now that we’re in you know modern times unfortunately a lot of modern research has proven some of those to be completely false So today we’re just going to talk about 100% science-backed companion planting strategies however if you’ve got some companion planting methods that you swear by leave them down below in the comments let’s get into number five which is probably the most popular companion planting uh plant that’s ever been um and for some good reason it’s not quite as magical as a lot of them would have you believe but that’s marigolds there are very few plants that produce a substance that is toxic to nematodes specifically root knot nematodes root not nematodes are microscopic round worms that live in the soil and on plant roots they injure plants by feeding on the root cells and the root system can become damaged to the point where the plant can’t properly absorb nutrients and water plants may appear stunted and discolored and they may die The Roots may have knots or swollen areas nematodes may enter the root system and get trapped to not be able to continue their life cycle or if they start to chew on the roots they can be poisoned French maragold are the best Tangerine happens to be the most potent variety number four is any member of the alium family so onions chives garlic according to Cornell University’s home Garden website members of the Alien Family actually put off such an odor that it does repel pests especially red spider mites red spidermites are pale orange to red and feed on the underside of leaves and they’re really difficult to see with the naked eye they suck the sap out of your leaves and damage appears as many shiny pale yellow marks on top of the tomato leaf eventually the leaves turn brown and die or fall off now if left untreated it can lead to a very severe issue with actually the formation of webs on the plant now if you prune your Tomatoes like I do it actually removes a lot of the lower leaves and branches as the season progresses which allows plenty of room underneath tomatoes to plant members of the alium family now is a great time to sew green onion seeds they’re super easy to grow from seed and grow fast as the weather warms up just sprinkle some on top of the ground and either cover with a very light layer of soil or compost or a light layer of mulch and I’ve also got some chives growing here chives form clumps as they multiply you can dig up these clumps and divide them and get lots more plants to spread around your garden they’re great for warding off spidermites they’re great in cooking and they provide beautiful flowers in Spring number three is cow peas now I grew up in a Southern family and cow peas or blackeyed peas was a staple on New Year’s Day if you have stippled colored spots on your fruit it’s probably stink bugs one way to help mitigate the damage is to plant a trap crop now a trap crop is a plant that you’re not looking to harvest from it’s kind of a sacrificial plant that you put and this plant happens to be something that this pest likes better than the one you don’t want them munching on so cow peas happen to be a favorite of stink bugs so plant a trap crop of cow peas about 10 ft away from your tomatoes and that’ll draw those stink bugs to that versus your Tomatoes number three is parsley now other than being used in a lot of cooking it’s a great companion plant for almost anything in the garden the reason is it has the ability to attract hoverflies but you have to let it go to flower and it will do that this summer parsley flowers will attract hoverflies the larvae of which will eat aphids and tomato horn worms and hatched worms that are on the small side The Parsley flowers will also attract parasitic wasps who actually lay their eggs under the skin of tomato hornworms so when the eggs hatch the babies eat their way out of the tomato hornworm killing it not pretty but effective it should be noted that any plant with similar Umble flowers like carrot dill and fennel will do the same job now my favorite companion plant for tomatoes comes in at number one and it has to be basil now just the smell of basil and tomatoes growing together in the garden says summer to me and that’s a good enough reason to plant them together right there but basil actually helps keep the five- spotted Hawk moth away from your tomato plants this is the moth that lays the eggs that becomes the tomato hornworm and they find the tomato plants through smell Tomatoes as you probably know have a strong unique scent but basil has an even stronger scent this confuses the moth and it will look elsewhere I’ve done this for 7 years and I have never had a tomato horn worm on my tomato plants except for one year when I planted a tomato plant on the other side of the property and forgot to put the basil those had tomato hornworm I won’t make that mistake again another reason to grow basil other than great pesto is for the flowers bees absolutely love basil flowers and they will fluck to them now the problem is as soon as basil flowers it gets bitter the leaves get bitter and so if you’re growing it to cook with you don’t want it to flour so you want to pinch off any beginning uh flower buds that you see and that’ll actually keep the plant bushy and it will keep it producing and it will keep it from getting bitter I grow other basil in other parts of the garden and any basil works for any of this Green Basil Thai Basil holy basil but I leave some for the bees every year I grow a row of Basil in the ground in front of my tomatoes if you’re growing tomatoes in containers a basil plant or two with the does the same thing they don’t have to be planted in the same soil all right I promised you two plants that you should never grow with your Tomatoes number one are potatoes potatoes and tomatoes are in the same family the nightshade family and so they share a lot of the same diseases because potatoes are usually coming along first they’re going to start to get diseases first right when your tomatoes are starting to you know really start to grow well and they’re not going to have any problem sharing their diseases with your new tomato plants so you want to make sure that you keep your potatoes and your Tomatoes at least 15 feet apart the second thing you don’t want near your tomato plants or any member of the nightshade family Tomatoes potatoes eggplant and peppers you don’t want them anywhere near a black walnut tree black walnuts actually exude a chemical from their Roots called juglone and that will stunt or kill night shades especially Tomatoes they seem to be the most most susceptible so you want to keep those about 15t or more away from the drip line of any black walnut tree to see how to properly prune and trellis your tomatoes for great growth and great production click on this video right here and I’ll see you next time