What Not To Plant With Tomatoes
Tomato fruits are a popular choice for many home gardeners to grow in their vegetable garden. And for many reasons, one of the most popular being the flavor of tomatoes, and how well taste pairs well with many dishes.
Another reason is they are an excellent companion plant for a wide variety of flowers, beans, and veggies such as:
In fact, marigolds are one of the best tomato companion plants because they repel many harmful pests of the tomato plant, such as tomato hornworms and keep them from munching on your tomato crops.
But what many new gardeners don’t know is that even though tomatoes can be good companion plants for many other plants, there is a wide variety of crops you would not want to plant next to tomatoes because you could end up harming them.
To help your tomato beds thriving, check out what not to plant with tomatoes.
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Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts, along with any other vegetable in the cabbage family or brassica family, are not a good choice to plant with your tomato garden plants or pole beans.
This is because brassicas have chemicals in them that affect tomato plant growth. The same advice is also true for other nightshade type plants, as well.
But that’s not the only reason they shouldn’t be planted together. Brussels sprouts attract flea beetles which are known to attack vegetables such as tomatoes and can destroy your entire crop.
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are another vegetable you wouldn’t want to plant with tomatoes. The reason is that they both attract similar diseases.
If they are planted together, they’re twice as likely to get fungal diseases and more such as black spot and root-knot nematodes. So, it’s best not to give the pests an invitation to attack both your sweet potatoes and tomatoes at once.
Fennel
Fennel is one herb you want to keep away from tomatoes or in close proximity with a variety of different plants. This is because it has a tendency to take over other plants planted nearby, which will cause the tomato plants to stop growing and eventually they might die.
Black Walnut Trees
Black walnuts are a force to be reckoned with. These trees release toxins from their leaves, nuts, and roots that harm many plants.
Planting tomatoes anywhere near these trees will result in them dying. But what many gardeners don’t know is that you also can’t plant your tomatoes anywhere near the same spot a black walnut tree was for a few years after it’s gone.
Corn
If you ever thought about planting corn with your tomatoes, think again. Corn has a reputation for attracting garden pests such as the corn earworm.
If you couldn’t tell by the name these insect pests can cause damage to not only your thriving corn plants but are also known to attack tomato plants.
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Dill
Dill or young dill are allelopathic plants, and you wouldn’t plant these types of plants anywhere near tomatoes. If they were to be planted in the same bed, the chemicals from the dill roots would affect the tomato roots, which would make the growth of tomatoes poor, or worse, your healthy plant could die.
Can you think of any other plants that are better planted away from your tomatoes? Be sure to leave them in the comments below.
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