Why Companion Planting Works (The Science Behind The Magic)

[@fizzypop1858]

This information is so helpful, Kevin. Thank you! I'm learning so much from you and your team. And, I'm soooo happy you bought Botanical Interests seed company! I have purchased their seeds for years, and I'm grateful that their good name and company is awesome new hands.

[@epicgardening]

Thank you so much my friend! We're doing our best :)

[@iheartherbs]

Wow, I had no idea he bought Botanical Interests, I prefer to buy their seeds as well.

[@thedrunkmonk8386]

I just bought from botanicalinterests for first time. More expensive but I really like seed pack

[@catherinebaldwin6580]

I was expecting you to talk about Marigolds. My mom said to me once, “Don’t buy tomatoes unless you plan to buy marigolds.” Plus there the cutest flowers.

[@LauraCourtneyette]

Also, marigold flower petals are edible and each variety has its own taste. You can use the whole flower to make ice cream.

[@mita694ever]

My marigolds got sick and ruin my tomatoes they where to close

[@Azariah-pv2xv]

Marigolds keep the bugs away that eat them

[@meredithd95]

Would calendula be a good candidate too? I gave a ton of calendula and tomato seedlings that I haven't decided on a spot for yet

[@valeriealvarez5855]

@@meredithd95a good plant is nasturtium I heard. It helps attract bugs that may kill your plants away from them and to the nasturtium. I’ve tried this a so far the slugs have been eating the nasturtium rather than my seedlings. You can also use nasturtium for medicinal purposes too such as a salve or even butter

[@ThirdCoastGardening]

This year we planted green onions and marigolds with our tomatoes. They repel pests and protect the tomatoes.

[@epicgardening]

And they’re beautiful!

[@brandon8900]

Just came here to say that marigolds are great for this!

[@ThirdCoastGardening]

@@brandon8900 yeah I have them planted with my peppers too.

[@brandon8900]

@@ThirdCoastGardening I have a lot of marigolds as well I've started indoors. Unfortunately it's still to early to put outside and some are blooming inside lol.

[@ThirdCoastGardening]

@@brandon8900 I’m zone 9.

[@dawnkeckley7502]

Also, I can’t emphasize enough how beneficial it is to have birdhouses near your garden. Every year, either bluebirds or chickadees nest, and they spend their days grabbing caterpillars off my vegetable plants to feed to their young. In fact, having bird baths and feeders helps too as I’ve see all sorts of birds eating insects from my raised beds including cardinals. I plant a lot of zinnia as well, and the yellow finches go to town late in the season gobbling up the seeds. Birds love landing on the cattle panel trellises and wire mesh arches I have set up.

[@kirbymallak]

My best pest control!❤

[@mkrgonzales]

That sounds gorgeous! A bird bath feature surrounded by flowers that yields a wonderful harvest of delicious veggies. My garden dream 💭

[@michellejester9734]

I just had a male and female move into my garden!! I have to secure the house they chose bc I had just set it out bc it needs to be painted!! But now that the garden is in full growth and I added some flowering plants, this bluebird couple just moved in today!! He's soooo happy with the house, he keeps exiting and perching around my garden and singing!! Love it!!❤❤

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

Something you touched on briefly: if you're planting sacrificial plants to attract pests, you really want to make sure to kill those pests before they reproduce. I garden at a community garden where some gardeners compensate for pests by overplanting squash in hopes of having more than the bugs can eat, and the garden is now absolutely overrun with squash bugs and vine borers.

[@epicgardening]

Yep, fantastic point

[@lenayeagle9650]

Something else to think about is to get plants to full photosynthetic capacity. It's being found that plants reaching above certain brix levels will not and arguably cannot be eaten by pests. Sounds too good to be true, right? kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJ-xgKl3aMmcerc

[@cassieoz1702]

Yes. I found 'sacrificial nasurtiums' attracted WAY more cabbage butterflies to my garden than I ever had before

[@jenniferc4083]

@@cassieoz1702 Rosemary will help repel the cabbage moths. But it needs to be either well established or heavily planted around the cabbages. I started with two rosemary's and six cabbages last summer and ended up planting an additional five rosemary's before the cabbage moths finally got the hint and stayed away. Bonus for me though...I love fresh rosemary and the cabbages turned out super yummy :)

[@helenamcginty4920]

​@@cassieoz1702 ditto. I use bacillus thurigiensis on my tomatoes to combat tuta absoluta and read that it also deals with cabbage white caterpillars. It does too. And as it is a naturally occurring soil bacillus you arent spraying bad chemicals. I read research that suggests that it is also more effective against tuta than chemical sprays.

[@umiluv]

Oo please more videos like this! Companion planting is very helpful. It’s also helpful to note which plants don’t go together. Any help would be appreciated!

[@cursedcookies]

I second this! companion planting is a little daunting to me as I have never done it before and don't wish to mess up. This video was great.

[@christineribone9351]

It's all the other stuff, dummy.

[@carmensmith4271]

I unknowingly planted a super aphid attractor in my garden last year. I wanted color and attract pollinator's and maybe a few cut flowers. My veggies seemed to be doing a lot better with fewer pests for some reason and when I went to cut some flowers, I noticed the whole plant was covered in aphids but none on my crops. They were all on this bright orange "Mexican Sunflower". I will be planting this again this year but in a bigger area. This plant was loaded with flowers, grew around 8 to 9 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. It attracted butterflies, humming birds and bees. I have never seen so many Monarch butterflies and humming birds in all the years I've been gardening.

[@DanceintheRaine666]

Is the specific plant you had such success with is Tithonia rotundifolia? There are purportedly 10-15 species & I want to plant the correct one. Thank you so very much for posting this comment.

[@carmensmith4271]

@@DanceintheRaine666 Yes, that is the one. Tithonia rotundifolia Torch. Beautiful, huge plant with endless flowers.

[@lurklingX]

that's amazing!! and i think i bought seeds for that actually. that's great that it even got hummers :D

[@AsioEntomo]

for the record, the little buddy at 3:45 isn't a stink bug! it's a leaffooted bug, which can still be a garden pest, but please know that beneficial assassin bugs are often visually very similar to stink and leaffooted bugs. as I said, leaffooted bugs are still considered garden pests, but it's a good idea for any gardenener to learn their local insects and work with the beneficial ones! it could be a really great video idea to try out some methods for attracting beneficial insects to see if they help you out at all: the xerces society has an excellent book on the topic, and there is tons of info online. EDIT: brachonid wasps! an excellent addition, brachonids and other parasitoid wasps have the dual benefit of pollination and pest control, I love them dearly.

[@epicgardening]

Yep, we accidentally added the wrong bug! Appreciate the correction

[@cursedcookies]

I thought it was a western conifer seed bug until I looked closer. This clarified thanks! They look similar.

[@KimberSnyder]

We call them stink bugs as well. A nightmare to deal with but good info to share.

[@TheTNXXX]

Wait so this bug in the video is an assassin bug? I had a huge infestation of stink bugs on my pomegranate tree last year during fall, they looked similar to these.

[@PMTcommenter]

planting flowers with my plants was one of the best things ive done. Instantly started seeing WAY more polinaters and started getting much better yeilds. On top of that, you get the nice aroma and looks of flowers. It's a win win win

[@lurklingX]

in the community garden i was with before moving out of state, they always planted zinnias and things straight up through everywhere. but also sunflowers and stuff. always thought it looked cool. hadn't realized they did it for pests. partly because things were said like, 'zinnias just look so good. and you can cut them for vases if you want'.

[@mita694ever]

Be aware they will attract aphids and spider mites

[@PMTcommenter]

@@mita694ever yummy food for the lady bugs

[@mckenahsobering9805]

Please please please do more videos like this. This is my first year growing in raider beds rather then individual containers. I want to badly to do companion gardening but is so confusing from my perspective.

[@birdielein9636]

We took out our scrabbly lawn - it was there when we bought the house two years ago - that took lots of water and we live in Canada's almost desert- and replaced it with a lawn alternative blend that is filled with pollinators and is xeriscaping friendly. This will grow all around my raised beds. I'm so excited!

[@epicgardening]

Love hearing this!

[@LeonardSmith-bj6ud]

Hello Birdie, how're you doing?

[@jamiehenry3135]

This is a little off topic, but using plants to attract pest reminded me of something I read in Pam Dawlings book 'Sustainable Market Farming". She talks about he own traps, but in a different sense. So you had bad bean beetles last year, they will be hungry in the spring. Her Idea was to plant an early bed of beans or peas, and when the beetles expend most of a life cycles energy in that patch, you take a propane torch to the whole thing, breaking the generational cycle. Then you plant your beans you intend to harvest. After a real bad infestation this could be done multiple times until results are seen.

[@Blossomandbranch]

On nitrogen fixation: you actually don’t get nitrogen fixation if you harvest a crop from the beans/peas/legumes. To get the nitrogen benefits in the soil you have to terminate the plant before it sets seed, otherwise the nitrogen goes into the seed production and you won’t get it from the roots even if left in the ground. 👍

[@Blossomandbranch]

Oh, and it’s best practice to inoculate if you’re looking for N fixation! We just did a vid on this on our channel. ❤

[@epicgardening]

Yes exactly!

[@A1BASE]

Just a thought - it would be awesome if your search function at Botanical Interests would be able to filter either by region, planting zone or even native species.

[@epicgardening]

We are working on a massive improvement to the entire store very soon!

[@lurklingX]

i second this! when i was shopping the sale for seeds i started getting overwhelmed by trying to double check zones on everything. would have liked to just plug in 'tomato' and ok at zone 7. : ) same for flowers.

[@sharonjennings1282]

This is one of my favorite videos that you have done ever! I guess maybe I wasn’t paying attention before two because I didn’t realize botanical interest was your seed company. My son lives in Colorado right near the place! I have had seeds sent from there to me in Illinois and now I will make sure that I purchase more from your company because I want to support you for such fantastic videos. Keep them coming!

[@HabitualHobbies]

I garden in containers and I want to garden as organically as possible. This was helpful in my understanding of why certain things do and dont work. Using cucumbers to shade my leafy greens through the summer was probably last years best garden decision for me.

[@LeonardSmith-bj6ud]

Hello dear, Nice to meet you where are you from?

[@coryhyatt2035]

If you find an earthworm place him in your container. Then feed him with some kitchen scraps ever so often. I do this to all my container plants. They grow 10x better.

[@HabitualHobbies]

@@coryhyatt2035 will do, thanks!

[@BubblewrapHighway]

Your videos are an antidote to all the rotten crap that gets spread around on social media. ❤

[@epicgardening]

Means a lot to hear

[@drasco61084]

Down with all the five minute crap channels. We support quality channels like Kevin and Jacques!

[@thx3188]

I’ve been planting African purple basil and marigolds with my tomatoes the past few years. Last year I also threw my extra onion greens in between the buckets I grow them in and had no pest issues with the tomatoes at all! This year I started haunting the garden centers earlier so I could find alliums to intersperse instead of the onion tops. The reason I use the African basil is because it very quickly bolts and grows a ton of flowers and really stinks the place up with that basil scent.

[@catdaddy7582]

Chinese basil grows wild in my garden. Where it grows, the cabbage hornworms, etc, do no damage. It isn't quite as pungent as other strains, but it works quite well in soups and stews.

[@sapientisessevolo4364]

Growing native plants to attract pollinators is also a nice way to help the native plants and species that rely on them, so it's a win win win and maybe a 4th win since if you help out native species you make it harder (although by how much I have no idea) for invasives!

[@daytonaexpress7160]

Id love to see companions and that mix planting video cause i have recently learned this about never just planting veggies. And having random cilantro dill and basil And random alyssums dwarf zinnias and dahlias, welsh onions too nasturtiums. They are just so important and its more obvious when you have them established early to see the benefits in your sprays for pest because you've established a home for soooo many good things. Like having very early as hell planted cilantro that's gonna bolt in a couple weeks too.

[@drea4195]

I love Botanical Interests! Some of the best-quality and most diverse seed selection out there. Excellent.

[@epicgardening]

Glad to hear!

[@elisabetk2595]

I don't worry when things bolt (our springs tend to be punctuated with bouts of really hot weather, sigh) and just let them become first flowers for pollinators and then chop and drop mulch or turned if they are in the way for the next crop. Endive turns into chicory, radishes have delicate pink flowers, carrots are lovely.

[@epicgardening]

Love that approach

[@Nikki-mx5my]

Yes, I would love a whole video on vegetable and flower combinations!

[@eliee1]

South Florida boy here, love the channel and products, you've helped teach me a great deal for my challenging climate in SWFL. I grow a lot of the tropical fruit stuff but vegetables are such a different ball game where I'm at so thanks again. : - )

[@alyssef02]

Try tomatos, eggplants, and banana peppers. I'm also in s.fl and right now they're really taking off. We have them all in repurposed containers, some with basil and alyssum, or onions and garlic. The basil seems to be keeping pests away.

[@epicgardening]

Appreciate you my friend!

[@cherylbelott]

Thank you for this info! I’m interested in more companion videos! I’m always looking for more ideas to mix flowers with veg in my beds and containers.

[@KK-FL]

I have several "weeds" with flowers that freely self-sow in my yard and come back every year. Bidens alba, spiderwort, Florida betony, beautyberry. I love that they are native, pretty, and help with my vegetables!

[@LeonardSmith-bj6ud]

Hi, how're you doing?

[@GardeningInCanada]

A solid intercropping of nitrogen fixers and tillage radish are the two big ones for me. To help with soil conditioning. The other option I really like is actually trap crop companion planting with radishes because flea beetles are a nightmare where I am.

[@epicgardening]

Oh never considered radishes as a trap! Great idea Ashley

[@GardeningInCanada]

@@epicgardening they go totally wild for baby radishes. Use microgreens to save some $$

[@GardeningInCanada]

@Disabled-Megatron very true. Although I typically burn the trap crop with the bugs 🤣 so it’s more charcoal

[@susanbigham2428]

My two faves chatting. That's awesome. Radish as a trap..I may have to try it this year.

[@hazelchew49]

I am reading a book called Plant Partners: Science-Based Companion Planting Strategies for the Vegetable Garden by Jessica Walliser that goes in-depth into this topic! Would highly recommend Only discovered your channel a few weeks ago, and am greatly enjoying it, thank you!. Especially your clear explanations of basic topics that is helping a beginner city plant grower trying to make use of limited balcony space

[@epicgardening]

Jessica's book is amazing, we've learned a lot from it!

[@MsSweetSunshine904]

Thank you for the recommendation!

[@PlantGuild]

Great video and to-the-point as always. Thank you! Something I learned about native bird habitats recently that works with pollinators is that by grouping multiples of the same plant instead of spreading it in different areas throughout the landscape it can help keep those pollinators in the same area for longer so they don’t have to jump around as much. This applies to more larger areas than it does the average backyard. But still. The more you know! Looking forward to more videos on companion planting.

[@chrissymurphy5412]

This is the first year I've planted with companion plants, so im excited to see how it works out! One of the big questions we had though while actually putting everything in the ground is how to judge spacing. One website said the average between the two plants spacing, but in your beds I see plants much closer than what we ended up doing. If you make another companion planting video I'd love to see a guide on how to judge what can be right next to eachother and who needs some room :) Also, thank you for all the fantastic gardening videos, I dont think I could have gotten to this point without them!

[@epicgardening]

Thanks for the kind words Chrissy - I'll do one on spacing for sure, maybe a fresh bed build out

[@rockyusa2012]

Good video Kevin. Companion planting is one I am constantly trying to learn and do.

[@devinhock8549]

This is great info, thanks for sharing! One thing to keep in mind is that Sweet Alyssum is native to Europe and is considered to be invasive in some jurisdictions as it spreads rapidly as a ground cover. If possible, choose another type of flower that spreads less aggressively.

[@lindawinter7813]

Oh if only that was my original in KS! I'm lucky to have the blooming plants last even 1 month!

[@rebeccanisley8709]

But Alyssa doesn't overwinter in the north.

[@aphillips5376]

Yes! Please make more floral/veg companion idea vids

[@jjc2323]

Oh my gosh Kevin! This is exactly what I was looking for. BTW just today I put up the 6 Birdies beds I ordered from your store! filled with cardboard and sticks to save money on my soil. Then several bags of top-quality soil/compost. Added some fiberglass half hoops in PVC pipe on the sides and ready to plant and cover with greenhouse plastic film (live in Ohio - still not out of our frost date) for those things that cannot tolerate the cold. I am attempting to convince my significant other to help me buy more so he doesn't have to build me additional raised beds. My garden this year is going to be EPIC!! thanks for everything you do - also cannot wait to plant my seeds from Botanical Interests ;)

[@jamiemittermuller6470]

A big one for tomatoes is growing marigolds or tagetes with them. Marigolds are fantastic companions plants. Another combination is onion with carrots to prevent the carrot fly. But be careful some plants don’t like going together/ shouldn’t be together e.g. potato and tomato.(Perhaps another video). I’ve seen vegetable grown in herbaceous borders (RHS bridgewater) and have got good crops. Not a companion plant but carrots with radish sow you carrot row then radish to mark out your carrots rows, harvest and eat radish just as your carrots start to show.

[@OceanGraves]

I love seeing the science behind plants, in general. There’s also something to learn that benefits you, learning = more harvests. Or just learning = awesome lol. I love plants, gardening, so fun. I CANT WAIT TO START PLANTING!

[@ziggybender9125]

Something I read yesterday that I haven't seen shared anywhere else is that Thyme growing next to Eggplant improves the Eggplants flavor, first time I've heard of a flavor changing companion planting but immediately took some Thyme cuttings and plugged them in by my Eggplants so we'll see.

[@whitewolf262]

Another alleged flavor enhancer is borage (a herb) planted with strawberries.

[@ziggybender9125]

@@whitewolf262 I can't with borage. I've tried twice now and it starts to look big n healthy then rots and dies. Supposedly Lavender and Rosemary are the hard herbs to grow but I've got both of those growing, borage just doesn't like all the natural amounts of rain I guess and isn't hardy enough to wait it out.

[@whitewolf262]

@@ziggybender9125 That sounds like a fungal problem, it's pretty common in borage in wetter climes unfortunately

[@ziggybender9125]

@@whitewolf262 Yeah I'm happy enough just working with the plants that are willing to grow in my area, everything else sounds like an uphill battle and costs money.

[@smile30981]

Lovin' it and it's been through your videos these past three years that I've learned so much about companion planting and soil health ~ I always appreciate the new content! I will say I was very sad to see you did NOT include the most important garden companion this time around: where's Jacques??? You and he are the best companions! 😆

[@StubbsMillingCo.]

Companion Planting is fantastic! It’s the basis for Permaculture and helps everything thrive. You can get more of a mix of things through both Inter Cropping and Permaculture together.

[@FujitheChef]

Definitely do a companion video for cucumber, tomato, and basil please. 🙌🏻😯 A whole series on companion combinations would be awesome

[@sissymarie2912]

Coming up with different interplantings is honestly one of my favorite parts of every season. It helps with creating a healthier ecosystem and it makes the garden so much more pleasing to be in. I have a minimum of 2-3 different herbs, flowers and aliums for each section of the garden. I'll absolutely be trying out your tip about pairing sweet alyssum with my tomatoes in addition to basil and marigold. I also really like the idea of planting cucumbers with them. I have a permanent trellis system and I think they'd do well planted around the posts. Camouflaging foliage is another good reason for interplanting. A lot of garden pests, including animals, identify food sources based on leaf shape. I'm planning on planting cucamelons and Malabar in amongst my pole beans this year. Learned my lesson after losing almost all of my trionfo violetta beans last year. Something came along and ate just the stems about a foot up the trellis. Not letting it happen again.

[@michelleh4588]

Calendula is my favorite trap crop! Aphids go nuts for it and stay off of everything else!

[@m.dilitto5488]

Do you plant your calendulas in the beds with your veggies, or in a separate bed so the aphids don't move next door to the stuff you're trying to keep safe?

[@michelleh4588]

@@m.dilitto5488 everything is mixed together in my garden! Even when the calendula was touching other plants, aphids stayed put on it!

[@m.dilitto5488]

@@michelleh4588 awesome, thanks for the info!

[@miguelpedroso7659]

Your voice is so relaxing, so calm!

[@salmanaisawesome]

Great post! I am excited to learn more about companion/interplanting! It also helps maximize the space in the garden too! 😊

[@PiaSet]

This is epic! I love companion planting in my little garden, but I’ve learned so much today…thanks to you 🌷👍🏻💜

[@andrewroberts8119]

Fennel…. Plant it and just let it GO. You’ll get pretty umbrellas of flowers that the bees love. Also, I’m in Oregon and really struggle with slugs. Chopped a few grapefruit and scattered them around. Slugs go for them first, and I just keep replacing the wedges. Worked perfect!

[@lindawinter7813]

And I place containers of cheap beer in plastic food tubs when done with food. Cut a flap into the lids and bury it to soil height. Slugs crawl in for the beer smell and drown. I replace after our trains a lot and dilutes the beer

[@irinasmirnofff]

Did you try eggshells against them?

[@catdaddy7582]

Early in this video you mentioned Purslane- which led me to a thought. When I first started planting the raised beds at my new property, I had lots of voluntary "weeds". After some ID work, I discovered all were edible. Even ragweed has a medicinal use- but I pull it. Whenever Shiso (Chinese Basil) or lamb's quarters, or dayflower, or purslane, or whatever overshadows my beds- I just make a meal of them! (In the case of Shiso- they go through the dehydrator for cooking herbs.) The "weeds" keep down lesser weeds, like ragweed, and become a tasty treat for me. Purslane is quite good, BTW.

[@akerudawn]

Lupin flowers are in the legume family, they're very pretty and could work as an alternate to peas. Please do make more videos on companion planting, including what not to do.

[@kittiew260]

Great video, Kevin. I enjoyed how you touched base on cover crops. Would enjoyed more videos on that topic too. I bought winter rye and mustards as cover crops based upon farmers feedback.

[@epicgardening]

Will do, I did one last year but will do more soon!

[@KerriGilpin]

Great vid! I thought you said “wood bee 🐝 predators” at first, talking about your rose arch 🤣 Here in Florida I see strawberry farms interplant onions, literally 🍓🧅🍓🧅🍓🧅🍓🧅 in massive parcels. Our annual strawberry festival is typically bigger than the state fair!

[@epicgardening]

I'll try this out!

[@LeonardSmith-bj6ud]

Hello kerri, how're you doing?

[@lindawinter7813]

Would this help with minimizing slug populations with the strawberries?

[@SurprisedPikacheesecake]

wanna get into container gardening soon and i think it'll be fun to try to get more than one crop out of a small space as well as enjoying the benefits of planting complimentary things together. thanks for this info juuust maybe not the gross stuff lol parasite bugs are freaky!

[@commonleaders]

Great video Kevin & Crew! Cucumber & mustard info is new and helpful to me! Thinking of loading up some mustard greens in the Urban Worm Bag to prep the output. Thoughts? Also, happy sunshine! Our gardens have been missing days like today 🌞. Keep on growing!

[@Luv2Garden2]

Omg this video blew my mind! I want to learn so much more on companion planting I've devoted this day to researching it. I'm adding more beauty and bug detractors to my garden this year. This was absolutely my favorite video today. It was so informative. Thank you a bunch. ❤

[@TheMamabear02]

Would love more videos on companion planting and flowers!! ❤

[@sreykimsear]

I planted corn and sugar snow peas together. Wow the corn was so good and grew well. We ate the corn raw after washing it and we were able to snack on the peas all spring and summer.

[@JuliaCantley]

I'm always amazed at all the different vegetables you are able to garden all at once. In my zone, I wish I would do this but we can only grow certain things during certain seasons. I love this video though and would love more companion plant ideas. I try to google them sometimes and they contradict themselves.

[@mychalbrown4585]

Very helpful! We just built two 8'x4' raised beds we're learning how to garden for my kid's homeschool. We're trying some companion planting too. Your channel is my son's favorite that we watch! Thanks!

[@epicgardening]

Say hi to him for us!

[@jaymesc4436]

Hey, thanks so much for making this, my paw paw(grandad in mitchif) would always do this around the season's change. Now i can learn it too! Thank you! So much for this it brought a nice memory to me. :D

[@wahdermelon]

Okay, this is officially my new favorite youtibe video. I've learned so much and wish I had learned these years ago! My wife and I will definitely be using many of these techniques this year!!

[@tophonor2528]

Your channel is my go to for any garden info I need. I know different zones mean different tips but for me being in kern county california is way different than San Diego., your tips are great! I'm in my 4th season and it gets better every year. Thank you for all the great info

[@WaddleQwacker]

3:05 hmmm Capucines... Pretty flowers, delictious to eat, grows everywhere, perenial, ... Love it!

[@patriciakane764]

Great information!! Some I knew, a lot I didn’t! So thank you!!

[@stephandjuliaseden]

Super helpful and interesting video!! Thanks for posting. I also heard that the nitrogen fixation in the roots is to prepare for seed development so once those bean and pea seeds fully develop, much of that nitrogen may leave the roots. So if you can cut the plant down leaving the roots before seeds are formed, the nitrogen fixation benefits should be even higher!

[@tristambre632]

I've learned new thing today thanks to you ! I did not know about the cucumber's capacity to inhibit weeds. Great educationnal content as always :)

[@cltinturkey]

Brilliant! I use many of these techniques and would love to learn more about flower/vegetable combinations. Please consider arming us with that knowledge. Thanks! PS - I cultivated that like button!

[@Geeksmithing]

Isn't there also supposed to be a flavor boost you get from planting basil with tomatoes as well? Surprised that wasn't mentioned. Either way, Keep it up team, I'm always looking forward to your uploads!

[@epicgardening]

Need to research that more!

[@donnariggs1567]

wow so proud of you I remember when you just started and now 2.3 million subs so cool you deserve the great success!

[@jeanwonnacott2718]

I knew I was onto something! I noticed I couldn't get anything to grow on the hillside behind my house. I started letting the grass grow around those plants, to hold onto the soil, and my seeds. Seeds still can't find, but I will try again, companion planting!! It is a real thing. I will never just grow 1 plant again.....thanks for confirming I was right...

[@dawnkeckley7502]

We have squash vine borer terribly here. They didn’t affect the butternut squash that grew from a composted seed last year, but they get my summer squash every year. I’m trying to decide whether I want to plant blue Hubbard squash far away from my garden on a fence near my garage. I have no problem destroying the plant or even cutting into the vine and killing the borer. I’m also growing sweet dumpling squash for the first time. Fingers crossed.

[@zabacinjsh]

I dunno about tomato and cucumber combo. But I always wanted to hear more about companion plants as I never understood gran always planting basil with tomatoes as basil grew out a lot and shaded the lower leaves. I did however hear alot about cucumber and tomato plants being grown together is a huge nono as cucumbers need a lot of water including water on leaves (we used to have a system of sprinklers from above in the cucumber greenhouse that helped hydrate leaves) and tomatoes need a lot of ventilation as they are easy to start rot of all sorts if there is too much moisture around in the air so a greenhouse with tomatoes should never have cucumbers in it. but I guess maybe this only applies indoors and the companionship actually works outdoors? I am really curious now. Glad I found your channel as a few months ago when I decided to start growing things after thinking about it for a while I realized I fell into the rabbithole of youtube shorts and all sorts of trends like germinating seeds in ways that seem fun but arent and the banana peel in water looked interesting until I found out its not really that effective. Got duped since my gran used to have barrels where she would rot things like dandilion, nettle etc and once the concoctions reeked like mad she would use that to water plants. But sadly my gran died a couple years ago and one of the regrets I have is not getting all her lifelong wisdoms about gardening as she had so much knowledge and this year im starting to really want to finally get back into it and am glad to stumble upon quality stuff like this that in some situations reminds me of things forgotten while also learning some new things. Tho I only have windowsils and a balcony to work on so I don't expect to grow things like cucumbers and tomatoes anyways especially with tomato tar being hard to remove and getting everywhere. Germinated spinach, basil and a local leafy sour green that is native to these regions, tried but sadly failed with wild strawberries and I wish I had done more reading on what I should do before attempting it in late February. Been really interested in hydroponics as I heard for peeps with either bad soil, or working with urban gardening it was said to be an amazing alternative tho doesnt work for all plants, even one of my professors grows her garden that way. I heard you started out with it too, and I do have a question for anyone that has tried hydroponics before as well if it is over-hyped or actually could be a solution for someone working with little to no space. my apartment gets very sunny but during months like these i do realize I probs will need some growlights anyways or some other cheaper form of lighting. But a hydroponic system terrifies me with electricity being so expensive rn as well as me wanting to go the route of growing those plants in a way that also looks nice enough in my apartment.

[@canadianfreerider13]

Hi Kevin, thanks for all the great videos. Just commenting an idea I had when I seen your metal planter in what looks like the front yard where flowers are hanging off the edge a bit. It would only take an angle grinder and a pry bar to create pockets like those strawberry planter towers. Would allow more space and cover the metal look.

[@steelsheen]

we need more of these types of video Kev, the popular produce / herbs usually bought in supermarkets / farmers markets and the ideal companion plant/s to them. I love me some tomatoes but it's only now that I realize I should be planting companion plants with them to improve their output and longevity.

[@dawnkeckley7502]

I grew schwartzbeeren (“German blackberries”) for the first time a couple years ago. I found they act as an awesome trap crop for the Blue-banded Lema Leaf Beetle. While I wasn’t able to kill anywhere close to them all, they ignored every other nightshade I had planted. They also caused no real damage to the fruit plants.

[@dianatrott5359]

Kevin... you're so smart. Thank you for this helpful video. I also just realized you own my favorite seed company---Botanical Interests. Great seeds and germination success!

[@fishergabe]

when kevin does the pop up or out from behind cover to start a video, it makes me happy.

[@PurringMyrrh]

Ooooooh, the alyssum/mater combo is absolutely going down in my garden this year! Genius! I have my tomato seedlings going and found a random alyssum seed packet I didnt even know I had. 😄🤔 Plus they smell nice. 😊

[@PurringMyrrh]

Now that I think about it, they both smell amazing in different ways - the alyssum sweet and floral, and tomato vegetation is one of my favorite scents ever! No other scent screams summer gardening more than tomato plants to me for some reason. 😄🤷‍♀️ *huff*

[@WS-by5cl]

The smell of a fresh tomato leaf is rapturous! I agree!!!

[@epicgardening]

You're going to love the combo, trust me

[@joefarmer4465]

I'll need to watch this again and take notes!

[@CartersGardens]

Lol seems like every time I look something up, Epic Garden is there ready to answer I super appreciate the info I'm just starting my big garden and hoping to make it awesome.

[@flowerdoyle3749]

Nasturtium flowers are beautiful in salads and the leaves can grow big enough to use as small wraps. I make a version of spring rolls with them. In the Seattle area they self sow......plant once and done!

[@itatane]

The one that I am putting in between more crops this year is comfrey. A tea made from comfrey mulch is like an ent draught for garden plants, due to the allantoin, I reckon. One quibble, though... Purslane is not a weed! It's a good companion plant itself, and a phenomenal edible plant! One actual weed plant to beware of is the Buttercup. They produce a chemical that kills off clover and legumes and inhibits germination. They're pretty flowers though, so I keep a few in a box bed away from everything else.

[@epicgardening]

Purslane is awesome!

[@hijklmnop42]

I'm saving this to watch later, again and again! So much information presented so concisely, thank you!

[@pennydox]

I planted a massive row of calendulas in the front yard garden, and it definitely keeps the neighborhood dogs from peeing and pooping on that side of the garden 😂 Doesn't really keep the kids from picking the flowers, but I don't mind that.

[@NNTorious]

A comment on the nitrogen fixing. If you let the peas grow to completion. Pretty much all the nitrogen is used by the plants. You have to cover crop it for it to work.

[@Blossomandbranch]

Yes!! Otherwise the nitrogen ends up as protein in the pods.

[@dawnkeckley7502]

I use my phone to photograph all the insects I can while working in my garden. I then use an insect app to identify it. I write on the photo whether it’s a pest, neutral, or beneficial. I add this to a Pinterest board I created. There I add notes like what plants it likes, the level of destruction it causes. I always remember that without some pests, the beneficial insects would have nothing to attack.

[@aok2727]

I love this encouragement to “mix it up” without the BS we normally see in the interwebs. Ultimately, the is an opportunity to increase diversity.

[@Sanosarah]

HOLY SHIT I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU BOUGHT BOTANICAL INTERESTS. CONGRATS!!!!

[@epicgardening]

Thank you!

[@siljatanner1318]

It's still is so amazing to me that you BOUGHT A SEED COMPANY!! 😲 Congratulations!

[@robmccoy5207]

Thank you. Finally, a video about this that actually explains it and is helpful

[@jjpesek87]

I'm just starting to get into gardening, and would like to say " thank you" with all the videos

[@souffle420]

I'm planting Jade Vine along with Jasmine as climbing vine. Put some ferns, grass, and some kind of clover-like legume as ground cover around them. Now I'm perplexed on how to prune them because they keep growing…… they already covered the fence on the 2nd floor in less than one year, grown from the ground. I rarely fertilize them (only goat manure every 3-4 months) and yet they keep growing… That was $5 well spent… (the local price for ~½m tall Jade Vine here)

[@boothgoodies6348]

The most comprehensive and understandable explanation I’ve come across yet

[@judymckerrow6720]

Next Level Gardening has a book about companion planting. It s a good book. 🌷💚🙃

[@emullinsstreams]

I've heard that planting radishes around squash/pumpkins can help with striped cucumber beetles. I'm throwing everything at the wall this year with that, trying radishes, nasturtiums, marigolds, and petunias. The cucumber beetles are horrid here (Ohio 6B). I even turned the soil slightly right before a night of freezing temps to hopefully kill squash vine borer eggs and tomato hornworm eggs.

[@kennethswann6458]

Just started gardening myself your videos have been very helpful if you could or if you have any information on how to till the ground without a machine like a tiller machine and what I should mix in that would be great I have not found a definitive answer to really how to do it

[@LaineyBug2020]

Yay! 3 Sisters! I love it when they get air time!

[@lanceverbose1763]

Clover is a great legume for companion planting. It fixes nitrogen, prevents erosion, shades roots, and attracts pollinators.

[@sharonlynnnaraine5366]

Thank you Kevin!! I am learning so much! QUESTION: can you do a video for the climate of Quebec Canada? For example…. Plants that can be moved in doors in the fall months? I have moved my strawberry plants indoors during our cold Canadian months Thank you Kevin

[@SimpleMandy]

"Look at farmers..." Literally what I did with my Dad. When it was my turn to start gardening and homesteading I went directly to him to learn.

[@JackrabbitCrafts]

My grandmother apparently did the fava bean technique on her tiny farm back in the day.

[@IasminB49]

I was watching this video and thinking, we need to save it forever! so much knowledge, thank you for sharing!

[@nancywells5626]

I remember not to long ago when the media was complaining about lack of bees and butterflies as being beneficial for pollination. You have to be a good host and have host plants to attract them in the garden. You would not invite a bunch of people over for a meal with out getting food to help support your cause. My son gifted and planted some blue berry shrubs in my backyard. This will be my first go around with blueberries. Do you have any suggestions for growing blueberries?