Companion Planting With Tomatoes: Companion Plants & Crop Rotation

Planting Tomatoes in the Garden: What Tomato Plants Need

Tomatoes thrive best in medium-heavy, humus-rich garden soil. If the soil is too heavy, there is a risk of waterlogging, which tomatoes do not like at all! Tomato plants are heavy feeders, so they have a high nutrient requirement. Prepare your tomato bed with compost to ensure that sufficient nutrients are always available.

Due to their origin, tomatoes love warmth. Therefore, find a sunny, warm and wind-protected spot for your tomato plants. It is also important that the plants are covered and not exposed to the elements.

Finding the Right Tomato Variety

Tomatoes come in different growth forms. There are bushy bush tomatoes and tall climbing tomatoes. You can choose a suitable variety depending on the size of your garden bed and its location.

Companion Planting With Tomatoes: Good and Bad Companion Plants

Planning your beds with companion planting follows the principles of ecological gardening. This helps you to grow healthy plants and promote high biodiversity, both in terms of plants and garden inhabitants.

These Plants Are Not Compatible With Tomatoes

• Tomatoes do not grow well alongside plants from the same family. Potatoes, aubergines and physalis also belong to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). You should not plant these directly next to your tomatoes.
• Potatoes and tomatoes are bad neighbours because both plants are susceptible to late blight. This makes infection very likely.
• Cucumbers and tomatoes are also not a good combination. For one thing, they have different growing conditions, which means that one of the crops will inevitably not have optimal conditions. In addition, both plants are susceptible to mildew, which will thrive in your garden. Spider mites are also attracted to this combination.
• While many other legumes go well with tomatoes, you should not plant peas next to tomatoes. Both plants have similar space requirements and growth habits. In addition, these plant partners inhibit each other's growth via root excretions.
• Tomatoes also thrive better when planted a little further away from fennel, black salsify, Jerusalem artichokes and okra.
• Lovage is generally a loner and should not be planted in a mixed culture. It is said to inhibit the development of other plants. Slow-growing plants in particular suffer from the lush lovage.
• You should also avoid sunflowers in your tomato patch, as they produce substances that inhibit growth.

Don’t Waste Precious Space in Your Vegetable Garden!

With our bed planner, it’s easy to design a beautiful and productive companion planting layout. You’ll see which plants grow well together — and which don’t — along with tips for crop rotation and succession planting!

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Good Companion Plants for Tomatoes

• Unlike other plants of the same species, peppers and chillies go well with tomatoes. However, as both plants are heavy feeders, you must make sure you fertilise sufficiently so that the soil does not become depleted.
• Various types of cabbage go very well with tomatoes, such as kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, head cabbage and leaf cabbage such as savoy cabbage, Brussels sprouts and Chinese cabbage. Other cruciferous vegetables such as radishes, pak choi and cress are also good neighbours. Your cabbage plants will benefit most from this, as the scent of tomatoes keeps cabbage white caterpillars away!
• Tomatoes also get on well with various legumes such as soybeans, bush beans and runner beans. This is a particularly good combination, as tomatoes require a lot of nutrients and legumes release these into the soil.
• Very small, ground-covering crops such as lettuce, spinach or various herbs also go well with tomatoes, which are usually very stately. This reduces water evaporation from the soil, as these crops act like a layer of mulch. Their roots also retain additional water in the upper layers of soil.
• Root vegetables such as carrots, celeriac and root parsley are also good neighbours for tomatoes. They loosen the soil nicely and act as drainage. This benefits tomatoes, which do not like waterlogged soil.
• Onions, leeks and garlic are particularly good vegetables to grow alongside tomatoes. They have a high content of essential oils, which keep whiteflies and voles away from your garden bed.
• You can also combine corn, asparagus, nasturtiums and currants well with tomatoes.

Herbs and Flowers in the Tomato Patch

• Basil and parsley are very useful in a tomato patch. Their essential oils keep pesky aphids and whiteflies away from your tomato plants. These herbs also help prevent mildew, which often attacks tomatoes.
• Marigolds are always a good choice for mixed planting in a vegetable patch. Their flowers attract beneficial insects, while their roots keep hungry nematodes out of the soil.
• You can also plant mint, mizuna, oregano and chives next to your tomatoes.
• Herbs and flowers have many benefits in the herb bed. Above all, they provide food and habitat for insects, thus attracting beneficial insects to the vegetable garden. At the same time, their essential oils keep many pests away. Some herbs are also said to improve the aroma of vegetable plants. However, this is difficult to prove scientifically.

Chart: Good and Bad Companion Plants for Tomatoes

These plant combinations are largely based on empirical values. In general, the principle in nature is cooperation. Therefore, do not hesitate to try other combinations and find out what works well in your garden!

Planting Tomatoes in a Greenhouse: A Planting Plan

In our part of the world, tomatoes are often grown in greenhouses or polytunnels. That's why we've created a digital bed plan to give you inspiration for your garden planning. Here's an example of what a mixed crop with tomatoes might look like in a greenhouse:

What Goes Well With Tomatoes in the Greenhouse?

In addition to four different tomato varieties such as 'Green Zebra' and the cocktail tomato 'Sunviva', numerous other plants grow in this greenhouse. You can plant bush beans or chillies between the tall climbing tomatoes. They fill the free space perfectly. Beans also fix nitrogen in the soil, which benefits the hungry tomatoes.

Now you have enough space in front of the tomato plants to fill with other crops. As peppers are often planted in greenhouses in our latitudes, you can plant them in front of the tomatoes. The gaps can be filled with herbs and flowers. Parsley, basil, savory and oregano go well with tomatoes. Marigolds also fit well in the tomato bed. These flowering herbs also attract pollinating insects and other beneficial insects. Celery is also a good neighbour for tomatoes. Its strong smell keeps some hungry pests away.

Crop Rotation With Tomatoes

Tomatoes are a very popular crop in vegetable gardens, which we like to plant in our beds as a summer crop. Tomato plants are heat-loving, slow-growing plants that remain in the bed for a long time as the main crop.

Our tip: Lamb's lettuce is an excellent follow-up crop as it attracts earthworms. This contributes to soil health and is particularly beneficial after a highly demanding crop such as tomatoes.

Good Preceding and Subsequent Crops for Tomatoes

Fruit rotation with tomatoes

• Good previous crops for tomatoes include cabbage, such as kale, broccoli, savoy cabbage, white cabbage and Brussels sprouts. Tomatoes also benefit from potatoes as the main crop in the previous year, as they loosen the soil nicely.
• Tomatoes have the special characteristic of being very self-compatible. Tomato plants can be grown in the same location for several years without any problems. This is also common practice. However, if you are struggling with diseases, changing the location may help to combat them.

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