Steve Yoder
I'm Steve, a 30-something urban gardener fascinated by companion planting research. Growing up surrounded by greenery sparked my passion for gardening early on. I enjoy transforming my small backyard, experimenting with companion planting techniques and eco-friendly practices. Sustainability matters—I advocate for native plants and composting.
Table of Contents
Companion plants must exist next to brussels sprouts if you want the tastiest brussels sprouts ever! The finest illustration is garlic, which may enhance the flavor of your sprouts by sweetening them. Potatoes, lettuce, and onions are other useful complements. Below is a list of all the plants we love to cultivate alongside brussels sprouts. Let’s check out the best brussels sprouts companion plants.
Best Brussels Sprouts Companion Plants
Beans as Brussels Sprouts Companion Plants
To start our list of the best brussels sprouts companion plants we must have a look at beans. Brussels sprouts are a wonderful companion plant for beans. They enrich the soil with nutrients, and nitrogen, and assist to keep pests away. Brussel sprouts and beans create a harmonious pair when they are grown close to one another.
Beans are nitrogen-fixing plants, meaning they have the ability to convert nitrogen from the air into a usable form for plants. This process enriches the soil with nitrogen, which is essential for the healthy development of Brussels sprouts. In return, brussels sprouts provide a tall and sturdy support structure for the climbing beans, helping them reach greater heights and ensuring optimal sun exposure.
Additionally, the leafy canopy of brussels sprouts provides shade to the soil, preventing excessive evaporation and maintaining moisture levels, which beans appreciate.
Beans have many other companion plants! Have a look at them in the article below:
Beans Companion Plants – Which Ones Should be Chosen?
Garlic as Brussels Sprouts Companion
Since it keeps aphids and other pests away that might hurt sprouts in growth, garlic is a fantastic companion plant for brussels sprouts. As garlic is a simple-to-grow bulb, you may plant garlic bulbs around your brussels sprout plants either in the ground or in containers. What a wonderful plant garlic is!
Garlic acts as a natural pest repellent, actively deterring common pests like aphids, cabbage worms, and cabbage loopers that often plague Brussels sprouts. By interplanting these crops, you establish an effective defense system that reduces the need for chemical pesticides. Moreover, harvesting garlic alongside Brussels sprouts enhances their flavor, infusing them with a delightful pungency. Additionally, Brussels sprouts provide ample shade with their tall and leafy canopy, creating a cool and moist environment that actively supports the thriving growth of garlic.
For more information about garlic companion plants:
5 Best Garlic Companion Plants + 5 Bad Neighbors
Lettuce Planted with Brussels Sprouts
We continue our journey of the best brussels sprouts companion plants with lettuce. Brussels sprouts are a fantastic match with lettuce. In a limited area, lettuce grows fast and is simple to grow. You can grow lettuce in the spring, summer, or fall, but you should wait to plant lettuce seeds until the earth has warmed up.
If you don’t want to wait until late spring to begin growing your veggies, lettuce may be sown all year long. Due to the short root system that keeps it out of the soggy soil when it rains or snows outdoors, lettuce will grow well even in cold weather.
Of course, we also prepared a list of the best lettuce companion plants for you! Check it out:
Best 11 Lettuce Companion Plants & 2 Bad Companions
Onion and Brussels Sprouts
The next member of the best brussels sprouts companion plants is onion. Brussels sprouts and onions are wonderful companion plants since they both aid in insect deterrence and promote plant development1. Onions act as natural deterrents for pests that commonly affect Brussels sprouts, such as aphids and cabbage worms. Their pungent aroma helps repel these unwanted visitors, reducing the risk of infestation and the need for chemical interventions.
In some cases, like this, onion can be a perfect partner for many plants. Which these are and what you must consider while onion companion planting, is listed in the article below:
6 Onion Companion Plants & 5 Bad Neighbours to Avoid
Parsnip with Brussels Sprouts
To continue our adventure of the best brussels sprouts companion plants we make a stop at parsnip. Since parsnips are biennial plants, it takes them two years to develop from seed. After being planted, they’ll mature in the second year. In this case, your brussels sprout plants can focus on themselves and don’t have to compete for nutrients. Parsnips thrive in direct sunlight and moist, well-drained soil. Parsnips can be planted in the early spring or the middle of the fall, with a harvest taking place eight to 10 months later.
Potato & Brussels Sprouts
The last member of the best brussels sprouts companion plants is the potato. The large leaves of the potato give shade from the sun, which reduces the risk of the brussels sprout plants being overheated and suffering2 from sunscald on their leaves. The roots of your brussels sprout plants may be being attacked by aphids or other pests, but the potato plants can aid to host helpful insects like ladybugs or lacewings that will devour any of these pests. Additionally, after you harvest your potatoes in the late summer or early fall, you may plant additional brussels sprouts in their stead.
8 Best Potato Companion Plants
What NOT to Plant With Brussels Sprouts
After analyzing the best brussels sprouts companion plants, we have to take a look at bad companions. Like the other plants brussels sprouts also have plants they compete with and don’t really like their presence. In the following, we have listed the bad brussels sprouts companion plants. According to research3, members of the Brassica family are no go’s for brussels sprouts!
Members of the Brassica Family
Also don’t use memeber of the Brassica family as brussels sprouts companion plants! Despite belonging to the same vegetable family, they all have diverse growing patterns that may conflict with one another’s development and productivity. Because of this, it’s better to cultivate just one variety of brassica at a time in your garden. If you do decide to try another kind, make sure it’s planted far away from your first one and especially from brussels sprouts!
Here are the articles for the best companion plants of the Brassica family:
11 Good and Bad Broccoli Companion Plants
Cauliflower Companion Plants – 6 Good Ideas for You!
7 Best & 3 Worst Cabbage Companion Plants
Kale Companion Plants – 4 Good & 4 Bad Neighbours
Now you have the knowledge for brussels sprouts companion plants! Let’s start planting and enjoy a wonderful and healthy garden!
References
- Popović-Djordjević, J. B., Kostić, A. Ž., Rajković, M. B., Miljković, I., Krstić, Đ., Caruso, G., … & Brčeski, I. (2022). Organically vs. conventionally grown vegetables: Multi-elemental analysis and nutritional evaluation. Biological Trace Element Research, 200(1), 426-436.
- Kamangar, S. B., Taning, C. N. T., De Jonghe, K., & Smagghe, G. (2019). Quantity and transmission efficiency of an isolate of the Potato virus Y–Wilga (PVYN− Wi) by aphid species reared on different host plants. Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection, 126(6), 529-534.
- Wien, H. C., & Stützel, H. (2020). Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. In The physiology of vegetable crops(pp. 357-388). Wallingford UK: CABI.
