[lesley1322]

I was just wondering as i am on my first year of my plot what companion planting you use?? (Flowers mainly but i have read that onions and carrots together help deter carrot fly... does this actually work?)

I have read countless books and websites bla bla but each one tells you a different thing.

I am starting off some sweet peas, marigolds and nasturtiums on my windowsill already (is this too early??) but i dont really know what i should plant them next to for the best results.

What works for you?

[gypsy]

I planted rows of spring onions in between the carrots last year and still got carrot fly and the crop was ruined, so that did not work. Good luck

[lesley1322]

ok... shall i ignore the carrot fly/onion  tip??

[mumofstig]

I've tried lots of different flowers and they look pretty but didn't make the slightest difference to pests, apart from tagetes marigolds which do seem to keep the whitefly out of the greenhouse, in my experience

Good luck if you are going to try companion planting .........
(my guess is you'll need it   )

[lesley1322]

haha... ok

I guess i will just pant them to look pretty instead then... nothing wrong with a few flowers

[mumofstig]

nothing at all.....I still plant them 

[JayG]

You'll always get someone coming along who is prepared to swear that the onion+carrot trick works, but I'm one person for whom it definitely didn't!

There are plenty of members of the "3 foot high club" who grow their carrots at about that height above the surrounding ground (because the carrot fly cannot fly that high under normal circumstances), and it has worked for me.

The consensus is probably that careful covering of the crop with environmesh or similar is the only sure way of growing maggot-free crops though.

[Trillium]

One definite about companion planting is that beans do not do well when next or close to onions, so keep them well apart for best crops. The beans will grow next to onions, but not nearly as well if planted further away.

[hamstergbert]

My word.  I learn something new every day.

Trill, I think yours is today's!

[moose]

I use a belt and braces approach. I sow clumps of carrots all over the plot mixed in with other plants, often onions either sets or spring. If I do sow a larger area I have a 26" high fleece screen which a place round the area. Also I have a very windy plot which I think helps. Never yet had a problem.

[Jeff Glanrhyd]

beans / onions distance - is 2 foot far enough ? Doubt it. Oh well......

[zazen999]

One definite about companion planting is that beans do not do well when next or close to onions, so keep them well apart for best crops. The beans will grow next to onions, but not nearly as well if planted further away.

They say that; but I grow my beans next to winter onions whilst they are at full pelt and never any problems; not sure which is supposed to suffer but I've not seen any actual effects of this.

My beans have to grow in nearly every bed as I grow loads of them.

[Trillium]

Market growers abide strictly by the spacing of onions from beans (one source is The Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman). I noticed it myself when I had to plant beans beside onions once and the cropping wasn't what I expected. Next year I planted them apart (in separate beds) and I had more beans than I knew what to do with. As I said, neither will appear to suffer but when they're well separated, you'll notice a big difference. The onions don't have a problem, but the beans will.

[zazen999]

Market growers abide strictly by the spacing of onions from beans (one source is The Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman). I noticed it myself when I had to plant beans beside onions once and the cropping wasn't what I expected. Next year I planted them apart (in separate beds) and I had more beans than I knew what to do with. As I said, neither will appear to suffer but when they're well separated, you'll notice a big difference. The onions don't have a problem, but the beans will.

Well I grew about 80 in that bed and all cropped heavily; no more so or less so that then other 80 in other beds. In fact the pintos that were grown in amongst onions were my best crop ever.

I'm not trying to prove anyone wrong, and I'm a great believer in companion planting - but I have yet to see a marked difference in bean crops when planted in onion beds.

[Trikidiki]

Agree with Tagetes and marigolds to deter whitefly in the greenhouse. Two years ago I had a whitefly invasion. Last year, with Tagetes, no whitefly.

This year I've undersown my spring cabbage with trefoil. As a nitrogen fixing green manure and also it apparently confuses cabbage root fly. Hopefully it will save having to remove the netting to weed as well.

I'm thinking of trying it under sweetcorn this year for the N-fixing. Or I might try the 'indian' Corn, Bean and Squash thing.