Companion Planting

There are many other vegetables and herbs that grow well together. Who has had experience with, or has knowledge of, companion planting with MJ.

I know corn is used a lot but is it for the free fertiliser from the farmer and the fact corns height hides things rather than an actual companion plant.

Any no-no's for planting next to herb?

Hi there I have grown aromatic herbs such as basil, rosemary, thyme or mint next to marijuana, in my experience they help to keep insects away. Garlic is said to work quite well too but I have not used it much. This year I grew beans next to my plants, because of their ability to sequester atmospheric Nitrogen (thanks to the bacteria in their root nodules) in the soil, and at the moment I have some alfalfa seedlings that I might move to a useful location very soon. A good thing with beans is that their life cycle is usually quite short, allowing to sow them almost at the same time than marijuana, but harvesting them before your ganja starts flowering (thus preventing excess N during flowering).

Peace

Thanks Relik, beans huh.





I have some nice thyme (pizza and wooly) and some basil. I'm thinking parsley might be good too. Can't put mint in I'm organic hydro (well, Aquaponics) and mint roots will grow up into and then fill out quite large pipes...



As well as the bean in this bed there is a wee fern, a wee tomato (kept one shoot off last years stem) also some moss, a spring onion, and a very sickly strawberry runner I missed when cleaning the bed.

I will have this bed supporting a plant as well and hope to enhance the bacterial and enzyme diversity with additional types of plants.

nettles are good companions. they increase healthy soil, but there bad because they sting you.

Don't nettles spread like wildfire though?

That wouldn't be a good thing to introduce into your environment if it ain't already there. Assuming it spreads like hell like I've been told

anything will get out of control if you let it, dont let the nettles go to seed for one and you wont have much of a problem.

edit: personally i dont think i would surround my plants by nettles unless it was gurilla grow. but really for companion plants you would be looking for plants that bring beneificial insects, for one that would keep off pests better than any pest spray, feed, or powder out there.

I've seen some *amazing* sunflowers planted in the same beds as pot plants.

Glad I've garnered interest. I'll bump this a bit now and then till some old timer comes and gives me the speech I'm dying to hear

Nettles! I just got them out of my yard... Yep the soil looks good under them, fat earthworms on taproot of almost every one. I love earthworms, and so do my fish....

A few good links on companion planting. Based on these Borage and Lovage are generally beneficial to most other plants (with a few exceptions). Marigolds are very good for repelling pests.

http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_companion_plants

HTH,
PHB

jaykush said:

anything will get out of control if you let it, dont let the nettles go to seed for one and you wont have much of a problem.

edit: personally i dont think i would surround my plants by nettles unless it was gurilla grow. but really for companion plants you would be looking for plants that bring beneificial insects, for one that would keep off pests better than any pest spray, feed, or powder out there.

Click to expand...

Companion planting can do more than just attract or repel insects. Yarrow, for example, is said to make herbs more flavorful, and full of more oils.

The Aztecs used to plant beans, squash, and maize with eachother. The beans would use the maize as poles, while adding nitrogen to the soil. The squash would add compost to all the plants growing. This is an excellent example on how companion planting can increase yields using the same space.

There are some real common plants that make excellent companion plants, as well as make good compost and compost activators. Yarrow, chamomile, and borage are some examples. Garlic, marigolds, and nasturdium are companion plants as well.

- Yep, that's what I'm talkin about, increased bio-diversity with co-existant species that makes the sum greater than the parts.

Nice links the Wikipedia one was very informative.

Seems tomatoes don't like nasturtium, could've fooled my one.

Mites hate chives and garlic etc, good, I got a spring onion in there, will add garlic.

Marigolds and nasturtium to deter whitefly - going to happen. - EDIT - Mites and Slugs love Marigolds - and Marijuana, scrap the marigolds.

Chamomile and yarrow to increase oils - will look into these plants I'm not familiar with them.

Borage and Lovage - apparent 'magic bullet' companion plants, will learn more about them too.

is that a aquaponics system bongsong?

oh yea gotta love yarrow and chamomile. dont forget good ol comfrey

Companion Planting

"Some plants, including marijuana in its later stages, produce resins or essences which repel or kill plant pests. Some of them are general repellents that affect a broad range of plant pests; others affect specific species. Generally, the heavily scented plants, such as spices, mints, and other herbs, are most likely to have these qualities.

Some of the more familiar plants used to protect gardens are the Alliums, or onion family, with garlic, chives, green onions, and other oniony-type plants as members. This group repels a broad range of plant pests such as aphids, spider mites, flea beetles, potato bugs, bean beetles, and many other insects, as well as rabbits and some deer. They are easily planted around the garden or between the marijuana plants. Just plant onion bulbs or the cloves from a garlic bulb so that the top of the bulb is about one inch deep. One garlic bulb yields quite a few cloves; so a large garden requires only a few bulbs.

Geraniums are reputed to repel leafhoppers and many kinds of beetles. These plants prefer a dry soil, thrive in full light, and usually grow two feet tall. Geraniums should be interspersed with the marijuana, or potted geraniums can be set out if problems develop. Tansy (Tanaetum vulgare) is a tall, fragrant, woody perennial which grows five feet tall. It protects against cut-worms, beetles, cucumber beetles, and other eaters and borers.

Mints repel many insects and are sometimes used as mouse repellents. They are especially useful for the control of the flea beetle. They thrive in semi-shaded areas with rich soil.

Marigolds can be planted to eliminate nematodes. They are fast-growing annual plants which flower profusely. They come in many varieties, ranging in height from six to 30 inches. They grow in a wide range of soils and do best in the sun. The scented varieties - usually nonhybrids - offer the most protection.

All companion plants must be planted close to the plants to be protected, since their repellent qualities spread only a short distance beyond their circumference. They are effective when they are planted before the damage is apparent, and offer long-tern protection. They are used when a pest is expected. For instance, growers in the San Francisco Bay Area expect rose leafhoppers to attack their plants. Since geraniums grow in the area as perennial plants, some growers plant them permanently in the garden. As the geraniums develop into small bushes, the hoppers leave, never to return."

Man I am SOOOOOOOOOO jealous of your greenhouse and that aquaponics system looks like it's rocking your tomatoes world

Most of what I know on the subject has been covered already by my fellow "fanatics" lol.

Great topic so keep it up!

S

Thanks Suby - I'm so jealous of you fellas comprehensive organic and botanical knowledge. This is a good forum,

Got busy yesterday. Tomatoes and peas hate each other apparently so i ripped two toms out and put some nasturtium in their place. Toms are over with the strawberries and peppers now, with some spring onions thyme and oregano for company. Peas share with spinach, sage silverbeet and garlic. Nasturtium in tomato bed thinned back. Will leave some there as it grows wee tender shoots perfect for salads in that bed, the other stuff grows so fast leave it a day late I got stewing greens, Neighbours LOVE me!

Mint and mice -




Will be off to garden store soon too - borage, lovage, yarrow, chamomile.

Looking at sunflowers. Ants will actively remove aphids off your veg and transport them to sunflowers. The sunflower is barely affected, and the aphids don't destroy your other crops. Friend did this last year, and it worked.

Just wondering, think bean plants would attract raccoons like hell? Seems like they might would


Tarragon and Marjoram is what interests me most though, as "flavor enhancers"

I have tarragon here it behaves as an annual outdoors but in the growroom might keep on growing. In winter it completely dissapears here, and back even stronger the next year.

Marjoram enhance flavour too?! Got some of that. It's not doing so well by the outdoor tap so am looking at moving it soon.

Racoons? Mate, I come from the land down under, no racoons here. Lots of possums, their favourite plant is weed.

We got tons of possums too, but I didn't know they like weed.

Raccoons are smart as hell, they are the only animal that will always wash it's food off before it eats it if at all possible. They will find food from trashcans, then go turn on a hose faucet with their little monkey-like hands and rinse the food under it. And they've actually learned to turn the faucets BACK OFF, for real. They are too damn smart.

But yeah, they'll dig up anything that smells like food to them. So can't use blood meal, bone meal, fish products, etc,etc outdoors cause they'll dig the holes out looking for food.

Do possums do that too? Cause raccoons may have been taking part of the blame for possums this whole time,haha

Guerilla Growing

"This can make ya or break ya. The GG will have to make use of every single thing that he can that is available to him in the swamp. This can mean animals, plants and insects. The GG will want his patch very tough to get to. You will want to use every part of the swamp to your benefit. Trees that have big thorns such as the devils walking stick can be really nasty to anybody who should venture close enough. The GG should know how to use these kinds of trees to help seclude their patch.

The poke salad likes to grow in fertile soil and likes sunlight. When young, the leaves can be boiled and eaten. Much like collard/ mustard greens but when grown and producing purple berry's. They can and will make you sick or even cause death, believe this or not. Please, don?t try to find out or you will be sorry. Poison Ivry is another good companion plant.

WARNING! Poison Ivy, if allergic can be painful! If you will also notice, the dead rotten tree? This spot is A termite infestation and therefore NOT a good spot to pick. Unless you know HOW to treat them BEFORE you put MJ there. Termites will eat and hollow out plant and cause a SLOW death. Once started, they are almost impossible to stop before they kill the plant. Companion planting with the native plants is an added bonus.

The GG can learn a lot about soil like this. Just because the soil doesn?t look right does not mean it won?t grow MJ. A good way to test soil is to pull a handful up and give it a good smell. If it smells sorta like Peanuts, then most likely it is good soil. In general though, if the surrounding plants all look happy and green, then it should grow the wild wood weed fairly well. You can also pick a good spot by looking at the plants color. Some will go from light green to a deep green in a space of a half acre {as shown in the picture below}.

Note: You will see two pine trees. One in the back ground I chopped down. The one pine tree in forefront is the same age and has a lot smaller trunk and growth. Also note the color of the plants, "The deeper the green the better the soil". Here is a short list of my favorites.

Elder Berry

Pokesalad

Ragweed

Dog Fennel

Blackberry"

A different slant on companion planting - protection from people!