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Using companion plants for potatoes can help your potatoes grow and taste better. Growing potatoes is very rewarding in a garden. They provide a good amount of food that can be made into all kinds of yummy dishes.
Companion planting is used by gardeners to help keep pests away from their crops and to help their crops grow better. And using companion plants with potatoes can help fight disease, keep away pests, invite beneficial insects, improve flavor, and add needed nutrients to the soil.
The Best Companion Plants for Potatoes
- Alyssum
- Basil
- Beans
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Chamomile
- Corn
- Garlic
- Green Beans
- Horseradish
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Marigolds
- Mint
- Parsley
- Petunias
- Radishes
- Sage
- Scallions
- Thyme
Basil and Parsley make good companion crops for potatoes because they help improve the flavor of the potatoes. In addition to the better flavor, they also attract insects that will help with pollination and control your pests. Find other companion plants for basil here.
Beans help keep away potato beetles and in turn receive the benefit of potatoes keeping Mexican bean beetles away.
Related Reading: Companion Plants for Green Beans
Bok Choy has a shallow root system and can be a good space saving companion plant for potatoes. Find other companion crops for Bok Choy here.
Broccoli: Potatoes help improve the flavor of broccoli when using them as companion plants for broccoli.
Garlic can provide anti-fungal properties to the soil.
Lettuce can be planted with potatoes in a unique stacking way. You can plant lettuce between your potato plants, they will not compete with root space. This is a great option when you have a small garden or if you are growing vegetables in containers as you can put the lettuce around your potato plant in the container.
Kale doesn’t compete for the same nutrients as potatoes, so it makes a good companion plant for potatoes. You can find more companion plants for kale here.
Mint can help keep harmful insects off your potatoes and bring in beneficial predatory insects. If using mint as a companion plant for potatoes, do not use parsley, as these two herbs do not grow well together.
Cabbage and Corn both are said to help give your potatoes better flavor when grown as companion plants with potato plants.
Green beans are great to grow with potatoes. They add nitrogen to the soil, this will help you get a better potato harvest. And green beans help the flavor of your potatoes that grow. The potatoes also give a great benefit to green beans, and that’s repelling Mexican beetles. Find out the different types of green beans you can grow.
Horseradish does have a deeper root system. While it isn’t generally good to plant anything with potatoes that could compete with the root system, horseradish is an exception to that rule. It is a great companion plant for potatoes due to it being a great disease and pest repellent. It also has a third benefit of helping with soil pH.
Sage helps to keep flea beetles away from your potato plants.
Marigolds work great as a companion plant around the area you plant your potatoes, as they will attract pests that would normally go for your potato plants.
Thyme, when used as a companion plant for potatoes, is able to help repel the potato beetle which can cause major issues with a potato crop.
What can you not plant next to potatoes?
- Asparagus
- Beets
- Carrots
- Cucumber
- Dill
- Eggplant
- Fennel
- Kohlrabi
- Onions
- Peppers
- Pumpkin
- Radishes
- Raspberries
- Sunflowers
- Spinach
- Squash
- Tomatoes
- Turnips
- Zucchini
Asparagus, if used as a companion plant for potatoes, stunts the growth of potatoes, always plant these away from your potato plant.
Cucumber, Pumpkins, Squash, and Zucchini all will make your potato plants get blight as it will transfer and these vegetable plants are susceptible to blight.
Related Reading: Companion Plants for Cucumbers
Carrots, Onions, Turnips, Radishes, and Sunflowers all can cause stunted growth of your potatoes due to competition of root space.
Tomatoes compete with potatoes for the same nutrients in the soil. Also, blight is another concern with tomato plants being close to the potato plants. Find companion plants for tomatoes here.
Related Reading:
Companion Plants For Ginger and What Not To Grow With Ginger In The Garden
