When planting vegetable crops and trees, their characteristics are taken into account - plant growth in the sun or in the shade, abundant or moderate watering, differences in root systems. However, not everyone knows that when planting crops in the garden, their compatibility with each other should be taken into account. Summer residents who grow vegetables know that productivity depends not only on favorable conditions and caring for plants, but also on their location in the beds. By adhering to the rules of compatibility of garden crops, even beginners will be able to rationally use the land and get good harvest.

If the neighbors in the garden bed are chosen incorrectly, this may cause poor growth and crop development, insect accumulation and fungus formation due to overwatering. Correct placement of plants in the beds, on the contrary, has a beneficial effect on their growth and also makes them more resistant to disease.
The principle of mixed beds is used by farmers and hobbyists who grow organic vegetables, fruits and berries, since the correct compatibility of vegetables during planting helps repel pests, and there is no need to use chemicals. Correctly selected neighborhood and rational use garden plot allow you to increase productivity up to 20%.
Mixed plantings are not as complicated as they might seem at first glance. Before you start sowing, the plants need to be divided into groups, taking into account the intensity of watering and lighting, and the need to apply fertilizers. It is recommended to draw up a site plan with the distribution of plants. By adhering to the rules of vegetable compatibility, the gardener will receive the following benefits:
saving land area;
reduction in the incidence of diseases;
plants attract harmful insects less;
applying less fertilizer;
increasing the yield and taste of fruits.

Rules and table of compatibility of vegetables with other crops in the garden
By planning a scheme for joint planting of vegetables, herbs, flowers, shrubs and trees, it is possible not only to increase the yield and quality of fruits, but also to create beautiful garden bed. When distributing crops in the neighborhood, the following rules must be taken into account:
“neighbors” must have similar requirements for light and moisture, acidity and soil structure, as well as the same rate of development and period of fruit ripening;
it is unacceptable that the width of the bed is less than 1 meter;
the garden is divided into several sections (in the middle part they plant tall plants, the fruits of which ripen the longest - tomatoes, peppers, cabbage);
Early ripening plant species are placed closer to the borders - most often these are greens and herbs; this place is also suitable for grapes and strawberries;
In order for the soil to remain fertile, it is important to follow the rule of crop rotation (planting plants several times in a row on the same soil is unacceptable);
correct proximity involves the distribution of vegetables in the beds, taking into account their root system, the most best option- when crops with small and more developed roots alternate.

The table will help you plan what and where to plant, taking into account plant compatibility. The table shows the most common vegetables.
Vegetable Good compatibility Poor compatibility
Eggplant Peas, potatoes Onions, tomatoes, fennel, garlic
Peas Eggplants, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, carrots, radishes, beans Onions, garlic, tomatoes
Daikon Zucchini, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, spinach, pumpkin Peas, strawberries, cabbage
Cabbage Potatoes, onions, lettuce, beets, celery, dill Strawberries, beans
Potato Eggplants, peas, cabbage, onions, corn, parsley, lettuce, beets, horseradish, beans, garlic, radish Cucumbers, tomatoes, celery, fennel
Onion Black currants, garden strawberries, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, watercress, spinach Beans, peas, beans, cabbage
Carrot Peas, onions, tomatoes Fennel
cucumbers Peas, dill, beans, lettuce, cabbage Potatoes, tomatoes
Pepper Onions, lettuce, beets, tomatoes, basil, eggplant Peas, cucumbers, celery, beans
Parsley Onions, lettuce, peas, beans, tomatoes, radishes, beans Carrots, beets, celery, horseradish
Tomatoes Green crops, cabbage, onions, gooseberries, asparagus, beans Potatoes, kohlrabi, cucumbers, fennel
Salad Cabbage, garden strawberries, carrots, cucumbers, onions, radishes, spinach, peas Tomatoes, pumpkin, beans, beets
Beet Cabbage, onion, lettuce, beans Fennel
With fruit and other trees
It is not recommended to plant shrubs, berries and vegetables in the rows of a young garden. This is explained by the fact that plants, and especially crops from the nightshade family, take all the nutrients from the soil.
If the trees have long taken root and delight their owners with their fruits, you can sow seeds of parsley, cilantro, dill, radishes and lettuce under them. These crops do not harm their neighbors and ripen in as soon as possible, in addition, there is greenery in the shade for a long time remains juicy.
You can also choose perennials- strawberries, wild garlic, jusai, mustard, mint, lemon balm.
In mid-summer, Chinese cabbage, radish and radish seeds are sown in the shade of trees. Beans feel good under the canopy of a tree. Thanks to it, the soil is enriched with nitrogen, which in turn improves productivity.
Under old trees, some gardeners successfully grow cucumbers, lagenaria, pumpkins and zucchini. The plants climb beautifully along the trunk, and thanks to fertile soil give a good harvest.
Regarding tomatoes, expert opinions differ - some believe that the plant will stretch due to insufficient lighting, others say the opposite, reaping a good harvest under a tree. Gardeners also claim that planting is mutually beneficial for both tomatoes and fruit trees, since the latter are protected from the codling moth, and tomatoes are less likely to suffer from late blight.
If you want to decorate your garden with roses, you should know that planting them next to plum, pear and apple trees is not recommended. Greens and vegetables will not grow well under a walnut. It is also worth considering that tomatoes and potatoes are bad neighbors for apricots.
With flowers and herbs
Vegetables do not really like being in the vicinity of marigolds, while placement near marigolds is favorable. They protect plants from nematodes and make the beds beautiful. Calendula improves soil quality, and pests are afraid of it. Both plants are planted near cucumbers, carrots and potatoes. It is best to sow marigolds and zinnias near tomatoes.
Nasturtiums will help against aphids, whitefish and snails. Flowers are sown between rows or randomly near garden crops. Daffodils and tulips are planted near carrots.
Herbs such as chamomile, tansy, yarrow and wormwood protect plants from pests. Gardeners love nasturtium because it resists pests and weeds, and also delights with its beauty until late autumn. In addition, it can be eaten by adding to salads. It gets along best with potatoes and cabbage. Garlic planted with roses repels beetles.
Also edible plants include borage, or borage. It repels pests, loosens the soil, removes excess moisture and blooms very beautifully throughout the summer, attracting pollinating insects.

With bushes
You can sow greens in the garden near the bushes. Gooseberries, raspberries and other berry bushes do well near fruit trees, provided that they do not shade them too much.
Combined plantings of raspberries and bush beans are characterized by mutual beneficial effects, but the plants will not like the proximity of raspberries and blackberries. To protect the bushes from the codling moth, sow tarragon or tarragon.
It is recommended to sow lupine, hyssop, onions, and garlic near grapes, but planting cabbage and hazelnuts leads to the death of young grapevine. Near it you can place currants, raspberries, radishes, legumes, beets, and cucumbers. It should be borne in mind that grapes planted near a bed of berries have a special taste. The most favorable is its proximity to strawberries - this is how the grapes turn out to be large and sweet.
Gooseberries get along well with red currants; they do not compete for space and do not attract common pests. You can also plant lemon balm, mint, basil and sage with gooseberries - the herbs repel sawflies, aphids and moths. For the same purpose, tomatoes are planted near the gooseberries. An unfavorable neighbor is onions. Raspberries and gooseberries can be planted under plum trees.
It is better to place eggplants near onions, beans, spinach, and thyme;
It is better to plant onions, herbs, tomatoes, carrots, kohlrabi, and zucchini next to hot peppers;
strawberries and parsley located nearby feel good;
cucumbers are friends with most plants, especially beans, zucchini, celery, garlic, onions, spinach;
the legume family gets along well with peas, parsley, cucumbers, corn, potatoes;
beets grow well near strawberries and onions;
It is recommended to plant carrots in a bed with onions, garlic, and radishes;
cabbage gets along in the same bed with celery, dill, rosemary, and beans;
It is better to plant sorrel, carrots, lettuce, radish, radish, spinach near the strawberries;
It is better to plant garlic next to celery, carrots, roses, and gladioli;
sweet peppers are planted in the same bed with basil, okra, beets, fennel;
tomatoes prefer to grow separately, and not together with other vegetables, but do not mind being adjacent to onions, beets, and corn;
pumpkin gets along with legumes and radishes;
loves potatoes if nasturtium, marigolds, beans, and cilantro are located nearby;
excellent companions for onions are carrots, beets and all types of melons.

Examples of successful plant combinations
When drawing up a plan for the beds, taking into account the principle of joint planting of vegetable crops, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the options successful combinations. Examples of good neighbors with good fertility and minimal morbidity rates:
alternating pumpkin, corn, legumes and nasturtium;
a bed of radishes, lettuce, kohlrabi, spinach, early potatoes;
alternating rows of carrots, parsley, dill;
a plot with legumes, tomatoes, cilantro, carrots, marigolds;
a bed of cucumbers, basil and tomatoes;
rows of potatoes, cabbage, spinach, beans, corn.

What plants are best not to be planted next to each other in the garden?
Improper placement of vegetables and trees can cause reduced yields or attract insects. To avoid mistakes, gardeners are advised to familiarize themselves with crops that are poorly compatible with each other:
green onions should not be planted next to garlic;
you should not plant turnips, tomatoes, asparagus, rhubarb, or zucchini near cucumbers;
garlic should not be planted close to peas, beans, soybeans, peanuts;
for gooseberries, black currants are a bad companion;
Juniper and cherries cannot be placed together with a pear;
mint, basil and cilantro have a bad effect on the growth of garlic;
It is not recommended to plant apricot, lilac, cherry, sweet cherry, barberry next to the apple tree;
cherries do not do well near currants;
Raspberries and strawberries planted nearby become a favorable environment for weevils.

When using the table, you should keep in mind that on this issue the opinions of different authors differ significantly. For example, German gardeners, who with their characteristic scrupulousness and meticulousness have been checking the compatibility of different vegetable crops in their beds for decades, have not come to a consensus on the compatibility of tomatoes and cucumbers, potatoes and peas, potatoes and cabbage. Some have come to the conclusion that these cultures have a beneficial effect on each other and that there are relationships of mutual assistance between them, others argue that these are completely impossible combinations. This discrepancy can be partly explained by differences in growing conditions and techniques. For example, it has been found that when grown in the same bed in adjacent rows, chives (chives) and bush beans, fennel and bush beans, onions and cabbage negatively affect each other. But if you grow these plants in nearby narrow beds, then these combinations give a positive result. Obviously, when sowing in rows, the negative effect of root exudates affects, and when sowing in separate beds, the positive influence of volatile exudates from leaves predominates.

Vegetables	They like to grow nearby	They don't like to grow nearby
Eggplant=Eggplant	Beans=Bean, capsicum=capsicum, potato=potato, spinach=spinach
Beans=Beans	Carrot=Carrot, cabbage=cabbage, cauliflower=cauliflower, cucumber=cucumber, marigold=marigold	Chives=Chives, leeks=leek, garlic=garlic
Broad Beans	Brassicas, carrots=carrot, celery=celery, grains=corn, lettuce=lettuce, potatoes=potato	Fennel (sweet dill)=Fenhel
Broccoli=Broccoli	Celery=Celery, chamomile=chamomile, dill=dill, rosemary=rosemary	Oregano (mint family)=Oregano, strawberry=strawberry
Peas=Pea	Beans=Beans, carrots=Carrot, grains=corn, cucumber=cucumber, radishes=radish	Onion=Onion family
Melon=Melon	Cereals=Corn, radish=radish	Potato=Potato
Cereal= Corn	Beans=Bean, cucumber=cucumber, melon=melon, peas=pea, pumpkin=pumpkin, potato=potato, radish=radish	Tomato=Tomato
Zucchini = Zucchini	Nasturtium=Nasturtium
Brussels sprouts = Brussel Sprouts	Potato=Potato, thyme, thyme-Thyme	Strawberry=Strawberry
Cabbage=Cabbage	Beetroot=Beetroot, potato=potato, oregano (mint family)=oregano, sage, wormwood=sage	Strawberry=Strawberry, tomato=tomato
Cauliflower=Cauliflower	Beans=Beans, celery=celery, oregano (mint family)=oregano	Nasturtium=Nasturtium, peas=peas, potatoes=potato, strawberries=strawberry, tomato=tomato
Potato=Potato	Beans=Bean, grains=corn, koch. cabbage=cabbage, peas=pea, eggplant=eggplant	Cucumber=Cucumber, pumpkin=pumpkin, zucchini=squash, sunflower=sunflower
Onion=Onion	Bean sprout, Broccoli=broccoli, koch. cabbage=cabbage, lettuce=lettuce, strawberry=strawberry, tomato=tomato	Beans=Bean, peas=pea
Leek=Leek	Carrot=Carrot, celery=celery, strawberry=strawberry
Carrot=Carrot	Bush beans = Bush beans, climbing beans = pole beans, lettuce = lettuce, onion = onion, peas = pea, radish = radish, tomato = tomato	Chives=Chives, dill, fennel=dill, parsnip=parsnip, radish=radish
Cucumber=Cucumber	Beans=Bean, celery=celery, lettuce=lettuce, peas=pea, radish=radish	Cauliflower=Cauliflower, peas=potato, basil=basil
Pepper	Basil	Fennel
Radish	Basil	Fennel
Turnip	Peas	Gulyavnik, mustard and knotweed (knotweed)
Lettuce=Lettuce	Carrots=Carrots, radishes=radishes, strawberries=strawberry	Beans=Beans, glassberry=beetroot, parsley=parsley
Beetroot=Beets	Brassicas, lettuce=lettuce, onion=onion, sage-wormwood=sage	Beans=Bean (field)
Celery=Celery	Head of cabbage. cabbage=Cabbage, leek=leek, onion=onion, spinach=spinach, tomato=tomato	Parsnip=Parsnip, potato=potato
Asparagus=Asparagus	Basil=Basil, Tomato=Tomato, Nasturtium=Nasturtium, Parsley=Parsley	Onion=Onion, garlic=garlic, potato=potato
Tomato=Tomato	Asparagus=Asparagus, celery=celery, carrots=carrot, parsley=parsley, marigolds=marigold	Cereals=Corn, fennel=fennel, potatoes=potato
Pumpkin=Pumpkin	Cereal=Corn	Potato=Potato
Spinach=Spinach	Celery=Celery, cauliflower=cauliflower, eggplant=eggplant

Eggplant	It is recommended to plant among bush beans, which repel the Colorado potato beetle. Thyme has a beneficial effect on eggplant
Beans	The most favorable relationship, which can be characterized as mutual assistance, exists between beans and cucumbers. Therefore, it is recommended to plant beans around the cucumber beds. They go well with sweet corn, potatoes, and radishes. radish, spinach, mustard. Interspersing beans into the planting of these crops improves their nitrogen supply. Fragrant basil, planted next to beans, reduces damage to them by bean weevil. Other useful herbs for beans: borage, lavender, oregano, rosemary, yarrow. It is not recommended to plant beans with onions, leeks, chives and garlic. The proximity of marigolds and wormwood has a bad effect on beans.
Grape	In Moldova, as mentioned earlier, a large number of cultivated plants on their compatibility with grapes. Corn, beans, rye, potatoes, radishes, and oilseed radishes had a stimulating effect on grape growth. Negative effects were noted during joint plantings with onions, barley, soybeans, and cabbage. The incompatibility of grapes and cabbage has been known for a long time. Already in ancient Greece They knew that cabbage is the enemy of the grapevine. This may seem surprising, because other plants of the cabbage family are not so hostile to grapes, but radishes and oilseed radishes, on the contrary, have a beneficial effect on them.
Peas	Relationships of mutual assistance are noted in peas with carrots, turnips, and cucumbers. It grows well between the rows of these crops, helping them in turn by the fact that, like all legumes, it enriches the soil with nitrogen. Peas can be combined in the same bed with radishes, cabbage lettuce, kohlrabi, and parsley. Combinations of peas with onions, garlic, and tomatoes are unfavorable. Among herbs, wormwood has a bad effect on peas. There are conflicting opinions about the relationship between peas, potatoes and cabbage: some authors consider these combinations to be quite possible, others have a negative attitude towards them.
Cabbage	For various types cabbage is characterized by fairly similar preferences regarding accompanying plants. Relationships of mutual assistance are noted in cabbage with bush beans and celery. These species have a beneficial effect on each other, and celery, in addition, protects cabbage from flea beetles. Dill planted between rows of cabbage improves its taste and repels caterpillars and aphids. The proximity of borage is also beneficial for cabbage; it has a good effect on cabbage and, with its hard, hairy leaves, drives away snails. A very good accompanying crop for cabbage is all types of lettuce. They also protect it from the flea beetle. Cabbage also needs protection from a variety of cabbage butterflies that lay eggs on the leaves. This role can be performed by aromatic herbs, which mask the smell of cabbage with their strong smell. Therefore, it is recommended to plant thyme, sage, rosemary, mint, hyssop, medicinal wormwood, and chamomile around cabbage plantings. Leeks repel cutworm caterpillars. Cabbage can be combined in the same bed with cucumbers, tomatoes, spinach, beets, chard, potatoes, and chicory. There is no consensus on its compatibility with strawberries and onions. Of all types of cabbage, kohlrabi is the most suitable partner for beets and a bad neighbor for tomatoes. Cabbage does not go well with parsley and suffers greatly from nearby grapes. Tansy has a bad effect on kale.
Potato	Growing potatoes in a mixed culture is beneficial. It gets sick less and can grow longer in one place without reducing the yield. The best partners for potatoes are spinach, bush beans and broad beans. Beans planted between rows enrich the soil with nitrogen and repel the Colorado potato beetle. Potatoes go well with cabbage, especially cauliflower and kohlrabi, types of lettuce, corn, and radishes. Many authors note that a small number of horseradish plants planted in the corners of a potato plot has a beneficial effect on potatoes. The Colorado potato beetle is repelled by catnip, coriander, nasturtium, tansy, and marigolds. It is not recommended to plant potatoes with celery; sunflower and quinoa have a depressing effect on potatoes. There are opposing opinions regarding the relationship between potatoes and tomatoes, beets and peas.
Strawberry	Bush beans, spinach, and parsley have a beneficial effect on strawberries. It is recommended to plant parsley between strawberry rows to repel slugs. Strawberries can be combined with garlic, cabbage, lettuce, onions, radishes, radishes, and beets. Among herbs, borage (borage) and sage work well on it. Mulching the soil with spruce and pine needles significantly improves the taste of strawberries.
Corn	It is a very demanding plant when it comes to nutrition, so it is recommended to alternate blocks of corn with blocks of bush beans; she benefits from the proximity of this legume, soil improver. Corn is combined with cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, and early potatoes. These crops stimulate its growth. Cucumbers are recommended to be planted around corn plots. From an allelopathy point of view, corn is a very friendly plant for many crops. It has a beneficial effect on sunflowers, potatoes, and grapes. Bad neighbors for her are celery and beets.
Onion	The classic combination is onions and carrots. These two crops protect each other from pests: carrots repel onion flies, and onions repel carrot flies. Due to its compact shape, onions are used as an additional crop, which is placed between the rows of the main crop. It goes well with beets, lettuce, cucumbers, strawberries, spinach, radishes, and watercress. There is no consensus regarding the combination of onions and cabbage. Some authors believe that onions have a good effect on cabbage and drive away pests. The edging of savory is beneficial for the growth of onions; chamomile also works well on it, but in small quantities: approximately one plant per 1 linear meter. m beds. Onions do not combine with beans, peas, and beans. The proximity of sage is unfavorable for him.
Leek	Companion plants for leeks - celery, bush beans, head lettuce, carrots, beets. Leeks and celery have a mutually supportive relationship, so it is recommended to plant them in alternating rows.
Perennial onion (chives)	Goes well with tomatoes, celery, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, strawberries, endive; it is not recommended to plant next to peas, beans, and beets.
Carrot	It tolerates the proximity of many crops, grows well next to onions and spinach, and also goes well with tomatoes, radishes, chard, chives, garlic, and lettuce. But the closest plant to carrots, with which it has a relationship of mutual assistance, is peas. It is recommended to surround carrots with the following crops to repel carrot flies: rosemary, sage, tobacco, onions. Hostile herbs - dill, anise.
cucumbers	For cucumbers, companion plants are bush and climbing beans, celery, beets, lettuce, cabbage, garlic, onions, chives, radishes, spinach, fennel. Beans have the most beneficial effect on cucumbers, so it is recommended to plant beans around the cucumber plot. The cucumbers themselves are planted around corn, which greatly benefits from such proximity. Favorable herbs for cucumbers are chamomile, dill, borage. The question of the compatibility of cucumbers with tomatoes is not clear. Different authors express directly opposite opinions on this matter: some believe that this good combination, others - that this is an absolutely impossible combination. So every gardener will have to find out this question himself through experience.
Parsley	It is a companion plant for many crops: asparagus, roses, celery, leeks, peas, tomatoes, radishes, strawberries, lettuce. It is recommended to plant it along the edges of beds with tomatoes. Planted next to roses, it reduces the number of aphids on them; planted in strawberry rows - drives away slugs.
Radish	It tolerates mixed plantings with tomatoes, spinach, parsley, chard, onions, garlic, cabbage, strawberries, and peas. It is especially beneficial for radishes to be combined in a row with leaf and head lettuce, which protect it from flea beetles. Radishes planted between bush beans have a particularly delicate taste and large root vegetables. Beans also protect radishes from pests. Since radish seeds germinate quickly, it is recommended to sow them along with slow-germinating crops (beets, spinach, carrots, parsnips) to mark the rows. Radishes do not like extreme heat, so they are often sown in alternating rows with chervil, which shades them a little and protects them from overheating. Nasturtium and watercress, bordering the beds of radishes, improve the taste of the radish, giving it a sharpness, and under the influence of lettuce, it acquires a more delicate taste. The proximity of hyssop is unfavorable for radishes. Some gardeners believe that cucumbers are a bad neighbor for them.
Salad	Head and leaf lettuce (chives) go well with most garden crops. It is a good companion for tomatoes, cucumbers, climbing and bush beans, chives, spinach, strawberries, and peas. Its proximity is especially favorable for vegetables from the cruciferous family - all types of cabbage, radishes, radishes, as it repels the flea beetle. And for him, the proximity of onions, which repel aphids, is useful. Lettuce does not like overheating and needs partial shading, but only partial, so the close proximity of plants with dense foliage, such as carrots and beets, is unfavorable for lettuce. Lettuce bushes can be placed in different places in the garden, where it will grow under the cover of taller plants. The proximity of chrysanthemums is especially favorable for him.
Beetroot	Hubmann, who has tested the compatibility of beets with other vegetables for many years, claims that five types of vegetables - potatoes, tomatoes, bush beans, beets and spinach - stimulate each other. According to his observations, beets. also has a very good effect on cabbage of all types, lettuce, radishes and radishes; for beets, the proximity of onions, kohlrabi, spinach, lettuce is especially favorable, in addition, it tolerates joint planting with garlic, cucumbers, strawberries, and celery root. There is no consensus regarding the incompatibility of beets with other crops. Some gardeners claim that it does not grow well in the vicinity of chives, corn and potatoes. There is also controversy regarding chard, which belongs to the same botanical family as beets. One author claims that it has a beneficial effect on beets, another that vegetables of this family cannot tolerate each other’s root secretions and therefore cannot be planted next to each other. There are suggestions that beet root secretions have antibiotic properties and therefore adding it to some crops, in particular carrots, can have a healing effect on them. But at the same time, we should not forget about maintaining a sufficient distance between plants, since the powerful foliage of beets shades neighboring crops.
Celery	Celery and white cabbage have a mutually supportive relationship: cabbage stimulates the growth of celery, and celery drives white butterflies away from cabbage. Celery goes well with tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, lettuce, and beets. Chives and bush beans have a particularly beneficial effect on it; it is not recommended to plant celery next to corn, potatoes, parsley, and carrots.
Tomatoes	Some consider tomatoes to be "selfish" plants that like to grow on their own, apart from other crops. But the experience of German and Swiss gardeners says that tomatoes tolerate the proximity of other vegetables well and are quite suitable for mixed plantings. They go well with celery, endive, radishes, radishes, corn, lettuce, cabbage, garlic, carrots, and beets. A mutually beneficial effect was noted with chives, spinach, bush beans, and parsley, which is often planted as a border to tomato beds. Tomatoes have a hostile relationship with kohlrabi, fennel and dill. As for the relationship between tomatoes and potatoes and cucumbers, opinions differ, perhaps it depends on the planting method. The proximity of the following herbs is beneficial for tomatoes, improving their taste and condition: basil, lemon balm, borage, chives, marigolds, mint, sage, savory. Stinging nettle growing next to tomatoes improves the quality of tomato juice and extends the shelf life of the fruit.
Pumpkin	It is recommended to place pumpkin holes between corn plants. Corn shades the pumpkin in hot weather and saves it from overheating.
Beans	Bush beans are the friendliest vegetable of the legume family. Relationships of mutual assistance and mutual stimulation were noted for beans and radishes, all types of cabbage, corn, celery, cucumbers, potatoes, tomatoes, beets, and spinach. With root secretions rich in nitrogen, beans help other types of vegetables growing next to them. In addition, it is compatible with chard, lettuce, strawberries, and leeks. Beans do not tolerate the proximity of onions, garlic, fennel, and peas. Among the herbs for beans, savory is recommended, which protects it from black aphids.
Garlic	IN Western Europe it is not very popular, so it is rarely used in mixed plantings. It is known that garlic goes well with tomatoes, beets, carrots, cucumbers, strawberries and has a bad effect on beans, peas, and cabbage.
Spinach	Spinach is a beloved member of the vegetable community in Germany and Switzerland. Much is attributed to him positive qualities, including cold resistance, short ripening period, compact shape. All this makes it a very convenient crop for successive and combined plantings. In addition, spinach roots have a beneficial effect on the properties of the soil, and saponin, which is part of its root secretions, stimulates the absorption of nutrients by the roots of vegetables growing next to it. Relationships of mutual beneficial influence were noted for spinach and potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and beets. The most common combinations are spinach with kohlrabi, radishes, and lettuce. It also goes well with carrots, onions, parsley, watercress, celery, cabbage, and strawberries. Spinach does not have a hostile relationship with any plant species.

Favorable interaction between herbs and horticultural crops

The table provides information about herbs that have a beneficial effect on vegetable crops. It’s unusual for us that onions, garlic and parsley are named in the “herbs” column, but in this case we follow the classification adopted in foreign literature, based on the ideas of ancient authors

Herbs	Cultures
Basil	Peppers, tomatoes
Marigold	Potatoes, roses, tomatoes
Borage	Beans, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage
Mustard	Beans, grapes, fruit trees
Oregano	Beans
Hyssop	Cabbage, grapes
Chervil	Radish
Nettle	Tomatoes, mint
Lavender	Beans
Onion	Beetroot, cabbage, lettuce, strawberry
Mint	Cabbage, tomatoes
Nasturtium	Radish
Dandelion	Fruit trees
Parsley	Peas, tomatoes, leeks, roses, strawberries
Rosemary	Beans
Chamomile	Cucumbers, onions, most herbs
Yarrow	Beans, most aromatic herbs
Dill	Cabbage, onions, lettuce, cucumbers
Horseradish	Potato
Savory	Eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, bush beans
Garlic	Roses, tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, beets, carrots
Sage	Cabbage, carrots, strawberries, tomatoes
Chives	Carrots, grapes, tomatoes, roses
Tarragon	Most vegetables

Practical knowledge about mixed plantings of vegetables in beds, compatibility of garden plants, garden plants, their influence on each other has been accumulated by many generations of gardeners. What is the advantage of mixed plantings? What plants should not be planted next to each other in garden beds? How can plants influence each other? What vegetables grow well together? How to choose the best neighbors for your plants? What are the benefits of joint planting? We try to learn more about them and take this knowledge into account in our practice. Sometimes, however, they are quite contradictory.

For example, it seems that many people often claim that growing cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse is incompatible. This is explained by the different requirements of these vegetables for living conditions, temperature, and humidity. But, nevertheless, for many they get along well with each other. Why does this happen? Until now, this controversial issue has no definite answer. Is it possible to plant potatoes with cabbage?

Allelopathy - plant compatibility

Let's start with the theory.

What is allelopathy? This word is of Greek origin - allēlōn - mutual and páthos - suffering - mutual suffering. This means that plants can influence each other, cause each other suffering and inconvenience. This is the original meaning of the word allelopathy. Now allelopathy has come to be understood as not only negative, but also positive interaction of plants with each other. Allelopathy refers to the interaction of plants with each other through various secretions - root and leaf.

Plants excrete through roots various substances, mainly organic - amino acids, sugars, biologically active substances, antibiotics, hormones, enzymes, others that can affect neighboring plants, both positively and negatively.

Plants also release various substances through their leaves, most often volatile ones. But they can also release water-soluble ones, which are washed off by rain or when watering, enter the soil, and have an effect. different influence to neighboring plants.

Plants acquired these properties - influence on each other - during a long evolution, when they grew together in natural conditions. They had to compete, establish some kind of relationship with each other. It is assumed that this property - allelopathy - is developed by plants in the process of competition for light, water, and nutrients in the soil. In this competition, plants can even use chemical protection, that is, they secrete chemicals: enzymes, vitamins, alkaloids, essential oils, organic acids, phytoncides.

Some of these compounds have properties similar to herbicides used to kill weeds. These substances, called inhibitors, kill neighboring plants or retard their growth, suppress seed germination, and reduce the intensity of physiological processes and their vital activity.

It is important to note that inhibitors only have a negative effect when there are many of them. Their small concentrations act as accelerators of physiological processes, that is, as stimulants.

Mixed plantings are the basis of organic farming

What is written above is rather theoretical information. Can this knowledge be applied in practice in our garden?

It is possible, even necessary! They must be taken into account when sowing, planting seedlings in a greenhouse or open ground, since this knowledge has been tested not only by science, but by many generations of gardeners. We will talk further about mixed or joint plantings.

Such plantings are part of organic or, as it is also called, biodynamic farming. It is based on working with nature, not against it. The founder of biodynamic farming was the famous German philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Now the idea organic farming is becoming increasingly popular all over the world. And mixed plantings in European gardens have long become commonplace.

The method of joint planting in the garden has been successfully used for quite a long time in Germany. The Germans take a very pragmatic approach to these things; they believe that it is irrational to waste the area of their household plots aimlessly. The main thing for them is the amount of production per unit area. They are very proud that they have learned to get as much as possible from every piece of land. more benefit. For example, one vegetable plant is planted in a garden bed, but the sides of the beds are empty - this is a mess. It doesn’t matter what grows in this area - cucumbers or tulips.

In Russia, the use of mixed and combined plantings is not yet very common.

Let's take a closer look at the experience of German gardeners. Optimal width the beds, they believe, are 1 meter.

The central part of the bed, the middle, should be occupied by some kind of main crop. This is a crop that will grow in the garden for a long time, until the end of the season. During this period, it will grow greatly, eventually occupying the entire area of the bed. For example, it could be cabbage or tomatoes.

But at the beginning of the growing season they are small. Side area the beds can be planted with something else that ripens quickly. This could be spinach, lettuce, radishes - friendly crops. Spinach is generally compatible with almost all crops; it even stimulates the development of neighboring plants.

By the time the tomatoes or cabbage grow, the spinach, radishes or lettuce will already be cut and torn out for eating. This is just one aspect that speaks in favor of joint plantings.

Additional, quickly maturing plants should be small in size and compact so that their root system does not interfere with the main crop.

Often, joint plantings protect each other from pests. This is very important for organic farming, as it is against the use of herbicides or other chemical pesticides. For such purposes, aromatic plants are most often used - basil, coriander, onion, sage.

Many spices bring triple benefit: they are beautiful, they enrich our table, they attract beneficial insects to our garden.

It is believed that coriander with its smell can even scare away the Colorado potato beetle from potatoes. But it should be borne in mind that a lot of such aromatic plants must be planted so that aromatic vapors create a significant cover over the area.

For cabbage, aromatic protection is also important, since it itself attracts various butterflies with its smell. By the way, the Colorado potato beetle and white butterfly find their prey - potatoes, cabbage - by smell. Lettuce or celery planted along the edges of the bed can help protect cabbage from pests. That is, if aromatic herbs are planted nearby, their smell will drown out the smell of potatoes or cabbage and to some extent disorient the pests.

The term “nanny plant” is common among gardeners. It is believed that if nasturtium is planted around the perimeter of a cabbage bed, the cruciferous flea beetle will first attack the flowers. That is, nasturtium - a nanny for cabbage - distracts pests. By the way, cabbage salad is also to some extent a nanny - it distracts slugs, which are very fond of lettuce, which has more delicate, juicy leaves than cabbage. And if slugs have a choice, they choose salad.

If you want to protect cabbage from slugs, plant lettuce. How to protect lettuce from slugs without resorting to chemicals? This is already more complicated... It is believed that oak bark, used as mulch, will protect the salad (and not only it) from slugs.

Practicing gardeners have long noticed that neighboring plants can not only compact plantings and protect each other from pests, but also improve each other’s taste. For example, basil improves the taste of tomatoes, and dill improves the taste of cabbage.

Hysop, parsley, lavender, sage, borage, thyme, mint, chamomile, and chervil work well on almost all vegetables. Planted along the edges of beds or plots, white nettle, dead nettle, valerian, and yarrow make vegetable plants healthier, resistant to diseases and pests.

Here's something else interesting about mixed plantings. I read this from N. Zhirmunskaya in the book “Good and bad neighbors in the garden bed."

The history of using the idea of such plantings goes back more than one century. The ancient Indians grew corn, pumpkins, and beans in one field. They noticed that corn, for example, creates shade, protects the ground and pumpkin from the scorching rays of the sun, and is a good support for beans. Pumpkin covers the ground with its leaves, suppresses the growth of weeds, retains moisture, and protects the ground from drying out.

In addition, the ancient Indians did not destroy all weeds, for example, acorn grass and quinoa, which are now weeds for us. They let them grow along with the vegetables.

How weeds help garden plants or the benefits of weeds

It turns out that some weeds can benefit crops. garden plants. Even the ancient Indians noticed that acorn grass, a nasty weed in our gardens, can share with some plants the nutrients it receives from the depths of the soil.

There is, for example, an opinion that you should not weed out all the acorn potatoes, leaving 3-5 plants per square meter. Having no competitors nearby, the acorn grows, its powerful root system, penetrating deep into the soil, extracts nutrients there - phosphorus, potassium, calcium, which are much more abundant at depth than in upper layers. Excess of these elements are released through the roots into the soil and nourish the potatoes. That is, the ashiritsa, as it were, shares these surpluses with potatoes. Moreover, these nutrients are in digestible form, easily absorbed, and assimilated by potatoes.

Agricultural scientists today have established through laboratory experiments that, indeed, plants can share their root secretions with each other. It must be said that plants do not skimp on root secretions - this is very important for them. It has been established that approximately 20% of what is synthesized in the leaves of plants is released by their roots into the soil.

Recently, the issue of the benefits and harm of weeds has been significantly reconsidered. If you do not allow weeds to grow uncontrollably, choke out cultivated plants, especially on early stages growth, then they can play the role of a useful member of the plant community.

By the way, I noticed that thistle, a nasty weed, attracts aphids. I grew cucumbers in my greenhouse. They grew well. They were healthy. The harvest was good. A sow thistle grew in the corner of the greenhouse - I didn’t notice it right away. Only then did I pay attention to it when it grew over a meter tall, and had even thrown out its buds. I decided to uproot it. She gasped when she saw that he was covered in aphids. Here it is, I think, a breeding ground for pests - it needs to be destroyed. And what? Not even a day had passed after this, when all my cucumbers, healthy until now, were covered with aphids. We had to take measures to destroy the aphids. It turns out that the sow thistle protected my plants from aphids.

I never pull out all the weeds on tomatoes planted in open ground. I do weeding only in the first period of the growing season, when there is a danger that weeds will clog the tomatoes and cover them from the sun. But when my tomatoes gain strength, they are not afraid of weeds. They protect the soil from the burning sun - it does not become crusty, does not dry out, and can be watered less often. In addition, grass and weeds protect fruits from sunburn, which is very important in our hot southern climate.

Most weeds have a deep root system. In the struggle for existence, they developed the ability to obtain nutrition deep in the soil. In cultivated plants that we pamper with our care, this ability is rare.

The most important vegetable plants, such as potatoes, corn, head lettuce, cucumbers and a number of others, have a shallow root system and receive nutrition from upper layers soil. And, for example, the dandelion, with its powerful root system, extracts calcium from the depths. Besides this weed releases a large amount of ethylene gas into the air, which accelerates the ripening of fruits, not to mention the fact that it bright flowers attract bees and other pollinating insects to the garden.

Incompatibility or which plants should not be planted next to each other

So far we have talked about positive impact plants on top of each other. But there is also a negative influence.

For example, you should not plant carrots and parsley next to each other. These are plants of the same family and their influence on each other is negative; they do not tolerate each other’s root secretions.

There are some plants that do not like their own root secretions - it is not recommended to plant them in the same place even for two years in a row. It is believed that beets belong to such plants.

All legumes do not go well with all types of onions and garlic. That is, they cannot be planted next to each other.

One year I placed onions and peas side by side, practically without even leaving a path between them. I didn't know about their incompatibility. And what? The peas could not stand such a neighborhood. Two rows of peas - those closest to the onions - sprouted, but after a while they disappeared. So the peas themselves made a path between themselves and the onions.

Watercress has an adverse effect on many vegetable crops.

Pumpkin doesn't like the proximity of potatoes.

Even plants of different ages can affect each other differently. That is, plants that are not initially hostile to each other, but planted one much earlier than the other can suppress each other.

Here is an example not from the book - from my experience. I identified one bed for late cabbage and Chinese cabbage. I decided that Chinese cabbage would ripen earlier and make room for late cabbage. I planted Chinese cabbage seedlings much earlier than cabbage. What came of it? Until I removed the Chinese cabbage, which, by the way, had grown very large, the cabbage seedlings froze in growth. As a result, it began to gain growth much later and was unable to form heads of cabbage efficiently. I think this would not have happened if I had planted them at the same time or at least one after another with a small time gap.

UTILITIES ON THE BEDS

Use crop areas to the fullest. For example, for radishes, planting can be done according to a 4x4 cm pattern, completely sowing the allotted area. For carrots, an area of 5x5 cm is sufficient, and for beets, 9x9 cm. Turnips and summer radishes can be planted according to a pattern of 8x8 cm; for late black radish, an area of 12x12 cm is required.

Cauliflower can be planted according to a 30x30 cm pattern, and cabbage - 40x40 cm. At the same time, erect (tall) marigolds can be planted between the plants of any cabbage and the plantings can be compacted with lettuce or spinach and even radishes.

It is better to sow cucumbers in one row every 20-25 cm, and for tall tomatoes, formed into one stem, an area of 30×30 cm is enough, that is, on one square meter I place 9-10 plants. For non-stepchildren, low-growing tomatoes, the area should be left larger (40x40 cm), since the main harvest comes from the stepsons, and therefore the bush becomes spreading.

Peppers will make do with a space of 25x25 cm. But bush dill Buyan (or Salut), as well as leaf parsley, in particular Volshebnitsa, require the same distance between plants as cauliflower, then you will really get a big harvest.

It is best to plant the beds located in the garden with more than one crop, but to make a large communal apartment out of the bed, populating it with different inhabitants who are compatible with each other.

CULTURAL COMPATIBILITY

There are plants that get along well side by side, protecting each other with their smell from pests, are mutual biostimulants, and there are warring ones that suppress each other in every possible way, for example, beans are very friendly, almost all plants are friends with them, but fennel is fierce for everyone enemy.

When planting plants in a small area, this fact must be taken into account so that hostility does not arise in the beds. In this case, three factors must be remembered: crops belonging to the same species cannot be planted next to or after each other; those that carry the same nutrients in the same ratio, have the same habitus, that is, the same height of the above-ground part and the same and the same root depth. In addition, plant roots secrete mycotoxins to protect their territory from invasion by uninvited strangers, so the compatibility of plant root systems must also be taken into account.

Beds planted with different compatible plants resist pests much better than beds planted with one particular crop, which has been noticed by many amateur gardeners.

The mixture of their smells fools pests, even omnivores, because it prevents them from releasing the smell of those plants - their breadwinners, on which they feed. And pests, just in case, avoid such communal apartments. If you don't believe me, check it out.

This summer, sow the bed intended for carrots along the perimeter of the crown with seeds of low-growing marigolds. Then sow a row of parsnips (white carrots) or broccoli seeds down the center. Stepping back 20 cm on each side, sow one row of radishes on each side, then a row of carrots, a row of nigella onions (or small sets), again a row of carrots on each side.

Instead of broccoli, you can sow lettuce. In the middle of the bed, sow seeds of tall marigolds every 15-20 cm. Cover the bed with double lutrasil. When frosts and the flight of vegetable flies have passed (after cherry blossoms), lutrasil can be removed.

Such sowing in the North-West can be done at the very end of April - beginning of May, as soon as the soil thaws (the flowering time of coltsfoot). At the end of May, the garden bed will be freed from radishes, then from lettuce, and the feeding and lighting area will increase for other grown crops.

COMPATIBLE FITTINGS

Eggplant - beans.

Broccoli - beets, sage.

Peas - eggplant, calendula, corn, cucumber, radish, carrots.

Pear - see apple tree.

Strawberries - marigolds, borage, lettuce, beans, garlic, spinach.

Head cabbage - anise, potatoes, onions, peppermint, rosemary, chamomile, beets, celery, dill.

Cauliflower - celery.

Calendula, garlic - gladioli, strawberries, roses, currants, tulips. Kohlrabi - onion, lettuce, beets, cucumber, spices.

Corn - peas, potatoes, cucumber, pumpkin, beans.

Onions and garlic - strawberries, carrots, chamomile, beets, celery, tomato, savory.

Raspberry - plum, apple tree, calendula.

Carrots - peas, onions, radishes, radishes, rosemary, lettuce, tomato, sage. Nasturtium - most vegetables, phlox.

Cucumber - peas, corn, sunflower, radish, beans, tomato, cabbage. Parsley - asparagus, tomato.

Sunflower - cucumber. Radishes - peas, nasturtium, cucumber, lettuce.

Radish - beets, spinach, carrots, parsley, tomato, pumpkin, cucumber.

Turnips - peas. Salad - strawberries, carrots, cucumber, radishes.

Beets - kohlrabi, onions, radishes, cabbage, beans, beans, lettuce.

Celery - cabbage, onion, tomato, beans, cauliflower, leek.

Tomato - calendula, leftover, onion, nasturtium, parsley, celery, asparagus. Pumpkin - corn.

Dill, spinach - radishes, turnips, cabbage.

Beans - cabbage, potatoes, carrots, cucumber, savory and most garden crops, except beets.

Phlox - nasturtium.

Apple tree - spruce, calendula, raspberry, tansy, tomato, dill.

INCOMPATIBLE LANDINGS

Eggplant - other nightshade crops.

Cherry - raspberry.

Peas - gladioli, potatoes, onions, garlic.

Strawberries - cabbage.

Cabbage - strawberries, tomatoes, beans.

Onions, garlic - peas, beans.

Carrots - dill, parsley, celery and other umbrella crops.

Cucumber - potatoes, zucchini, aromatic herbs.

Pepper - beets.

Sunflower - potatoes.

Beets - beans, spinach.

Tomato - other nightshade crops, including potatoes, cabbage. Pumpkin - potatoes.

Beans - gladioli, onions, garlic, beets.

Not a single plant tolerates the proximity of fennel and hyssop, so they must be planted in a separate corner of the garden. You cannot plant strawberries after potatoes because of nematodes, as well as after tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage. Do not leave the pine tree - this is the wintering place for many pests, in particular carrot psyllids, as well as spores of the columnar rust fungus. Remove buckthorn from the area and mow down sedge - breeding grounds for goblet rust.

CROP ROTATION ON ONE BED

If vegetable beds if you have miscalculated once or twice, then you need to do crop rotation in one bed, populating it like a big one communal apartment, caring only that neighbors do not quarrel with each other, but, on the contrary, treat each other in a friendly manner. You can select them by carefully reading the list of compatible plants. For example, we plant beets, compacting them with early radishes, planted between the beet rows before planting. When the beets grow up and need a lot of space, the radishes will already be removed and will not interfere with the beets. We plant 1-2 m of the bed with beets, and then we plant celery seedlings, just one row across the bed. Next, you can plant several plants of any cabbage, compacting the plantings with early planted spinach, then sow carrots according to a 5x5 cm pattern on just one meter, followed by onion sets on one meter, then you can plant lettuce, followed by parsley. When there is room for lettuce, we will plant late radishes. On next year We’ll move all the crops forward, and the beets will be at the end of the bed.

SEALING FITTINGS - IN CROWDED BUT NOT MAD

We plant corn in one row in the center of the bed, beans on both sides of it, and carrots on the edges. Or we alternate rows of corn with rows of ground cucumbers. The direction of the beds, as always, is north - south. Do not be afraid that the cucumbers or beans will curl the corn - it will not suffer from this, and at the same time it will protect the beans and cucumbers from the winds. A row of beans can be used to divide strawberry plantings; such proximity improves the taste of the berries, and planting one spinach plant among four lettuce plants improves the taste of the salad.

Nasturtium and marigold are friends of vegetables, disorienting with their smell insects that fly around them because they do not find their breadwinners among them.

Sow early carrots in the center of the bed. When the time comes, plant cabbage seedlings on both sides of it, alternating them with marigolds, and plant nettles at the ends of the bed. Or plant a row of cabbage in the center of the bed, beets on the sides, and plant the sides of the bed with nasturtiums.

Or plant celery along the edges of the bed, and a row of marigolds in the center, and cauliflower on either side of them.

You can use the bed twice: sow spinach in the center of the bed as early as possible, and early turnips or radishes on the sides of it. When you harvest the spinach, sow winter radishes in its place, and after harvesting turnips or radishes, sow late carrots.

Mixed planting is the cultivation of several vegetables or berries in a limited area at once, mixed or according to a scheme for the rational use of space. Plants provide multifaceted assistance to each other.

For example, flowers planted next to vegetables and blooming simultaneously with them attract pollinating insects, some spicy plants secrete pests that repel pests from vegetables or flowers, others synthesize substances with their roots that stimulate the development of the roots of vegetable and fruit plants.

This is only a small part of the positive relationship; often gardeners notice a favorable juxtaposition of plants, but cannot even guess the reason, or find an answer in the literature that would explain such a relationship. Perhaps it’s a mini-ecosystem, because in addition to plants, millions of microorganisms live and reproduce on a tiny piece of land, plants breathe, consume various elements nutrition, release various substances into the soil and air.

Sometimes the influence of one crop on another is indirect, for example, bushes adjacent to currants weeds can attract aphids, and roughly speaking, take the hit while the ladybugs are active. Some flowers planted even at the other end of the garden (yarrow, asters, rudbeckia) are attractive to lacewings, which eat not only aphids, but also the larvae of the Colorado potato beetle.

Benefits of joint plantings

Joint plantings herbs, flowers, vegetables and fruit and berry crops offer great opportunities:

allow you to reduce or reduce the use of high doses of mineral fertilizers
give up pesticides
get a larger yield from the same area compared to monoculture
receive a harvest throughout the season, occupying the freed up area for early ripening vegetables
improve the taste of fruits or berries (for example, bush beans improve the taste of radishes, mint improves the taste of cabbage) and their nutritional value (the content of sugars and vitamins increases)
prevent unilateral soil depletion (for example, greatly reduce nitrogen or phosphorus content)

Companion plants

Among the whole variety of spicy and salad herbs, vegetables and berries there are special groups- couples that have the most beneficial effect on each other:

watermelons - peas
beans - rosemary
grapes - mustard
melons - radishes
melons - corn
wild strawberry (strawberry) - parsley
wild strawberry (strawberry) - cumin
onions - carrots
cabbage - oregano and marjoram
cabbage - thyme (thyme)
parsnips - peas
pepper - basil
radishes - bush beans
radishes - parsnips
turnips - peas
salad - all types of cabbage
salad - radish
celery - cabbage
soybean - corn
asparagus - parsley
pumpkin - corn

Some vegetables are so friendly that they produce a good harvest alongside many other crops:

leeks welcome celery, bush beans, head lettuce, carrots, beets
cucumbers - all types of beans, celery, beets, lettuce, cabbage, garlic, onions, chives, radishes, spinach, fennel
strawberries love garlic, onions, radishes, radishes, beets, cabbage, lettuce
beets - all types of cabbage, radishes, radishes, lettuce
chard can be planted next to beans, any type of cabbage, including kohlrabi, peppers and onions
potatoes respect spinach and bush beans
garlic not only gets along, but also has a beneficial effect on tomatoes, beets, carrots (not counting the above)
parsley is good for celery, leeks, tomatoes, radishes, strawberries, peas, lettuce
savory is suitable for eggplants, potatoes, tomatoes, bush beans
sage - cabbage, carrots, strawberries, tomatoes
Tarragon is generally good for everyone, no matter what vegetables you put it with, but it helps eggplants best of all

It is reliably known about spinach that it promotes the growth of tomatoes, beans, beets, kohlrabi, radishes, lettuce - its roots secrete saponins, which stimulate root growth processes by increasing permeability cell membranes for water and nutrients. By the way, in addition to spinach, primroses release quite a lot of saponins into the soil.

Shared boarding rules

If you suddenly don’t remember the various combinations of crops in the beds, or doubt the beneficial effects of some herbs and vegetables on others, there are always rules that have decisive weight when drawing up planting schemes:

Do not place crops of the same family next to each other - they have common diseases and pests, with the exception of eggplant and pepper
Combine early ripening greens and vegetables with plants that have a longer growing season:
- short ripening period for radishes, lettuce, Chinese cabbage, onions, kohlrabi, watercress, lettuce, white mustard, early potatoes and early cucumbers
- long ripening period for cucumbers (not counting early ones), zucchini, pumpkin, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, beets
Orientation by light in such a way that tall plants do not shade short light-loving plants, but shade seedlings sensitive to excess light
- light-loving vegetables: watermelons and melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, corn
- those who like to grow in shade: Chinese cabbage, lettuce, parsley, zucchini, rhubarb; young seedlings of any vegetables do not like the hot sun
- moderately light-loving: carrots, cabbage, garlic, onions, beans, radishes, turnips
We take into account the rules of crop rotation - good and bad predecessors -

Mixed beds

Traditionally, three crops are grown in one bed with mixed plantings: the previous (early), the main, and the subsequent.

Example of a mixed bed

We take into account the predecessors and compatibility of vegetables.

After preparing the beds in the spring, as soon as the soil temperature allows, early vegetables, such as radishes or lettuce, are planted in a continuous carpet.

By the time the radishes ripen and the lettuce bunches grow, they can be safely thinned out and a suitable successor, such as spinach, can be planted. The optimal planting pattern is staggered.

If you don't mind legumes, you can plant bush beans next to the spinach in place of the radishes. You just need to take into account that on the side of the bed where the beans will be, there is free access to its bushes from the boundary for convenient collection of the pods.

When the spinach and remaining radishes are harvested, you can replace them with early-ripening varieties of cucumbers and head or leaf lettuce.

After the beans are harvested, early beans can be planted in their place next to the cucumbers. white cabbage, kohlrabi or broccoli (sowing time - July, choose varieties that ripen in 50-55 days). Of course, you need to prepare cabbage seedlings in advance and calculate the exact sowing time in order to have time to harvest from the previous crop.

Mixed planting scheme

Another mixed planting scheme taking into account co-rotation.