Marigolds

alleycat`

Hi guys,

I'm planning my new lottie for next year and i was told by a work colleague to plant marigolds with certain veg.

I had a read up and it seems to be a common suggestion.

The thing is every lottie i've looked at on my plot doesn't seem to follow this companion planting idea and nobody i've mentioned it to thinks it will work.

Has anyone tried it and does it work at all?

cheers,

lovebug_rita

i tried it with carrotts and worked fine for me in my raised beds :-) gl

davemorton

With tomatoes to keep the nastys off.

morg_monster

I have pots of marigolds grown from seed and have put them around the patio which also has tomatoes, potatoes, salad stuff on. Also they are planted in the raised bed with beans, squash, spinach, etc and in the herb garden. Honestly I have no clue if it has worked at all! We have had nothing being munched at all so I guess it did work, but I don't know what exactly it is supposed to keep away.
At the end of the day they were easy peasy to grow from seed, they look lovely and bright amongst all the greenery (but not showy) and deadheading them is a really easy task (can be done with fingernails.). i'm definitely going to be doing them again next year and even bought a new type from wilkos yesterday to add to the mix, 75% off!

alanobrien

Been growing marigolds and poached egg plant from seed for years to keep the bugs at bay. Mostly it works well. If only i could find a plant that kept slugs and snails at bay

bloss0m

It works with toms.

I think the larger African marigolds are better they give off a smell stronger than the French

You can keep the seeds from old flowers when left to die off

Lotus-eater

French marigolds work extremely well in greenhouses, keeping out whitefly and attracting beneficial insects (to eat the aphids etc).

They work well, although not quite so well outside, they still attract beneficial insects and may act as sacrificial plants for slugs and snails, as they love them.

Mojisola

There are several different things meant when people talk about "companion planting".

There is very little evidence for true companion planting whereby growing two species together is meant to improve the growth of the crop.

Growing plants with attractive open flowers - such as the poached egg plant, french marigolds or sweet peas - will bring in beneficial insects. This is particularly useful if you can spread the flowers so that there's always something flowering for the insects. It also brightens up the veg garden and will give you a lot of pleasure over the season!

Some people do things like growing alternative rows of carrots and onions on the basis that the smell from the onions "hides" the carrots from root fly but I haven't seen evidence that it's any more effective than just planting small areas of onions interspersed with any other plants.

As with all gardening - do it the way that suits you. As long as you've got the basics right, you can garden in your own style. Look round other gardens and allotments and you'll see people getting good results even though they're using different methods.

alleycat`

I meant companion in the terms of keeping away the critters rather than the "making them grow better" near each other.

Whoever had my, badly overgrown, lottie before me seems to have used the throw it up in the air and see where it lands method

It has made my planning for next year a bit haphazard.

To be fair to the previous owner the ground underneath all the 4 to 5 foot high weeds was in quite a workable condition so at some point it was obviously loved, albeit in a very random way.

Think i'll go with putting some in pots in the greenhouse and intermingle some around the plot in the aim of looking nice rather than hoping it'll save the veggies.

Mojisola

alleycat` wrote: »

I meant companion in the terms of keeping away the critters rather than the "making them grow better" near each other.

You won't keep the pests away by bringing in some flowers but you'll attract the things that eat the pests.

As you're starting out from scratch, can I suggest that you keep a notebook of what you grow and where so that you can keep track of rotations. It's very hard to remember exactly what went where two or three years down the line.

alleycat`

Mojisola wrote: »

As you're starting out from scratch, can I suggest that you keep a notebook of what you grow and where so that you can keep track of rotations. It's very hard to remember exactly what went where two or three years down the line.

Sounds like a plan:idea: