The Perks of Companion Planting
You may have heard the term “companion planting” from local farmers or backyard gardeners, but what does companion planting entail? Companion Planting is the agricultural practice of planting multiple crops together in order to better benefit the health of crops and promote plant growth and longevity. This widely used practice has a long list of benefits if done properly, and we’ll break down why it’s worth planting a biodiverse crop this gardening season!
First, a brief history lesson. Companion planting can be traced back to multiple ancient civilizations, including Greek, Roman, and Chinese. The Native Americans are also believed to have developed their agricultural system around companion planting. You may have heard of squash, beans, and corn referred to as “The Three Sisters” because they were often planted together by the Native peoples. That said, companion planting dates back thousands of years. And there’s a reason this method has been used for thousands of years! The ancient peoples of their time surely saw the benefits of this method, which is no surprise why it has been making its resurgence since the organic movement of the 70’s. Now it’s time to dive into the benefits of companion planting, and help you find the best way to incorporate this practice into your own garden.
Feed Your Soil
Legumes, such as beans and lentils, release nitrogen into the soil. They help replenish the soil of nitrogen for lettuce plants, which uptake and require more nitrogen.Biodiversity is the cornerstone of healthy soil and thriving crops. Companion cropping promotes biodiversity, and the crops reap all the benefits! Introducing nitrogen fixers to your crops helps to replenish the nitrogen being depleted in the soil by heavy feeders. These fixers are able to take nitrogen from the air and store it for later use. They don’t uptake nitrogen from the soil, and once they die, the stored nitrogen returns to the soil for the heavy feeders to thrive off of! These nitrogen fixers are also referred to as cover crops, and are typically legumes such as clover, peas, beans, lentils, and soybeans. They’re great companion plants alongside heavy-feeding crops that quickly deplete soil nutrients if not regularly rotated with other crops! And cover cropping can also aid in preventing soil erosion! It’s better to plant crops that have different root depths, as it helps to aerate the soil and distribute water and nutrients from different soil levels to all of your crops. Soil stabilization and water retention is vital in maintaining heathy crops season after season.
Manage Weeds
Strawberries act as a groundcover and can help reduce the need to weed around taller slim plants like pepper plants.A huge benefit of proper companion planting is weed management. By strategically intercropping plants, you can suppress weeds by creating a living mulch along your crops. These plants help to crowd out unwanted plants and block sunlight, which suppresses new weeds from sprouting. Some of these plants can even stop weed growth due to their growth inhibiting compounds. No need for harmful herbicides! Plant these crops around your main crops and keep your weed management to a minimum: broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, strawberries, tomatoes, and eggplant.
Interplanting also helps to maximize space in your garden beds and improve productivity. Maturity rate, nutrient requirements, and size are important factors to consider when deciding what crops to interplant.
Deter Pests
Basil planted around tomato plants can help lure pests away from the tomatoes. The basil helps to deter pests.Believe it or not, certain plants can also help deter pests and unwanted insects. Trap cropping is a method which involves using a type of plant to lure pests away from another. Trap cropping helps to mask vulnerable crops and deflect attention from these crops and create a physical barrier to limit access to insects that lay eggs or live in the ground. Some of the popular companion crops used to trap crop are bell peppers with hot cherry pepper, cabbage with collard greens, and tomatoes with basil. It’s amazing how these crops work together to minimize pest problems! Some crops also attract predator insects that help to eradicate pests taking over your crops. Not all insects are a threat to your plants, and learning which ones are beneficial (and which plants attract these beneficial predators), will help you better plan your companion crops! Using plants as physical deterrents also helps, utilizing hedgerows or low growing plants around the base of vulnerable crops. This can help limit access to pests living in the ground.
Planting sun-sensitive crops such as coffee in the shade of a larger fruit tree’s canopy can help the crop thrive.Create Shade
Companion cropping is also great when used to create shade for sun-sensitive plants. By planting taller sun-loving crops as a canopy plant above more heat-sensitive plants, you can create shade for those who need it most. This method will also help you better utilize your land. Instead of creating whole rows of crops interspaced, plant in groupings. If you have an orchard, consider utilizing the ground space beneath your fruit trees to plant crops that require more shade. Plenty of crops do better with a little protection from the sun. Especially if you live on the dry, hotter side of the island, this can make it possible to grow more crops in your climate! This method works particularly well for growing coffee plants. Planting coffee beneath a canopy better replicates the natural areas where coffee grows.
When plotting your companion planting, be sure to research your companions to ensure one doesn’t have allelopathic effects on the other crops. Allelopathy is a biological phenomenon in which a plant may produce biochemicals that interfere with the growth and development of other plants. Researching plants before you dig will help you avoid planting these crops alongside each other.
Companion planting is a great trend taking off in the agricultural world, but it can be even more beneficial here on our little island. With limited land space, being able to maximize crops and help promote growth through simple management practices will make all the difference in your garden, no matter how big. Odds are, you’re probably already companion planting! So now it’s time to dig deep, and better strategize what we grow to help our crops thrive and improve our harvest!