Having a garden can be a great decision as you get to grow your own food and eat fresh. But
you deciding on another plant to grow with tomatoes in your garden can be a bit of a
problem as not all plants can be grown with tomatoes.
Growing perfect and ready-to-eat tomatoes can be quite difficult as there are certain
conditions you have to put in place.
The plant to grow with tomatoes will determine how healthy your tomato would be as this
plant will help with pest control, better pollination, help avoid diseases from your tomato,
and add nutrients to the soil.
Here is a list of what plants to grow with tomatoes so as not to make any mistakes.
Basil:
Just as tomatoes go so well with Basil on a dish, they also go well when planted together.
When you plant basil next to tomato, its strong scent will mask the smell of tomatoes from
insects and pests.
Basil is one of the great plants you can grow with tomatoes because it also makes tomatoes
taste better.
Raddish:
If you notice your garden is being disturbed by flea beetles, then radish is the best plant for
them. Radish chase flea beetles from attacking your tomatoes and other plants you might
have in your garden.
Plant the radish at the base of your tomatoes to get the best result: this is because flea beetles
are one of the pests that damage tomato plants. When you do this, the beetles won’t attack
your tomato, instead, they will attack the radish plants.
Bush Beans:
Another plant to grow with your tomatoes is bush beans. This is because beans help repel
diseases from your tomato plant. Bush bean plants are short, unlike other plants that are not.
The shortness of the beans increases air circulation around your tomato, thereby decreasing
any attack from fungi.
Marigold:
Just like basil, Marigold also has a strong scent that helps repel pest and insecticide from
finding and attacking your tomatoes. Also, marigolds can be used to beautify your garden,
and its root help repels nematodes from attacking your tomatoes under the soil.
Asparagus:
Both tomato and asparagus are beneficial to each other when plated together. Asparagus
helps kill nematodes that may attack tomatoes at the root while tomato scent helps repel
asparagus beetle. Not only that, when harvested, asparagus bed space can still be used to
plant tomatoes: this help prevents an attack from pest and disease.
Sunflowers:
Sunflowers attract birds and bees to the garden. The bees help to pollinate the tomatoes in
the garden while the birds feast on pests and insects that may attack the tomatoes. In windy
areas, sunflowers provide an effective windbreak, which is very beneficial to tomatoes that
grow to 6-8 feet tall.
Thyme:
Thyme is an herb that helps prevent armyworms from laying eggs in your garden. These
army eggs are very dangerous to your tomatoes when they hatch into larvae as they will make
your plants their food.
Just like bush beans, thyme plants are also short, thereby making them useful as
groundcover plants for tomatoes. Thyme prevents soil-borne diseases from spreading into
the tomato leaves and rainwater from touching tomato leaves.
Additionally, thymes are perennials plant (plants that live more than 2 years), so you have to
put in mind that anytime you rotate your tomato plants, you will have to move your thymes
with your new tomatoes.
Parsley:
Another plant to grow with tomatoes is parsley as they are both beneficial to each other. Just
like sunflowers, parsley attracts hoverflies that feast on insects and pests that may attack the
tomato plants.
Also, parsley can serve as a groundcover for tomatoes while tomatoes can help provide shade
for parsley during the heat of summer.
Mint:
Mint is a herb and just like basil, also repels harmful pests with its scent. And just like
thymes, it can also make good groundcover plants for tomatoes over time.
Instead of planting your mint directly into the ground, plant it in a pot, dig the ground, and
put it in there: this is because mint can take over your garden if not controlled and the pot
help put it at bay.
Pepper:
Planting pepper with tomatoes is one of the best ways you can make your tomatoes grow
healthy. Pepper and tomatoes come from the same nightshade family, therefore they grow at
the same rates and in the same weather condition. Not only that, growing them together
helps with crop rotation.
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Cucumber:
Cucumber is also one of the best plants to grow tomatoes as they have the same growing
conditions. Cucumber helps control weeds around the tomato plant when planted at the
base of tomatoes
Onions/Garlic:
Just as basil and marigold help repel pests and insects with their scents, onions and garlic
also do the same. As you know, both onion and garlic produce overwhelming and pungent
odors, thereby, masking the scent of the tomatoes from insects and pests.
Carrots:
Carrots also is another plant to grow with tomatoes. Carrots flower support beneficial
parasite wasps (this can only happen if you leave them in the garden through the fall and
spring).
Even though carrots are one of the most fantastic plants to grow with tomatoes, if planted
close to the tomatoes, they might not grow as big as you want. But, their flavor will definitely
taste good.
Red Clover:
Here is another plant to grow with tomatoes and it has the same characteristics as
sunflowers. Red clover help attract bumblebees and this bumblebee enhances pollinators in
the garden. Pollinators are vital to tomatoes for them to grow big and healthy.
Sweet Potatoes:
Sweet potatoes are one of the plants that when grown with tomatoes, help reduces the risk of
disease. They protect the tomatoes from being touched by the splash of raindrops when they
hit the soil, as the splash can carry fungal (which live in the soil), thereby infecting the
tomato plants.
Apart from the nutrient and benefits that your tomatoes get when planted with those plants
listed above, you also get to add beautiful flowers and plants to your garden.
You can also go through our other posts to widen your horizon on tomato cultivation.