Looking for a few of the best plants to grow near your tomatoes this year to help them stay healthy, pest-free – and give you your biggest harvest ever?
One thing is for sure, if you want to grow stronger, healthier, and more productive tomato plants, planting a few companion plants near your tomato plants can really make a big difference.
Companion planting is the practice of growing certain plants near others to help them out – whether it be or helping them with pollination and fruiting, or helping to protect them from pests and disease. And when it comes to tomato plants, they can use all the companion help they can get!
Tomatoes are heavy feeders and can struggle with pests like aphids, hornworms, and whiteflies throughout the growing season. They also love sunny, open spaces but can sometimes benefit from a bit of natural shade from neighboring plants. By selecting the right companion plants, you can naturally help with all of these needs.
As you will see below, some plants can help protect tomatoes from harmful pests. Others attract beneficial pollinators. And some can even improve the soil conditions and overall health of the tomato plants. All by simply planting a few plants near your tomatoes!
The 4 Best Plants To Grow Near Tomatoes
Marigolds – The Ultimate Companion Plant
Marigolds are one of the best-known and most effective companion plants you can grow near tomatoes. Their bright blooms are not only beautiful, but they also give off a strong scent that confuses and repels many harmful insects.
Marigolds are incredible for helping to keep away aphids, whiteflies, and even nematodes that live in the soil and can damage tomato roots. Although all marigolds work well for tomatoes, French marigolds are considered the best variety of all.
French marigolds produce more of the chemical compounds that repel nematodes and insects. And even better, they are low maintenance and can be planted easily from seed. Affiliate Link: French Marigold Seeds
Marigolds also attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, which are helpful for tomato plants, even though tomatoes are self-pollinating. More pollinators in the garden mean a better chance of fuller, healthier fruit development on your plants.
The best way to plant marigolds around your tomatoes is to space them evenly around the plants, leaving about 10 to 12 inches between each marigold. You can also plant a ring of marigolds around an entire tomato bed. This creates a protective barrier that helps to keep pests from reaching your tomatoes.
Basil Plants – One Of The Best Herbs To Grow Near Tomatoes
Basil is another outstanding companion plant for tomatoes. Not only does it help repel pests like mosquitoes and thrips, it’s also said to enhance the flavor of your tomatoes when grown nearby. See our article: Planting Basil With Tomatoes – How Basil Makes Tomato Plants Better When They Grow Together!
Basil gives off a strong fragrance that masks the smell of tomato plants. This helps to confuse pest insects that might otherwise hone in on your tomato leaves. It also attracts bees and other pollinators, which can help improve the fruiting on your plants.
When planting basil around tomatoes, it’s best to plant one basil plant on each side of a tomato plant, about 12 to 18 inches away. Basil does well with the partial shade that tomato plants provide once they grow tall and bushy.
You can also tuck smaller basil plants in between tomatoes if you are growing multiple tomato plants in a row. Just don’t overcrowd the plants too much so that air circulation stays strong. This will help to prevent blight and mildew.
Zinnias
Zinnias can play a huge role in helping your tomato plants by bringing pollinators and helpful insects into the garden. These colorful, long-blooming flowers attract bees, butterflies, and even hummingbirds. And those pollinators can all help improve yields.
Tomatoes are self-pollinating and don’t require outside pollinators to set fruit. However, a visit from a bee or butterfly can help jostle the flowers. This helps to spread the pollen around more effectively – leading to bigger, more plentiful harvests.
Zinnias also bring in ladybugs and wasps – which can help to fight off common pests like aphids and hornworms.
Zinnias are easy to grow by direct sowing seeds right into the soil once the danger of frost has passed. Plant them about 8 to 12 inches away from the base of tomato plants so they have enough room to grow without crowding the tomatoes.
You can plant a row of zinnias along the outer edges of a tomato bed or scatter a few among the tomato rows to keep a steady stream of pollinators visiting the garden all season long. Affiliate Link: California Giants Zinnia Seeds
Another bonus is that zinnias are deer resistant and drought tolerant once established, making them a very low-maintenance addition to your vegetable garden.
Parsley – The Dual Purpose Plant
All too often, parsley is thought of as just an herb for cooking. But as it turns out, it’s also a very helpful companion plant for tomatoes. Why? Because it attracts a wide range of beneficial insects like hoverflies, predatory wasps, and ladybugs.
These insects feast on pests like aphids and caterpillars that can wreak havoc on tomato plants. Even better, parsley doesn’t take up much space as it grows low to the ground. This makes it easy to tuck in around tomato plants without getting in the way of their growth.
You can plant parsley in the spaces between tomato plants, giving each parsley plant about 6 to 8 inches of room to grow. Parsley enjoys a bit of shade during the hottest part of the day, and the taller tomato plants will naturally provide that shade once they start filling out.
Because parsley is a biennial, you can leave a few plants in the ground at the end of the season. They’ll flower in their second year and provide even more benefits by attracting pollinators and beneficial insects early in the next growing season.
Here is to giving your tomatoes a boost this year by planting some of the best companion plants along with them!
Simple Garden Life
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