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Tips from Olle Garden Bed: 14 High-quality Companion Plants for Planting Corn
Are you considering adding corn to your planting space? You may want to consider planting with your partner to get the most from your garden. The following content also has some reference value for raised garden beds.
Companion planting is a strategic process for designing the layout of a garden, in which plants growing close to each other provide some benefits for one or, ideally, two plants.
If you are looking for plants that grow well near corn, you have come to the right place. I will provide you with a list of vegetables, herbs and flowers. These vegetables, herbs and flowers work well when planted with corn, and there are some things you should avoid.
The following is what you should know when practicing planting corn crop partners:
Benefits of growing with corn
Does planning all aspects of the garden seem to require a lot of work? Sometimes it can be overwhelming, but you can gain many benefits by spending time thinking about all aspects of garden layout.
Many gardeners spend time thinking about planting companion plants when harvesting corn for the following reasons:
Corn can provide shelter for certain crops. In its higher places, this plant is a good way to provide shade and wind protection when planted near smaller crops.
Corn can be used as support for crops that need scaffolding. This is a good way to keep plants healthy and gardens tidy.
Some plants are known for attracting pollinators and other beneficial insects. By planting them near your corn crop, it can greatly increase your harvest.
Companion planting can help improve the soil for corn growth. Some plants will naturally put some nutrients into their growth space during the growth process. This also benefits the plants around them.
Finally, some plants played a sacrificial role. By planting specific plants near corn, it can attract bugs to companion plants and save your crop. Basically, you are sacrificing one plant for another.
Now that you understand why companion planting is beneficial, let's discuss which crops grow best around corn.
Companion plant of corn
- Cucumber
Have you ever considered planting cucumbers near corn? You may want to think about it again.
With the spread of cucumbers, they become a ground cover of corn. This reduces weeds and helps to maintain moisture around the crop.
- Three sisters
Three sisters are the common companion planting choice when planting corn. Corn is one of the sisters. The other two sisters are beans and pumpkins. You can use any type of climbing beans to grow near corn.
Beans add nitrogen to the soil for corn, and corn is used as a shed. You can also plant any kind of pumpkin or pumpkin around the corn, because it can be used as a ground cover. This will reduce weeds around the plant and help to maintain water.
- Basil
Some gardeners reserve a separate area for their herbs, while others add them directly to their vegetable fields. If you are interested in growing basil, it may be wise to grow basil with corn.
Basil leaves are very good for repelling corn weevils. You can use the whole plant near the corn crop, or you can use dried basil leaves to prevent the corn weevil from entering the stored corn.
- Radish
Radish is an excellent companion plant, especially if you use a three sister planting setup. As the radishes grow, let some of them be tied up.
They will keep cucumber beetles, pumpkin borers and corn borers away. In addition, they produce a harvest in about 30 days.
- Peas
Corn is a heavy food crop. Like many plants, it needs nitrogen. However, most soils seem to lack this nutrient. Therefore, it is wise to plant nitrogen fixing agents near corn plants.
One option is peas. Since your pea crop will grow earlier than your corn crop, you can save garden space by planting corn seeds in the middle of your pea rows.
- Aromatic herbs
One of the problems I encountered many times in the garden was keeping deer away. Once they find your corn, it's hard for the deer to leave.
This is where aromatic herbs come into play. Deers don't like their smell. By planting lavender, oregano, sage, dill, and mint near the corn crop, deer should not want to be near it.
- Borage
Borage is a beautiful plant, which can produce colorful flowers. If you want to add a touch of color to your garden, this may be a very suitable choice.
In addition to its attractive quality, borage is also the best companion of corn. This plant is famous for stopping worms and attracting many beneficial insects.
- Thyme
We mentioned how many aromatic herbs have the benefit of keeping away from large pests such as deer. Some aromatic herbs are also very suitable for driving away smaller pests.
Thyme is just one of the herbs you want to plant around corn to get this exact ability. If you can't stop the corn ear worm, please plant thyme near the corn, because they hate the smell of this herb.
- Potatoes
When corn and potatoes are planted together, it is more for the benefit of potatoes. You should plant these crops alternately, about half a foot between each row.
At the end of the growing season, until the corn is planted in the soil. This will increase your potato harvest and at the same time protect potatoes from disease.
- White Clover
White clover is a good companion for corn because it can be used as a mulch crop. Clover suppresses weeds and fixes nitrogen in the soil.
In addition, corn will provide shade for clover to help it have a complete growth cycle. When the clover is finished growing, it will be composted into the soil. This is a great way to ensure that your corn has what it needs to grow.
- Lettuce
Leaf lettuce is the best companion plant for corn. Corn grows very tall, providing shade and a longer growing season for lettuce.
On the other hand, lettuce can act as a weed inhibitor by occupying the space at the bottom of the corn plant. If you want to plant two crops in the same space and protect your planting area from weeds, consider planting lettuce and corn at the same time.
- Melon
When planting melons, I try to keep them away from my other crops, because they will have too many vines. Even if you eat the melon in the shed, it will take up valuable planting space.
However, you can now safely plant melons near the corn crop. The vine of melon is the ground cover of corn. When allowing this plant to spread, it will keep weeds around the corn plant and help keep water.
- Tagetes erecta
Marigold is a common companion plant in the garden. The reason is that this kind of flower is very bright and has an obvious smell.
The color of the flowers invites pollinators into your planting space, which is very useful for your corn harvest. However, this smell is very good for stopping pests, especially aphids.
- Sunflower
Sunflower is often called the "four sisters" in planting corn. If you grow sunflowers next to corn, beans, pumpkins, or pumpkins, you should use dwarf varieties.
However, sunflowers are well suited to attract beneficial ladybugs. These bugs will kill unwanted pests in your garden. By planting sunflowers in the same growing space as corn, you can add a layer of beauty and protection around the garden.
Avoid plants growing near corn
You now have many kinds of plants, which grow well together with corn. However, you should avoid planting some in the same space.
The first plant that should not be planted around corn is fennel. This kind of plant usually grows by itself, because it often knocks down any plants nearby. It is famous for hindering the growth of plants and sometimes even killing them.
The second plant you should avoid growing near corn is tomatoes. Unfortunately, tomatoes attract the same pests as corn, such as corn ear worms and tomato hornworms.
In addition, both plants desire the same nutrients and will compete for them. The same rule applies to eggplant, so it should not be planted near corn.
Finally, all Brassica crops should be planted away from corn, which provides too much shadow for them.
In addition, both types of plants desire the same nutrition and invite the same pests into the growth space. Therefore, if they grow in the same area, they will fight against the same problems and compete for nutrition.
You now have an in-depth understanding of which plants thrive when planted near corn and which plants are affected.
When planning your garden, consider these tips to help you place vegetables correctly around the planting space. It is hoped that the accompanying planting process can bring a bumper harvest.