If you want a good harvest of these beautiful tubers, learn which companion plants to grow with them.
When selecting the best companion plants for potatoes, it’s critical to consider which plants will benefit your crop the most. Gardeners have long employed companion planting. The idea is simple. You plant your crop near other herbs, flowers, or veggies proven to benefit from it as they grow.
In this article, I’ll go through the top seven companion plants for potatoes and discuss why they’re beneficial. Continue reading to learn more.
1. Lettuce
Lettuce is a vegetable with a short root system that works well to fill the gaps between potato plants. In addition, lettuce has short roots, which makes it an excellent companion plant for potatoes since it won’t compete with them for nutrients or water.
The ideal plants to put around potato hills will be early-season veggies harvested long before you trample around the garden to dig up the potatoes harvested late in the season.
2. Legumes
Legumes are excellent potato companion plants because they release nitrogen into the soil, which enhances crop quality and yields. The Mexican bean beetle, which attacks several legumes, is discouraged by potato plants.
In a hot area during the summer, planting pea crops to shade potatoes may also be advantageous since the shade will help the potato crop, which needs a lot of water. Peas also reduce soil moisture loss. It has also been shown that peas may lower Colorado potato beetle occurrence.
3. Cilantro
Cilantro, also known as coriander, is widely regarded as one of the most beneficial companion plants for potatoes. It is a herb with umbrella-shaped flowers that attract beneficial insects such as ladybugs, hoverflies, parasitoid wasps, and lacewings. These insects are predators that will eat harmful pests, such as Colorado potato beetles.
4. Corn
Corn grows tall and has shallow roots, while potatoes grow underground and need a small amount of above-ground surface space. Utilizing the diverse demands of potato plants and corn stalks can help you make the most of your garden’s area.
Planting corn next to your potatoes on their sunny southern side in a warm environment may be advantageous since it will shade the potatoes. The shade may ensure that potatoes have adequate water, grow effectively, and taste excellent when harvested by preventing soil water from evaporating.
5. Garlic
Garlic planting may be an effective insect deterrent around the potato bed. Garlic’s strong perfume is thought to deter certain bug species while confusing or distracting others, making it harder for pests to locate the bed’s primary plants.
Intercropping potatoes with garlic was also shown to be more successful at controlling late blight than fungicidal remedies.
6. Radish
Another excellent crop to use up extra space is radishes. These also develop quickly and have relatively shallow roots. So once again, you may enjoy a harvest from your potato plants between them before they expand to cover the area and need the available space and nutrients.
By discouraging flea beetles, radishes may also benefit the potatoes and other greens grown next to them.
7. Thyme
In the yard and dish, thyme pairs well with potatoes. Thyme is a useful plant to grow beside potatoes because it attracts hoverflies, or Syrphidae, which control aphid populations via predation. It may also grow effectively as a ground cover.
Thyme prefers considerably drier environments than potatoes; however, it might grow well on the southern side of potato mounds, where it can benefit from the brighter and drier conditions it requires.
