The Ultimate Guide to Potato Companion Planting
Whether you're a stick-'em-in-the-ground- or a grow-'em-in-containers-type gardener, what you plant nearby your potatoes can make all the difference in the health and production of your crop. Companion planting is a smart gardening technique that not only helps your potato plants thrive but also improves your overall garden. Let’s dig into what companion planting is, its benefits, and which plants to pair (and not to pair) with potatoes to help you optimize your harvest.
What Is Companion Planting?
Companion planting involves strategically placing plants near each other to provide certain benefits to one or both plants. This time-tested practice helps create a healthier and more productive garden.
For potatoes, the best companion plants support growth, protect against pests, and maximize garden space. They'll also give you something to harvest while you're waiting months and months for your tubers to form underground.
Benefits of Growing Companion Plants for Potatoes
Companion planting with the 22 herbs, vegetables, and flowers detailed below comes with many benefits, including:
- DETER PESTS WITHOUT CHEMICAL PESTICIDES - Certain plants, including companion planting go-to's like marigolds and nasturtiums, naturally help keep common potato pests like potato beetles and aphids off your crop. With the right companions, you can repel pests or lure them away from your potatoes.
- MAXIMIZE SPACE - Pairs like potatoes (which grow mostly underground) and corn (which send up most of their growth) can optimize space in your garden.
- IMPROVE SOIL - Legumes like beans enrich the soil with nitrogen, which benefits nutrient-hungry plants. Other plants can serve as ground cover to prevent weeds from using up all the resources in the soil.
- ENHANCE GROWTH AND FLAVOR - Some herbs release compounds that stimulate growth or improve the taste of your potatoes.
- ATTRACT BENEFICIAL INSECTS - Flowers like petunias and yarrow draw pollinators and predatory insects that keep pests in check.
- IMPROVE YOUR CROP'S YIELD - The right companions reduce competition for resources, allowing your potato plants to produce more tubers.
BONUS: PROVIDE ADDITIONAL HARVESTS - Potatoes have to grow for 75 to 135 days — that's a long time to wait! And it's an especially long (and boring) time if you're not getting any other harvests from your garden. Companion plants like basil and kale can be harvested while your potatoes are still growing, giving you more production from the same space.
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The Best Plants to Grow with Potatoes
The following plants support potato growth by deterring pests, improving soil nutrients, or maximizing space. Since potatoes grow mostly underground, good companions should have more above-ground growth than below.
The Best Herbs to Grow with Potatoes
Cilantro, Basil, & Parsley
Cilantro, basil, and parsley repel pests like thrips and Colorado potato beetles. Plus, if you let them flower, they'll attract beneficial insects like ladybugs, lacewings, and parasitoid wasps, which will help take care of pest problems.
Thyme & Marjoram
Some gardeners swear that growing thyme and marjoram near your potatoes can actually enhance the flavor of your spuds. They're also aromatic herbs, so their scent can mask potatoes from pests that use smell to find food. I grow most of my potatoes in the ground next to these and other aromatic herbs like lemon balm and anise hyssop, and I've never had a pest issue.
The Best Vegetables to Grow with Potatoes
Broccoli, Kale, & Cauliflower
Plants in the cabbage family have shallow roots, so they grow way more above ground than below. They don't compete for nutrients with potatoes or share similar pests. Brassicas to grow alongside potatoes include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, and even Brussel sprouts.
I typically grow larger plants like potatoes and broccoli outside of my raised beds, since they take up so much space. I alternate growing potatoes and broccoli in these large wooden planters I have in my garden space, and that's been working really well for me.
Chives, Garlic, Onions, & Leeks
Alliums, including chives, garlic, onions, leeks, and scallions, repel pests with their strong smell. Garlic extract effectively treated potato blight and increased potato yields in one study. Planting garlic near your potatoes can have a similar effect thanks to garlic's natural anti-fungal properties. In another study, onions protected potatoes from aphids, beetles, and leafhoppers.
Your potatoes will only share space with onions and garlic during the spring and fall, but chives can stick around for the entire potato growing cycle. When your chives flower, the pretty purple blooms attract all kinds of beneficial insects to your garden. Plus, it'll be great to have fresh chives on hand when your homegrown potatoes are ready!
Corn
Corn and potatoes complement each other spatially in in-ground gardens. Tall corn stalks make efficient use of vertical space while potatoes grow underground. Just don't plant rows and rows of corn on the south side of your potatoes, or those tall stalks will eventually cast too much shade on your tubers.
Beans & Peas
Legumes like beans and peas enrich the soil with nitrogen, and your potatoes will need lots of nitrogen in their early days of growing. Potatoes help beans out by deterring bean beetles.
The Best Flowers to Grow with Potatoes
Sweet Alyssum
This low-growing flower serves as a beautiful ground cover to grow around your potatoes, helping to retain soil moisture, deter weeds, and attract tons of beneficial insects like ladybugs and hoverflies. An older study actually showed that, out of dozens of different flowers, alyssum was the best at reducing aphid populations in vegetable gardens.
Marigolds
Marigolds are an all-round rockstar when it comes to companion planting thanks to their ability to repel a wide range of pests, including potato beetles. Some gardeners even swear these colorful blooms can enhance the flavor of your potato crops. Marigolds will hang in there over hot summers while your potatoes are finishing up.
Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums are pretty incredible little flowers (that double as a salad green!) because they repel certain pests and attract tons of beneficial insects. They also serve as a trap crop. That means they draw in certain pests and distract them, which keeps those pests off your potatoes. Vining nasturtium also provides great ground cover.
Petunias
Petunias are wonderful flowers for summer. Their cheerful blooms attract all kinds of pollinators and pest predators, offering natural (and pretty) pest control.
Tansy & Yarrow
These are both great flowers to grow in a native plant space around your vegetable garden. With their pretty little blooms, tansy and yarrow attract beneficial insects that feed on potato pests, while also repelling certain pests like aphids and Colorado potato beetles.
Plants to Avoid Growing With Potatoes
Avoid growing these plants near potatoes, as they can compete for nutrients, spread disease, lure pests, or flat-out inhibit growth.
Fruit Trees (Apple, Peach, Cherry)
These trees can spread blight, a common potato disease. They might also cast too much shade over your planting area.
Cucumbers, Squash, & Pumpkins
Members of the cucurbit family are heavy feeders. They'll compete for water and nutrients with your potatoes. They can also increase your potato plants' disease susceptibility and even disrupt their roots.
Eggplants, Tomatoes, & Peppers
Potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, and peppers are all members of the same family, the nightshades, AKA the Solanaceae family. Plant cousins often share diseases (like blight) and nutritional needs, so it's best to put a little space between them.
Fennel
Fennel releases chemicals that can stunt the growth of potatoes and other plants.
Raspberries
These perennial berries and potatoes can transmit diseases back and forth.
Root Vegetables (Carrots, Turnips, & Parsnips)
Even though potatoes are technically tubers, I like to lump them into the root crop category. Because they can compete for underground space, it's best to give each root vegetable its own real estate in the garden.
Sunflowers
These flowers can actually release growth-inhibiting chemicals that can harm potatoes. They also grow tall enough to shade your potato plants, which would significantly reduce your yield.
FAQs About Potato Companion Plants
What are the best companion plants for potatoes?
Fragrant herbs like basil and thyme, flowers like marigolds and sweet alyssum, and alliums like chives and onions make excellent choices to grow alongside your potatoes.
What plants should I avoid growing near potatoes?
Give space between your potatoes and nightshades like tomatoes, root vegetables like carrots, and heavy feeders like cucumbers and squash. Also steer clear of fennel, raspberries, and fruit trees. Since potatoes need full sun (at least 6 hours a day, 8 is ideal) to grow best, you also want to avoid planting anything tall that could block critical sunlight from your spuds.
Can companion plants improve potato flavor?
Yes! Herbs like thyme, marjoram, and basil are known to enhance the flavor of potatoes.
How can companion plants help with pests?
Fragrant herbs either repel pests or mask the smell of your more enticing crops from pests that use scent to locate food. Flowers deter pests, act as trap crops to lure pests away from your potatoes, and/or attract beneficial insects that prey on pests.
Can companion planting increase my potato yield?
Absolutely! Companion plants support potato growth by improving soil health, deterring pests, and reducing competition for resources.
Companion Planting Tips for Success
Give Potatoes Space
Potatoes are one of those plants I actually don't recommend planting the Gardenary way (intensively). I like to grow potatoes in their own container or give them plenty of room to spread out in the ground of my pollinator garden. If you do want to grow potatoes in raised beds, I recommend dedicating an entire bed to potatoes. Plant fragrant herbs and low-growing flowers around the border, but don't try to mix in other vegetables.
Separate Competing Plants
Keep heavy feeders like cucumbers and nightshade plants far from potatoes to avoid resource competition and disease spread.
Incorporate Trap Crops
Plant nasturtiums nearby to lure pests away from your main potato crop.
Encourage Beneficial Insects
Add flowers like marigolds, petunias, and yarrow to attract predatory insects and pollinators.
Rotate Crops
Avoid planting potatoes in the same spot year after year to minimize disease risks.
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Give Your Potato Plants Good Neighbors
Companion planting is an easy way to boost your potato crop while creating a more diverse and productive garden. I've found when I plant my potatoes in the ground near fragrant herbs and flowers, my garden practically takes care of itself!
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