Plants have organic material that has an impact on other plants and insects. There may be substances in the root that effects the soil for the other plants or in the flowers that attracts/repels certain insects. Companion planting is a holistic and natural approach to gardening. There are resources to help you know what to pair with every plant, and this blog is focussed specifically on friends of cabbage.
We have identified 5 tips for knowing what to pair with cabbage:
- Cabbage neighbors should be onions, potatoes, nasturtiums and aromatic herbs
- Aromatic herbs, such as dill, chamomile, sage, thyme, mint, pennyroyal, rosemary, and lavender will help repel cabbage worms/butterflies
- Plant Mint: The odoriferous members of this family, especially catnip, help to repel aphids and cabbage pests. Be advised that certain mints can grow out of control and take over a garden space. To make sure you do not start a new problem by fixing an old one, you can grow mints in containers and place around your garden. We do this for many herbs so they can be workhorses anywhere in the garden we need them.
- You can also plant with other braccicas (collards, kale, cauliflower, etc.) as they all get along well. If you do plant these together, we recommend starting them under row covers to help prevent attracting cabbage butterflies and other bugs who like this family of plants.
- Bad neighbors for cabbage are: strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, rue, grapes, lettuce, and pole beans.
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