Plants You Can Intercrop With Tomatoes To Maximize Yield & Protect Soil Health 

Great episode! companion planting is ages old and practiced by Native Americans, so awesome job here on a very important gardening practice, it even works in bucket and large pots (just watch the crowding and plant size when you choose what to put in). In the "Tomato Patch" I like to use herbs between bushes, mixed root veg (we mix our root veg, carrot, turnip, radish, beets all together, not planned rows, grandpa said it reduces pests and fungus, probably because the root length is staggered and varried preventing spore cluster populations and parasite colonies) on the long sides and I put alysum and marigolds in the corners. so a bit of everything! I generally have very few pest issues, I do not bug spray other than vinegar, or baking soda water. I pick my heaviest tomatoes before a rainstorm to prevent splitting (grandma says, lol)...Hope the old-school info helps someone

Intercrop with tomatoes: -beans (sun) -herbs: *thyme, sage, oregano (shade) -lettuce (shade) -radishes (shade) -root vegetables: rutabaga, parsnip, carrot, beets -flowers: *marigold, viola (shade), lavender (sun) -onions

Skip to 4:30 if you have already decided to intercrop and you want to get straight to the good combinations. 🤠 MIgardener is fantastic!! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! You have REALLY boosted my gardening this year.

My grandma grew the most bountiful 1/3 acre garden and she always grew marigolds at the base if her tomatoes because she said they were natural pest control. Her tomatoes always looked picture perfect.

What a great video, I just built my raised beds and have been skeptical about putting my tomato plants in the bed. Then the thought that I can put lettuce and onions in with them, I am so excited. I am a new gardener, my husband Steven was the one with the green thumb. He died of small cell lung cancer 5 years ago. I have been playing in the garden since he has been gone! Prayers all the garden will be something that will produce! Hey I had volunteer tomatoes from my little compost bin, should be interesting what they turn out to be. There were three different tomato plants in there, guess I will call them the Lober tomatoes. Thanks again for sharing, always open for new ideas keep me in your prayers.

Outside area- beans Inside area- thyme, sage, oregano, basil, lettuce, radishes, parsnips, carrots, beets

I have been planting marigolds, Basil and cilantro with my tomatoes for 30 years. Works great!

I planted Marigolds next to tomatoes last year. They were untouched by insects. I’m watching this video for the second time in 2024. Thanks for all you do for us. ❤😊

I think you're the best "teacher" on RU-vid. You don't just supply tips/advice, you also very clearly explain WHY your advice is good such that we can understand it. Thank you 👍

Hi. I teach ecosystem development and one key feature is companion planting especially in food gardens, but also in pollinator gardens. I look forward to going through your work. People don’t realize this method is simply preindustrial farming 🌻

Gardening teaches kids about life soooo much and should be compulsory at school

I will be planting beets and carrots all around my tomatos in 2023 season! Great tips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve been consuming your videos voraciously since I started my first garden/plants this March. I really appreciate that you don’t talk down to your audience and really get into the “why” of gardening. It’s very enabling!

Its not only companion planting but you have the explanation for why you can grow them together which made a lot if not more sense to me now. I will be excited to use this concept around tomatoes particularly.

Had good results with intercropping napa cabbage. The leaves open broadly and mulch the soil under the tomato plant. Beets unfortunately doesn't work well in our humid hot South East Asian weather. Marigold and zinnias didn't work so well. Dwarf sunflowers and cockscomb are too large. Still trying different flowers suited to our climate here. Basil worked well so far.

I plant marigolds and snap dragons around my tomato plants and never have an issue with pests/have giant yields from pollination. They're so helpful! Plus, you'll never need to buy marigold seeds again because they're insanely prolific.

I work in a well known gardening center in MN and I recommend your channel to all of my new growers all of the time. Best gardening channel on YT!

Hello Luke. I live in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands and have a little balcony on the 9th floor of an apartment building that I use to grow flowering plants and vegetables. I really enjoy your videos and find the information very straight forward and clear to understand. Many thanks.

Gotta give a shout out to the flower Alyssum! SO easy to grow from seed, I've done it both ways - make seedlings and direct sow. Last year I simply spread a bunch of seeds all around my tomato plant, and they bloomed all the way till my first frost. Its a sweet scented, cover spreading flower, that attracts lots of beneficial insects.

Really neat that you can plant basically all the nice Italian tomato sauce herbs in with the tomatoes.

2019 I planted nasturtiums and cosmos in-between my tomato plant and dill in between my pepper plants. I didn't have a single bug on my peppers and no horn worms on my tomatoes.

Been Gardening for over 40 years and just learned 5 new epic ideas. Thanks Luke!

Last year I had a 3' x 5' raised bed that I planted mini sweet corn, 10 early anne tomato plants, 2 Algonquin Pumpkin plants, 2 mandant banquet squash, 2 doe hill sweet pepper plants, zinnias and callundra. I was experimenting to see how far I could push production in a small plot. We only have 90 frost free days here. Nights are in the 50s and days are in the high 80s in July and August. We had a period of drought last summer as well. Everything grew all over everything else. The only thing that didn't make it was the mini sweet peppers. Some times you just have to throw the rules out the window to find what works for you!

Choose crops that are NOT heavy feeders so that they don't compete w/🍅 for nutrients 5:36 ☀️ loving crops (beans) 6:00 Shade/cool loving plants (herbs: thyme, sage, oregano, basil, lettuce, radishes, carrots, root crops), flowers like lavender, marigold and other edible flowers. Onion, garlic, etc NOT heavy hydrogen feeders like spinach, broccoli, etc.

A great concept. I would have immediately added purslane or portulaca on the very edge of the of the frame to hang down. It’s edible and goes well with things like scrambled eggs. It’s prolific and I once weeded 30 pounds of it from a 30 foot flower bed when the local health food store was selling it at $7/lb. This is the first video that I’ve ever seen where the comments were as useful as the presentation.

This is such a great video. I work at a feed store and I’ll tell everyone about your channel. People NEED these videos now more than ever.

I like Luke's intros. He establishes a personal, friendly vibe that gives the feel of chatting with a neighbor, rather than a textbook. Keep up the good work, Luke! 🌻 Oh - I interplant basil, marigolds, and radishes with my tomatoes. Going to try some bush beans and see what happens!

I know this video is 2 yrs. old, but thank you so much for the information! I have been inter-cropping basil for a few years, and it has worked out tremendously. But I haven't thought about many of the other plants that you have mentioned. Can't wait until next year.

0:00 Introduction and discussion of why you shouldn't leave the ground bare. 4:44 Discussion of things to interplant.

One of my favorites is asparagus!! I had planted some asparagus in a (big) pot and gave up thinking it wouldn't sprout. I got impatient and so I planted a late tomato plant on top of it, and then I got my got my first little asparagus, it was a total surprise!!!

When radishes bolt they fill up with seed pods which are a very tasty treat. like a fresh peapod with slight spice 🤗

4:50 is when he starts talking about what plants you can plant with tomatoes. Great info to have.

Thyme also has a LOT flavor! Not to mention can be dried easily or frozen in ice cube trays with butter or olive oil for winter 💕

Last year my tomatoes were surrounded by marigolds - i had no worms - amazing - the marigolds held up the vines and completely shaded the soil - the best year for me so far as an intermediate beginner lol! I had supports, but the vines got long and some just escaped and they produced tomatoes among the marigolds until late September.

Agree with recommendations. Live in SE Washington and grew a good winter cover crop (winter peas, vetch, broccoli, radish, triticale) in tomato space. Rather than turning under or removing as the cover crop went dormant in spring, I trimmed it and planted tomatoes in holes through it.

Basil and tomatoes love one another. I always get almost twice the amount of each.

Also by covering your soil you avoid rain hitting your bare soil and causing compaction. Thanks for all you do

Love your series. I wanted to share a happy finding of ours...I've grown tomatoes all my life, but found out just last year a wonderful plant to use as a companion plant--purple (Thai) basil. This stuff is very weedy, mind you, but last year I never saw even ONE tomato hornworm, and almost no other pest, either.

If you plant Cilantro and radishes around your brassicas you can eliminate aphids. Don't pull out the radishes and Cilantro until after a heavy frost even though they'll look untidy. If you pull them out before a killing frost, the aphids will come back overnight. (This is what happened to me.) I've interplanted radishes and Cilantro around my brassicas for several years and they've repelled 100% of the aphids. Nasturtiums didn't work. In fact, I had beautiful nasturtiums without a single aphid right next to broccoli and cauliflower plants that had so many aphids the plants looked like a green shag rug which made them inedible. There were too many aphids to wash off.

Almost 50 years ago my daughter made a booklet for 4-H and entered it in the state fair. She got a blue ribbon. It covered companion planting. People should be listening to you..we. always had great crops..and these crops also won many blue ribbons.

Central florida here, I have pineapple sage planted next to my tomatoes. The bees love it and I allow it to Bush out to bring in the lizards who eat the army worms and hornworms.

Nasturtium is another great flower that companion plant well with tomatoes. Calendula is another. Plus, they are edible.

Oh God bless you! I am building my first raised bed this spring 2020. This is so helpful

Luke, You shared lots of wonderful info in this video. When I was young my mother had a large garden and we ate very well from it. She canned many things so we were able to enjoy the produce in the winter also. Last year was my first garden in a very long time. It was small. lm 65 and finally have the time. This year I plan on making it bigger with more variety. I can now plan on more growing in less space. I have learned a lot from your videos, and I thank you very much. Great video !😊🌿🍓🌶️🥕🥦🥒🍅🥬🫑🍆🧄I love you channel.

Excellent advice. I have also read that nasturtiums are excellent to plant among tomatoes. They offer insect protection, and you can eat all parts of the plants!

Intercropping is an excellent way to expand your harvest. I have onions, parsley, beets, basil, marigolds, cilantro, and even kale planted around my tomato and pepper plants!

Excited to plant my beets, turnips, & radishes with my tomato’s this year. All ordered from the awesome MIgardener store!!! Love the price of the seeds!

THANK YOU!!! You just DOUBLED the size of my garden!!! Awesome

@MI gardener I am super excited for you to get to one million subscribers. I hope every viewer will like and share your videos

I use the big garlic cloves for cooking and put the small garlic cloves in the soil around tomatoes. They grow well.

Im a southeast gardener...thank you so much for touching on the importance of air flow! It is so important in the humidity down here!!! Peppers, Carrots and basil are my go to companions with tomatoes (peppers to the outside for sun). Okra and beans companion very well with my cucumbers on trellises. I find that by the time my first round of cucumbers are ready to come down and the new second plantings are ready to go in...the pole beans fill in the gap between crops. But I plant probably 10 times the green beans as most gardners...my kids won't leave them alone. I also do three sisters mounds every year...corn and sunflowers to stalk up more pole beans and various melons, pumpkins and squashes as a low cover. But my summer squash and zucchini I grow separate in stawbales for pest control. If I get a squash borer infestation I can incinerate the bales and avoid the issue the following year....hopefully! I swear I think a local farmer must be baiting them in somehow....maybe fish emulsion?

I put radishes around my tomatoes this year and they were wonderful! Big, plentiful, and tasty! Next year I’ll try onions and carrots too. Thanks for this video!

This was the first year I planted marigolds in my garden, and I wasn't even aware of how much they could do for pests! I was told they would repel deer, mostly. But they add a nice pop of color to the garden and now I know why those plants don't have the pest problems my others do!

This is such a great video, I had to rewatch it this year too. What a big difference in the garden doing this and using mulch instead of weed barriers

You did not lose me at all! With you all the way. One day I'll take time for a longer message to tell you about my grandmother's and where my plans and feelings are rooted from! Love you! Feel your passion and still, I'm cheering you on every day!!!! Much love!!!

We actually did celery between our carrots and tomatoes this year. really crowded the bed and it's the healthiest area of the garden!

We have planted marigolds chives and petunias as companions to our tomatoes and we have had massive success and very few invasive bugs

Just wanted to thank you for all the education you have provided. Thanks to your channel we had a successful planting season last year and are continuing again this year. 😊🌱

I planted so many yellow marigolds last year that people thought I’d decided to extend my flower gardens into the veggie beds. Apparently they didn’t see the big red tomatoes and peppers right next to the flowers! I will try the onions idea. Thank you Luke for one more great vid!

I've had great success growing spinach and potatoes in Spring. I plant potatoes about 8" deep. Then I will seed spinach a 1/2" deep on top of where I planted spinach. Because I have an animal pest problem here: rabbits, squirrels and groundhogs, I'll put wire cloches, plastic laundry baskets secured with earth staples or rocks, or roll out fencing on top of my growing area to deter them. It rains a lot in my area at this time but if not I'll water frequently and remove cloches, baskets and roll out fencing once potato plants are a few inches high. The animals can't seem to find my spinach this way and the spinach finishes up before it's time to harvest potatoes. Works amazingly!

Awesome!! Thank you sooo much! All my root crops were a loss last year (except onions) for the exact you said: too much nitrogen! So planting them with the heavy feeders makes PERFECT sense. Why isn't this talked about anywhere?? Also, I can 100% verify that marigolds are THE single best pest control, ever. I had marigolds everywhere last year, not a single pest except nematodes (which, weren't so much a problem as an annoyance). I planted marigolds in between each and every tomato plant, melon plant, cuke plant, and also planted them among everything else as well. No bug issues, and very pretty! But, for sure I am going to plant those beets and carrots with my maters! Thanks!

Thanks for sharing. That helped a lot I'm growing tomatoes beans and hot peppers in a 4x12 bed and marigolds.

This is a great list of Tips/Suggestions, I grew some basil under a trellised tomato and it was fine in the early stages. Once the basil took off it grew into the tomato and I started having disease issues when i couldnt keep it trimmed back. I really want to continue interplanting and I think the companion lists online don't often take the vertical growing and airflow of later stages into account so this more in depth look is really great! The root crop option sounds like the best fit for what we use in our kitchen more so I'll try that instead of basil (we don't use it much/at all).

Weirdly, this same guy also did a video where he said, "I don't promote companion planting!" But he also went on in that video to retrace some of the same info here. By far, this is the better of the 2 videos. Guess everyone has an odd day once in a while. Still subscribed to this good guy's channel.

I planted beans next to my tomatoes last year, and they LOVED it. I got so many harvests from just 2 plants and they grew HUGE.

I am going to try this next year. With marigolds, herbs, bush beans and onions. I did plant marigolds next to my tomatoes this year and they have kept down the tomato hornworm population, though I did find out that the shade from the marigolds provide a safe haven for black cutworms during the day. They've been a nemesis to my onion plants this year. I plan on using Bt to control them next year. Thank you MIgardener for sharing your knowledge as well as your products. I bought some of your Trifecta+ recently and cannot wait to see what it does for my garden. Love your channel, keep up the great work!

The year I accidentally planted cherry tomatoes with my lemon Thyme was the best crop of tomatoes I got . Possibly from the waste nutrients from the lemon Thyme helped the tomato plants produce more tomatoes then the ones that weren't planted with the thyme.

I really appreciate this video. I’m new to gardening so I’ve just started up the seedling trays but before I got into veggies I started growing marigolds! They’re growing more and more each day and I know I have more than enough to spread them around my garden. Thank you to the universe ❤️❤️❤️

Love this, I put in a mix of carrots, onions, salsify, nasturtium, basil, marigolds & puslane in with my tomatoes

I plant this way as well, I learned it back in the 70s. It's called French Intensive Gardening. Thanks so much for the video!!

Thanks, great information! I was enraptured every second! What an amazing way to deliver important information, in a concise & easy-to-understand way! Now, note to self - Inside crops (shade loving & doesn't hog nitrogen): thyme, sage, oregano, basil, lettuce, radishes, violas Outside edges ; beans, lavender, parsnip, carrot, beats, onions, marigolds (multitude of uses), rutabagas

Wow. Great presentation. Pretty amazing how you ran through the information so orderly and without making any cuts in filming.

I LOVE this guy! He's sooo energetic and I learn sooo much from him.

Don't have a food garden yet but have a learned many things just by watching 2 of his videos. Thanks!

Not trying to be negative, but he took advice really well. The year before this one he did a video about "why companion plants don't exist" and this one panders to his viewers a lot more than just being a rant. Total props 👁👄👁

I have watched many of your videos and this one is by far one of my favorite. Thank you for making all the informational videos for us!!

Thank you for continuously pumping out such great content! I've learned so many things that I would not have even considered otherwise. Keep it up!

I have been companion planting for a couple of years. I also read to see which plants grow better together. I love carrots with my tomatoes!💙

We use welded wire fencing as a trellus and grow tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers all together and they do great!

So as a rule I have been growing basil with my tomatoes as a bug repellant and since we use tons of basil it works out well. I have been using African Blue Basil. Since I use containers mostly (due to the poor soil here) I do a triple action for my planters, Tomatoes, basil and either beans or peas. This has worked so well that my tomatoes grow really tall and I wind up pruning them regularly in order to keep fruit production to a max, also the basil seems to love being planted near the tomatoes and the beans and peas thrive as well... Great episode!

Planted basil nearby. The flowering basil brought in huge numbers of pollinating bees 🐝. “Hey, check out these yellow tomato flowers over here.”

I now know just what to put around my tomato plant to use up my valuable garden space! I am trying Calendula this year near my veggies to bring pollinators and defend against pests-they are supposed to be good flowers for such things. Thank you for your helpful videos! Gardening tips are needed more than ever with so many trying to grow their own food.

That point about masking the scent for pests makes s much sense! I can't wait to use these this upcoming growing season!

I love the book " Carrots love Tomatoes " all about companion planting

I have planted alternating onion and marigold plants in front of my tomatoes for several years and it worked very well.

Lavender is a great bug repellent and it smells amazing, along with plenty of health benefits. But lavender gets to be pretty big which is going to interfere with your tomato plants and any other plants you put within 2-4 feet of the lavender.

We have a family of 6 and we're struggling to buy food. However we were blessed with a lot of seeds this year so we are planting over 700sq ft of garden and are trying to use some of your methods. We are growing in ground with hummus added and using rabbit fertilizer too. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!!! I'm going to try the broccoli and cabbage together too!!! Thank you for your knowledge ❤️🌱🍅!!!!

So I know rotating crops into different beds is important to maintain soil quality, can you do a video on how you rotate your crops each year? I'm fairly new to gardening and would love to learn more about that.

Marigolds and Basel are my favourite!....and the smell is amazing!....but both are great repellents to pest...and for some reason both my tomatoes and Basel do soo well and lush when together....truly complement each other. I also love sticking garlic cloves surrounding my tomatoes that are in containers...another great pest repellent

This was GREAT! You teach and speak the best way for my brain to take things in, and you linked pieces of things I've heard here and there into one complete, logical story line with explanations, and no pointless chatty stuff. All interesting, clear & useful to help us reason, plan & understand. Love your channel! You're going to help me save more money & get healthier growing food than I ever thought I could.

I absolutely love your videos! I love how passionate you are about the things you share. It's contagious! Thank you for sharing your knowledge & enthusiasm with us!

I planted carrots and onions under my tomatoes this year. Glad to see your tomatoe plants are about the same height as mine.

Anybody ever wonder. How do these garden plants look like in their wild state. And what regions do they grow in nature?

Great info. I learned a lot in just a few minutes. Thank you. I’m new to gardening at the age of 67. So the learning curve is huge.

Last year I grew my tomatoes, and in front of them I alternated hot cherry peppers, lots of basil and many marigolds. Everything grew beautifully and I didn't have any pest problems.

Really liking these videos. Best veggie garden guy on RU-vid hands down 👍

Thanks Luke! Got to planting today and had entirely too many soaked bean seeds and not enough room to plant them- so I wondered if I could surround my tomatoes with them- I knew you’d have the answer!

Carrots love tomatoes.... That's also the title of a good book.

Hurray you turn another hundred. Thank you so much for all you do for us. I have learned how to garden watching you.

i've dropped the ball on this issue, this video helped me realize all the space i'd been wasting; thanks, still learning at 67.