Potato companion plants are a diverse crop family thought to have positive agronomic effects on your carbohydrate-dense root crop. These plants’ subtle superiority can be witnessed from the soil improvement to the observable difference aboveground – pest protection and insect diversification. If you’re thrilled to know these advantages, we won’t leave you hanging with a lengthy preamble – stay on this page to get to know more about companions for potatoes!
What Makes a Companion Plant?
Companion plants for potatoes are those that have a harmonious, commensal, or at least neutral relationship with other plants. Sounds fancy, right? Well, to simplify, your main crop – potato – can still yield its full potential with the presence of others. They are usually a distant relative of this tuberous species since cultivating a member of its kind may result in nutrient and space competition or can make it more susceptible to pests.
Companion Planting by Types of Potatoes
What to plant with potatoes by types or varieties is tough to answer, considering the innumerable cultivars sold commercially. However, with many master gardeners' testimonies, the specific cultivars listed below match well with some companion plants.
- White-skinned potatoes like Russet, Onaway, Elba, Home Guar, or Golden Wonder can be planted with bush, pole beans, or peas. They also go well with herbs such as onions and garlic.
- Red-skinned potato might be mistaken as a singular variety but is actually a form group of multitudinal cultivars like Rooster, French Fingerling, Ida Rose, Ruby, or Norland. They perform productively with legumes or beans and other herbs.
- Baby potatoes are not really quite a distinct variety but are, as the name implies, immature tubers unearthed for specific market demands (with exceptions to the bred varieties for this purpose, like Charlotte, Jazzy, Maris Peer, or Gemson). Because they have a relatively short cultivating period, choose quick-growing ones: lettuce, spinach, or onion chives.
Benefits of Companion Planting with Potatoes
Companion planting for potatoes is a popular agronomic practice in home gardens with the purpose of diversifying your crops. You can expect the following benefits:
- Fend off nuisance bugs
- Lure beneficial insects
- Reduce soil erosion
- Improve soil nutrient absorption
- Nurse potatoes at the early growth stage with shade
- Promote prolific harvest
What Grows Well with Potatoes
Companion planting with potatoes consists of integrating potato-friendly crops. This includes a plethora of options, from nitrogen-augmenting veggies like beans or peas to beneficial insect attractants and pest-repellent flowers and herbs. If your potato patch is devoid of arthropod biodiversity, planting marigolds, nasturtiums, and alyssum is a good way to go!
Best Companion Plants for Potatoes
If you were to ask what to plant next to potatoes, you have a staggering assortment to choose from! Vegetables, flowers, herbs – you name it, and you got it. Perhaps the only limit here is your gardening goals and objectives!
Vegetables
What not to plant next to potatoes? Vegetables are absolutely exempted from the list for their edge over other groups of plants. Know why with the following!
Peas
Legumes like peas are one of the most studied model organisms to answer the question of what grows well with potatoes. In a study carried out by the University of Nairobi in Kenya, peas planted along with potato plots aid in better nutrient absorption, reducing the fertilizer application and the possible leaching that can contaminate groundwater.
Benefits: Improves soil nitrogen and phosphorus absorption
How to plant: Plant peas along the rows of potatoes with a 3 ft (90 cm) distance and with an inter-seed distance of 1 ft (30 cm).
Beans
Whether it is a pole or a bush bean, like most pulse crops or legumes, beans also have an acclaimed reputation in nutrient absorption – they help their neighbor utilize more nitrogen and phosphorus, which is a pricey resource in agriculture, encouraging sustainable use of land resources in your garden!
Benefits: Better utilization of soil resources, reduces the need for fertilizer application
How to plant: Sow two seeds per hill (planting spot) spaced approximately 25 cm along potato rows (with 3 ft / 90 cm interspace).
Spinach
The list of what not to plant next to potatoes absolutely excludes spinach, for it can pair up nicely with your root crop! The leaves are non-spreading, short and won’t affect the growth of your potatoes.
Benefits: Short growing cycle, can be picked sequentially
How to plant: Simply plant germinated seedlings along the potato rows, or you can insert plantlets next to your potatoes with a pretty exposed part.
Lettuce
Like spinach, lettuce is another salad green that has a mutual relationship with potatoes. With its relatively short cultivation cycle and tucked leaf arrangement, you won’t have to deal with competition and maintenance issues, as long as the soil has lots of compost or other organic matter.
Benefits: Fast-growing, can be harvested successively
How to plant: Sow lettuce seeds or pre-germinated seedlings in 8-12 inches (20-30 cm) spaces along the potato beds.
Cabbage
Cabbage, including its sisters, cauliflower, broccoli, and mustard, make an excellent addition to your potato patch. They also have a medium-sized girth that would not invade the main crop’s territory. Also, its putrid smell, which contains glucosinolates, sends potato insects packing.
Benefits: Better land use, pest protection
How to plant: Ensure that you incorporate as much organic matter as possible, like compost or supplementary nitrogen fertilizers, during the soil preparation; leave a 1-2 ft (30-50 cm) distance between hills alongside raised potato mounds.
Herbs
Herbs innately have a pest-deterring smell, which makes them one of the favorite plant groups to be inserted in between rows of potatoes. If you consider herbs as an addition to your garden crops, feel free to choose the following:
Onion
Can you plant onion next to potatoes, you ask? The answer is a big yes! Onions are famed for their volatile organic compounds that discourage pests from staying next to your potatoes. If that does not sound enticing enough, it conditions the soil, which favors beneficial microbes to thrive, ensuring free root defense against soil-borne pathogens.
Benefits: Natural insect repellent, non-competitive, increased microbial diversity
How to plant: Plant 3 onion bulbs in between the 12 inches (30 cm) spaced hills of potato in its row or 12-15 inches (30-40 cm) apart from potato planting beds.
Thyme
Gatecrashing into the horticultural gathering is the herb from Southern Europe – thyme. Aside from enhancing the flavor and aroma of your favorite roast dish, this bushy herb helps guard your potato garden from bugs like Colorado beetles. Indeed, it truly deserves an invasion of your vegetable yard!
Benefits: Reduces pest incidence, low-maintenance
How to plant: Because thymes are perennials, they are best planted along the borders of your potato garden, where they can spend their lifetime permanently.
Coriander
A member of the carrot family, coriander or celery is a classic plant to slip into the beds to become potato companion. Its minty and spicy smell drives creepy critters away from your cultivated land. Also, it is a relatively easy plant to grow; reap your harvest continuously by only cutting a few leaves for plate garnishing.
Benefits: Flavor enhancement, soil flocculent, pest protection
How to plant: Sow 2-inch-spaced (5 cm) seeds alongside the potato beds if you are growing it for leaves. Increase it to about 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) for coriander seed harvesting.
Garlic deserves a self-invitation into your backyard’s vegetable assemblage. Why? Simply because it requires only an inch of the entire plot to grow, enough to maximize space. And, of course, there is no reason to decline its free pest-dissuading capabilities, protecting your entire potato garden from biological nuances.
Benefits: Soil microbe diversification, late blight disease resistance
How to plant: In a row of potatoes, plant as much as 2 hills of garlic spaced equidistantly. At the same time, they may also be planted in line by the potato rows for a more organized planting.
Basil
Ohhh, basils! You don’t want to forget these garden basics. Almost all crops go feral just to be with its fragrant, non-pest-friendly aroma, keeping your garden safeguarded from voracious pests like aphids, mealybugs, and Colorado potato beetle.
Benefits: Natural pesticide, attracts beneficial insects
How to plant: Plant basils spaced 3 to 4 inches (8-10 cm) at the same time as potatoes for maximum benefits.
Flowers
Cultivating flowers in your yard’s border is crossing two hurdles with a single leap – they beautify space and attract friendly insects that can help pin down the bad ones. To name a few, you can find a handful below:
Marigold
Potatoes’ companion plants include the garden jewel – marigold. Its spectacular amber flowers beckon unresisting bees, wasps, and butterflies to take a sip of its sweet nectar. As a benefit, your potato garden is defended 24/7 by this army of beneficial insects against the bad ones. Underground, it secretes chemicals that prevent soil-dwelling pathogens from reaching the tubers.
Benefits: Magnets beneficial insects, serves as a trap crop
How to plant: Plant along the rows of potatoes for maximum benefits. If overgrown, trim the branches, including the spent flowers.
Nasturtium
Nasturtium is a flowering, creeping vine that acts as a sacrificial lamb to prevent the pests from feasting on your potatoes. At the same time, its attractive flowers are the pollinator’s favorite, boosting insect diversity and pest resilience.
Benefits: Attracts beneficial insects, reduces soil erosion
How to plant: Sow nasturtium seeds in spring. Since the vines can run over potato vegetation, trim or divert the vines to other directions to avoid sunlight competition.
Tansy
Belonging to the family of chrysanthemums and sunflowers, from the aerial parts down to the roots, tansies have all you need to be a good companion plant for potatoes! Its flowers are a safe haven for insects, while the roots exude natural biofumigant compounds that antagonize root pathogens.
Benefits: Attracts natural predators, adaptive to poor soils
How to plant: They are best started as seed indoors in cool regions before planting outdoors. Because they regrow year by year, plant it in the borders where they can permanently stay.
Safflower
Another golden flower diva ballrooming harmoniously with potatoes is safflower. They border your garden from evading pests such as aphids and beetles. According to studies, a two-fold harvest can be enjoyed with safflower intercropping.
Benefits: Enhances biodiversity of predatory bugs, reduces Colorado potato beetle infestations
How to plant: Plant safflower in strips, that is, approximately 4-8 lines (8-12 inches or 20-30 cm between hills) sandwiched by two potato rows.
Alyssum
Dotted with enchanting white flowers, alyssum is a relative of cabbage with insect-luring abilities – but the good ones! With its creeping and humble stans, it keeps the soil protected from water and wind erosion, providing an excellent haven for your potato’s root development.
Benefits: Reduce soil degradation, attract hoverflies that pin down aphids
How to plant: As alyssum are ground-huggers, let them creep along the potato rows. They can be sown directly in mild climates or pre-germinated in colder ones during spring.
Other Plants
Companion planting potatoes also include lesser-known plants that come with the same agronomic advantage. To get to know a few of them, keep scrolling below:
Flax
Flax is a flowering species mainly cultivated for the oil and fiber industry. In home-scale agriculture, it is primarily used in many gardens, especially with potatoes, to keep bugs at a distance. Simultaneously, it attracts small predatory creatures like lacewings that munch on aphids.
Benefits: Suppresses weed and disease incidence, better nutrient absorption
How to plant: Flax seeds are directly sown into the ground in spring, spreading evenly between rows of your potatoes.
Horseradish
This wasabi-like root crop not only spices up your dishes but also aids in a productive and healthy agroecosystem. It can break up the soil with its durable piercing taproot, ensuring that the main crop gets proper aeration and nutrients. Aboveground, insect predators and pollinators are enthralled with its scent, which can shoo away bad ones.
Benefits: Natural pest repellent, excellent soil conditioner.
How to plant: Grow horseradish in a spot with partial shade using its long, thick roots. They can spread uncontrollably, so it's best to put ground barriers like steel edging.
Peanut
Potatoes will go nuts with peanuts for the multitude of benefits they can offer! Belonging to the Fabaceae family, these underground pod-producing crops are known to contribute nutrients to their companion. They are also not finicky plants to grow after sowing, requiring lesser tending.
Benefits: Improves soil nitrogen content, reduces global warming potential, increases the yield
How to plant: In a single line between potato rows, bury a few seeds on each hill within 18 inches (45 cm) distance.
Lovage
Hailing from the Mediterranean basin and parts of Asia, lovage is a plant belonging to the Apiaceae or carrot family. It is prized for its economic importance in medicine and gastronomy. When grown with potatoes, its deep taproot can aerate the soil, while its flowers can attract hoverflies that parasitize most garden pests.
Benefits: Pest repellent, nutrient accumulator
How to plant: Leave a gap of at least 2 ft (60 cm) between rows of potatoes and each hill in the line. It's best to sow seeds in spring to harvest in early to late fall.
If you ask what can you plant with potatoes, corn can be the definitive answer. Due to its importance in the agricultural industry, it is a widely studied organism, especially in terms of the benefits of companion plants – and that includes potatoes!
Benefits: Promotes high potato yield, better soil nutrient utilization
How to plant: Plant double rows of maize 30 in Ă— 10 in (75 cm Ă— 25 cm) in between potato beds (spaced at 15 inches or 38 cm from the corn rows).
What Not to Plant with Potatoes – Worst Companions
Numerous crops are inherently incompatible due to morphological and physiological constraints. For this reason, it is important to know what not to plant with potatoes, which is listed below:
- Tomato
- Pepper
- Eggplant
- Cucumber
- Squash
- Sunflower
- Fennel
- Asparagus
What to Plant with Potatoes to Keep Bugs Away
While most potatoes companion plants are known to have pest-shooing tactics, some deserve special mention for their versatility and popularity, such as the following.
- Leeks
- Catmint
- Sage
- Mint
- Oregano
Rules of Companion Planting for Potatoes
Selecting a companion for potatoes is like a mix-and-match game. However, knowing the basic rules is empirical to win the game:
- Plant potatoes of several varieties.
- The more companion plants of other species, the better.
- Avoid applying chemical pesticides unless in the worst cases.
- Monitor your plant regularly.
- Keep them hydrated and fertilized regularly.
- Prune dead leaves and flowers.
Mistakes to Avoid in Your Companion Planting with Potatoes
You would not want to commit mistakes with one single move. Due to this fact, we have listed some of the most common garden malpractices that you want to avoid.
- Not observing proper space
- Planting crops of the nightshade family
- Not preparing the soil well
- Not providing supplemental fertilizer
- Planting in a shady spot
- Inadequate watering
FAQ
Where to start potatoes – indoors or outdoors?
Practiced conventionally, cultivating potatoes usually starts indoors in the process called chitting. Seed potatoes, or small tubers with lots of “eyes” or nodes, are simply exposed to a relatively cold room with access to light, like windows, for instance.
What do potatoes like to be planted near?
Potatoes are not quite picky in terms of the plant species they’re planted next to. These plants may range from leafy vegetables like lettuce, spinach, or cabbage to flowers and herbs that help defend your garden from biological enemies.
What happens if we plant potatoes too close together?
Cluttered plant beds can result in a garden disaster. Not only will they face competition, which results in poor tuber development, but they are also prone to destructive diseases such as potato late blight.
What not to plant next to potatoes?
Generally, members of the nightshade family, where potatoes belong, should be crossed out from the list of companion plants. As they share almost a similar physiology and morphology, they are prone to pest attack and competition.
What to add to soil before planting potatoes?
In order to grow bigger and plumper tubers, add lots of organic matter from animal or plant origin. This will make the soil friable and more fertilized, facilitating the easier development of underground stems, which will later fatten into tubers.
Can you grow potatoes and onions together?
Absolutely! Onions and potatoes are farm best friends. Onions have cylindrical and vertical leaves that do not encroach on the potatoes’ canopy, avoiding competition. Plus, it helps improve the nutrient availability and pest resilience of the earth apple.
Can you plant different varieties of potatoes together?
If you ask, can you plant different varieties of potatoes together, the answer is definitely a yes! When an assortment of varieties are planted, plant genetic diversity is increased. This makes it hard for the pests or fungus to jump from plant to plant.
