Companion Plants for Tomatoes!

There are many good companion plants for tomatoes, but how do you work them into an overall garden plan without feeling like you’re wasting valuable vegetable growing space? Here are some great companion plant ideas to help protect your tomatoes from harmful insects and promote better growth, while still giving you produce you can actually use in your kitchen!

Basil

Basil and tomatoes are great companions, both in the garden and on your dinner plate. Their flavours go hand in hand in so many dishes, and when planted together in the garden, they seem to benefit each other as well. Basil repels insects like mosquitoes, thrips, whiteflies and hornworms, helping to improve tomatoes’ growth. It is also widely believed that growing basil close to tomatoes enhances their taste.

Borage

Borage is attractive with its star-shaped blue flowers, but it also tastes great. It has a lovely cucumber flavour and can be used in salads or as a garnish on desserts or drinks. The flowers are also gorgeous when used as garnishes and they taste sweet. More importantly, borage is very useful as a friend for your tomatoes!

Borage blossoms attract bumblebees and other pollinators right up until frost. Plant a Borage at each corner of your garden, and as your tomato plants grow, your borage blooms will attract the bees to pollinate your tomatoes! This encourages your tomatoes to produce a bountiful crop of fruit. Borage also repels tomato hornworms, improving the quality of your produce.

Garlic

When planted with tomatoes, garlic repels spider mites which are known to destroy tomato crops. The smell and flavour of garlic also deters aphids, maggots and snails. It seems that while most of us love the pungent flavour and aroma of garlic, the insect world finds it less appealing.

Lettuce

When the weather is warm, lettuce appreciates some shade which can be provided by tomatoes when planted as companions. And the tomatoes benefit from the ‘living mulch’ that lettuce provides, which helps to keep the soil cool and moist.

Marigolds

Marigolds are a classic companion plant for the vegetable garden. They repel many pests and reduce root-knot nematodes in the soil, allowing your vegetables to grow better. Try planting marigolds as an edging around your garden, and throughout your vegetables. They’ll add amazing colour to your space and they’ll attract helpful pollinators to your other plants.

Parsley

Parsley is another one of the great companion plants for tomatoes. It boosts growth and attracts predators of the tomato hornworm, like ladybugs. You can also let some of your parsley go to bloom to attract hoverflies and predatory wasps that prey on aphids and other harmful insects.

Companion planting has so many benefits. It can help with pest control, improved growth and enhanced flavour. Try these companion plants for tomatoes in your garden and let us know how it affects the flavour of your produce!