Companion Plants For Eggplant

Eggplant is not one of the easier vegetables to grow in a garden. In fact, many gardeners consider eggplant to be a higher maintenance vegetable to grow. But if you are wanting to grow eggplant in your home garden you can use companion planting to help make growing eggplant a bit easier.

Using companion plants for eggplant can help you with keeping pests and harmful insects away and improve soil quality and nutrients.

Good Companion Plants For Eggplant

• Basil
• Beans
• Borage
• Catnip
• Cilantro
• Coneflower (Echinacea)
• Garlic
• Hot Peppers
• Mint
• Marigolds
• Nasturtiums
• Oregano
• Peas
• Radishes
• Snapdragons
• Spinach
• Sunflowers
• Thyme

Beans: Both pole beans and bush beans do great as a companion plant for eggplant because they add nitrogen to the soil. If you do plant pole beans be sure to have them trellised in a way as to not shade your eggplant crop. Green beans can also help keep away Colorado Potato Beetles from your eggplant. Find different varieties of green beans to grow in the garden here.

Companion Plants for Green Beans

Catnip can help keep flea beetles away. Like other herbs, it is best to keep catnip growing in a container as it can easily take over a garden area. Find out what else to plant with catnip here.

Cilantro is a good companion crop for eggplant because it attracts insects like ladybugs and hoverflies and will also help repel harmful insects like the Colorado Potato Beetle.

Coneflowers are a great companion plant because they attract pollinators.

Borage can help bring in beneficial insects and will keep worms away from growing eggplants.

Hot Peppers are in the nightshade family, like eggplant, and therefore can attract the same pests and diseases. However, when it comes to hot peppers they have an extra benefit of controlling Fusarium fungi in the soil around them.

Mint will help keep harmful insects away from eggplant and bring in beneficial predatory insects to your garden. But be sure to try to keep your mint contained as it can take over any garden area very fast. Growing mint in a pot near your eggplant is a great option.

Marigolds and Nasturtiums will keep harmful insects off eggplant by attracting them to themselves instead.

Good Companion Plants for Marigolds

Okra benefits from potassium that eggplant puts into the soil.

Peas, when used as a companion crop, like beans will help fix nitrogen in the soil.

Radishes, when used as a companion plant for eggplant, are a sacrificial crop. Use radishes to keep flea beetles on it instead of your eggplant. Find other good companion plants for radishes here.

Spinach benefits from eggplant when used as a companion plant for eggplant. Eggplant provides a good amount of shade, which is important for spinach in the garden during the hotter part of the season.

Snapdragons are a beautiful flower that can repel aphids, flea beetles, ants, and white flies.

Sunflowers will attract aphids, keeping them off your eggplant when used as a companion plant for eggplant. Find out what else is good to plant with sunflowers here.

Thyme will help keep garden moths and aphids away.

What Not To Plant With Eggplant

• Broccoli
• Corn
• Dill
• Fennel
• Geraniums
• Ginger
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Peppers
• Zucchini

Broccoli has it’s growth and flavor negatively impacted by eggplant growing near it. Find good companion plants for broccoli here.

Corn is a heavy feeder crop and will compete for nutrients in the soil.

Fennel is not a good companion plant for eggplant, just like it’s not a good companion plant for just about any garden crop and should be planted by itself.

Geraniums can bring diseases like leaf blight that can also cause problems with your eggplant crop.

Tomatoes are another member of the nightshade family. While some say that planting tomatoes with eggplant is ok, it is usually best to not do this as they can attract the same harmful pests, like hornworm. You can find what crops are good to plant with tomatoes here.

Potatoes, like tomatoes, will attract the same pests and be subject to the same disease. Planting potatoes and a companion plant for eggplant could result in sacrificing your eggplant crop to potato beetles. So it is best to keep these crops separated. Check out good companion plants for potatoes here.

Peppers, with the exception of hot peppers, should be planted away from eggplant since they are in the same nightshade family.

Zucchini is a heavy feeder, just like eggplant, therefore they will compete for the same nutrients in the soil and both will have negative effects on growth. Find good companion plants for zucchini here.