Plant Combinations: Guidance on Accompanying Vegetables (and Those to Avoid) with Eggplant

Eggplant Pals for Peak Produce

Plant Combinations: Guidance on Accompanying Vegetables (and Those to Avoid) with Eggplant

Eggplant's prominence in worldwide dishes, from eggplant parm to Middle Eastern moussaka, makes it a versatile vegetable in any kitchen. However, in your backyard garden, it can be a bit fraught. But fear not, by surrounding it with the right plant pals, you'll have a bountiful harvest of those purple gems. Here are some fabulous options to grow near your eggplants, ensuring a thriving veggie patch, free of pesky pests.

Allium Aces - Potent Pals

famous aromatic herbs, such as basil, thyme, and oregano, hold the keys to a pest-free eggplant grove. These powerful herbs repel unwanted pests and also boost your dishes' flavors comprehensively. Just think, the tastier your meals, the happier your harvest!

Bean Vines - The Nitrogen Warriors

With their nitrogen-fixing prowess, legumes such as beans, bush beans, and peas help keep your soil rich and healthy for your eggplants. Additionally, because beans ward off the Colorado potato beetle, a common eggplant adversary, they're the ultimate plant chums for your veggie garden.

Star Gazers - Borage and Marigolds

Borage's vibrant blue flowers draw in pollinators vital to eggplant fruit production, while warding off tomato hornworms. Marigolds, too, are essential in any garden. These colorful, aromatic blossoms attract beneficial insects and parasitic wasps, which swoop in to tackle pests, while keeping nematodes at bay.

Angelic Petals - Nasturtiums and Cosmos

Vining nasturtiums make excellent living mulch, reducing evaporation and soil erosion, all while suppressing weeds. Their flowers attract beneficial insects, and they deter common eggplant pests. Meanwhile, cosmos is an excellent pollinator plant, enhancing your eggplants' fruit production.

Spinach Salad - The Shade Helpers

Spinach offers excellent ground cover around lofty eggplants. This low-growing vegetable aids in weed suppression and reducing moisture evaporation. As eggplants cast shade on cool-loving spinach, this arrangement can extend your spinach growing season.

Cautionary Tales - Corn, Fennel, and Geraniums

Corn and eggplants should keep their distance. Corn's towering stature casts too much shade, and both plants thrive on abundant nutrients, leading to competition. Fennel's allelopathic compounds stunt neighboring plant growth, making it a no-go for eggplants. Geraniums share diseases with eggplants, so if they're too close, disease transmission is likely.

Growing eggplants with the right companions gives you a healthy, abundant crop of those delectable purple globes. Enjoy your culinary journey!

Gardening Mastermind

• Serena Manickam A skilled editor, writer, and sustainable market gardener, Serena Manickam runs Fairydiddle Farm in rural Virginia. She boasts a BA in environmental science and grows no-spray produce and herbs to delight her local farmer's market customers. ❄️😊🌱 Connect with Serena on her website, Instagram, or Facebook. 🌱😊❄️

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Enrichment Data:

• Basil: Boosts eggplant flavor and repels pests when grown together.
• Common Thyme: Attracts beneficial insects (hoverflies) that help tackle aphids and repels other pests.
• Corn: Shade and nutrient competition between corn and eggplants can stunt growth.
• Cosmos: Improves light exposure for eggplants and attracts various pollinators, benefiting fruit production.
• Marigolds: Marigolds are not specifically mentioned for eggplants; however, they can potentially improve light exposure.
• Corn, Fennel, Geraniums: Competition for resources and pest attraction make it advisable to keep these plants separate from eggplants.

1. Surrounding eggplants with herbs like basil and common thyme can boost their flavor and repel unwanted pests.
2. Legumes such as beans, bush beans, and peas help maintain a healthy soil for eggplants by fixing nitrogen, and they also ward off the Colorado potato beetle.
3. Borage's vibrant blue flowers attract pollinators vital to eggplant fruit production, and marigolds also help by attracting beneficial insects and parasitic wasps.
4. Vining nasturtiums make excellent living mulch for eggplants, suppressing weeds and attracting beneficial insects, while cosmos is an excellent pollinator plant.
5. Spinach offers excellent ground cover around tall eggplants, aiding in weed suppression and moisture retention, and extending the spinach growing season.
6. Corn, fennel, and geraniums should be kept away from eggplants due to competition for resources and potential pest attraction or disease transmission.

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