Companion planting is when you plant several species close together based on their potential to promote each other’s development, provide some level of insect protection, or bring other benefits.
Choosing plants with various growth patterns that do not compete with one another or those with differing nutrient requirements that use the soil effectively can maximize efficiency. Also make sure you take care of your broccoli plant correctly.
The following list of 7 companion plants for broccoli can promote its development.
1. Beets
Planting beets next to broccoli plants is ideal. Beets don’t need nearly as much calcium as broccoli does.
If you plant the two together, your broccoli won’t suffer from calcium deficiency as it may if you plant it with carrots and tomatoes. Just make sure there is a minimum of 15 inches of space between the beets and the broccoli.
2. Potatoes
Perhaps you like growing potatoes (solanum tuberosum), but you find it frustrating because so many other vegetables—tomatoes, peppers, carrots, cucumbers, sunflowers, onions, and the list goes on—cannot grow alongside them.
But do you know which vegetable can grow with potatoes? Broccoli! Although potatoes are known to take a lot of nutrients from the soil, they don’t mind being planted next to broccoli since those two plants have distinctly different needs.
While broccoli loves calcium and nitrogen, potatoes need a lot of magnesium and phosphate. As long as you fertilize both plants, they will happily grow alongside each other since they don’t compete for nutrition.
3. Rhubarb
Rhubarb repels cabbage whiteflies (aleyrodes brassier), which like to adhere to broccoli leaves and produce large numbers of offspring that make broccoli inedible.
It also appears that the fragrance of rhubarb leaves, which are loaded with poison oxalic acid, keeps whiteflies and other leaf-eating insects away. Just be careful not to put these companion plants too closely together. Be sure to leave at least 12 to 18 inches of space between them, and they will both flourish.
4. Chamomile
Chamomile attracts beneficial insects and pollinators while repelling cabbage flies that deposit their eggs on broccoli at the same time. This means that these two plants make excellent companions.
Research indicates that chamomile may release a molecule that could enhance the taste of your broccoli. Just bear in mind that if you grow chamomile with any crop from the Brassica family, you should keep other Brassica family members away. Otherwise, the plants may attract too many of the same pests and you’ll end up with an entire infected crop.
5. Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums provide a living mulch, making them a fantastic broccoli partner. Because of their expansive growth pattern, nasturtiums will grow around the base of your broccoli plant and provide advantages comparable to mulch. Nasturtiums consume few nutrients and won’t compete with broccoli for nutrients.
6. Rosemary
Plant rosemary (salvia rosmarinus) in your yard for a hassle-free herb that can withstand any weather and even help keep pests away from your broccoli.
Rosemary deters cabbage loopers and cabbage moths, both of which may eat holes in the leaves and crowns of broccoli.
The prickly leaves of rosemary, at least according to gardening tradition, will deter slugs and snails if you choose to cut a few stems and scatter them about your broccoli plants.
7. Radish
Radishes are ideal for growing with broccoli. Radishes are nutritional, and they effectively ward off insects that feed on broccoli. A variety of pests that, if uncontrolled, would eat and damage your broccoli plant are dispelled by white, fiery, and crisp icicle radishes.
Additionally, radishes don’t need a lot of space to develop and they like the cool shade that broccoli may provide.
