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
Marigolds are easy to grow, and they make excellent companion plants in a garden. They’re great for attracting beneficial insects that help keep pests away from your vegetable and flower plants. Marigolds also repel nematodes—microscopic worms that live in the soil and can damage your plants’ roots. Now, what are Marigold companion plants? Let’s find out!
Using Marigold Companion Plants is Advantageous for your Garden
If you’re growing marigolds, then you probably already know that they are known to repel many pests. Marigolds are also known to repel many diseases, insects, animals, and humans.
Marigolds can help deter pests from your garden in a couple of different ways. According to studies, marigolds emit a chemical called “pyrethrin” which acts as an insecticide or repellent against bugs like aphids1, whiteflies, and caterpillars. Second, their bright colors and the strong scent will keep some animals away from your plants (like deer) and may even keep birds away if they think the flowers are poisonous!
Marigold Companions to Attract Insects
Furthermore, marigolds attract beneficial insects, including bees, butterflies, and hoverflies. The flowers also provide pollen for bees to make honey from. In return for their hospitality, these pollinators help the marigold spread its seeds by pollinating its neighbors’ flowers as well.
Types of Marigold Companion Plants
French marigolds
Let’s explore some of the marigold companions:
Tomatoes
French marigolds are good companion plants for tomatoes because they repel nematodes, which are tiny worms that live in the soil and can be harmful to tomato plants. They also deter whiteflies and aphids that feed on tomato leaves. If you plant French marigolds around your tomato garden, they will help protect against these pests while attracting beneficial insects like honeybees!2
Cucumbers
French marigolds are also great companion plants to grow with cucumbers; they protect leafhoppers (tiny insects that feed on cucumber leaves) as well as squash bugs, which love eating all parts of cukes but especially their roots—which makes them particularly difficult to get rid of once established in an area where you’ve planted them before! You’ll need less water than usual when growing cucumbers near French marigold companions because these flowers absorb moisture from the atmosphere before it rains again – so watering won’t be necessary as often if you don’t want it unless there hasn’t been any rain recently due natural causes such as drought conditions etcetera…
African marigolds
African marigolds are one of the best companion plants for your garden. That’s because they repel pests and attract beneficial insects, which help keep your other plants healthy.
African marigold plants have yellow flowers, but there are also varieties with flowers that are orange or white. Use them as a border plant to add color during the growing season, but they’re also useable as edible flowers in some cultures because of their sweet taste and high vitamin C content. These plants also have many medicinal properties and were used extensively by Native Americans throughout history.
To sum up, marigolds are useful plants to have in your garden. They attract beneficial insects and repel pests, as well as add color to the landscape. You can plant them around other flowers or vegetables, or even use them as companion plants for herbs or veggies. Marigold companions have the ability to keep away rodents from bulbs and seeds. However, if you’re growing marigolds near tomatoes then you may want to avoid using this particular type because it tends not to be compatible with that vegetable family.
References
- Lopez, L., & Liburd, O. E. (2022). Can the introduction of companion plants increase biological control services of key pests in organic squash?. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 170(5), 402-418.
- Conboy, N. J., McDaniel, T., Ormerod, A., George, D., Gatehouse, A. M., Wharton, E., … & Tosh, C. R. (2019). Companion planting with French marigolds protects tomato plants from glasshouse whiteflies through the emission of airborne limonene. PloS one, 14(3), e0213071.