Companion Planting

willow

willow

Would love to know what others are doing in regards to companion planting to help keep critters at bay!
 
There are endless plants that help repels different myriads of insects, what has worked best for you in regards to chili peppers?
 
Here is a list of what I have and plan to use both in some of the larger chili pots and around the smaller pots and ground plants. Lemongrass, citronella, peppermint, borage, lavender, rosemary, catnip, oregano, rue, chives and many varieties of basil. There are some others such as marigolds, nasturtiums, clover, chamomile, parsley and thyme that I have tried to sow with no luck so far.
 
Has anyone found some of these work particularly well or perhaps some also deter beneficial insects, required for pollination and to keep the bad boys away?
 
Most of the choices come about from their multiple uses, harvesting for a variety of concoctions.
 
What are your thoughts on having one or more of these sharing 10 gallon containers with a chili, do you think the fight for root space and possible reduction of pepper plant size and production would outweigh the positives of having them around.
 
Any thoughts appreciated, I plan to experiment with this a little and will let you all know how it goes.
 
 
 
 
 
I have a wall of garlic chives and onion chives around the parameter of my main pepper bed. Honestly not sure if it's helping but this bed doesn't have any insect problems, nor did it last year...
 
Bonus: they are perennial like my peppers and I overwinter the entire bed :)
 
Love the thread idea. Hope we get some sweet contributions. 
 
As for space / growing competition. Well I planted that wall as an after thought much later, so I didn't design the bed layout with them in mind. My plants grow very well and very large in the bed so it's definitely not an issue. That said, my bed has good depth and lots of organic material and red wigglers pooping throughout. Maybe it's potentially an issue? I wouldn't hesitate to add some chives in those 10 gallons! Perhaps some larger perennial flower companions would compete too much *shrug*
 
     I have had great luck using plants that attract beneficial insects to my garden. Marigolds, in particular, seem to really do the trick. I pick up a few 4-packs of those every spring and plant them throughout my growing area. I also plant petunias, lantana, nasturtiums and more marigolds in containers. I figure, If I ever have a big pest outbreak, I can move some of the containers to the problem area and maybe concentrate beneficials and clear it up faster. But I've never had to do that. My garden eats aphids all on its own.
     I've never seen benefits to growing plants that are reported to repel pests. All my success has come from attracting ladybugs, wasps and lacewings. The first year I put in my garden I had an aphid problem. Next year I planted companion plants and the aphids were much less of a concern. Year three, I only found a couple of aphids all season. Now the only aphids I see are on plants I buy at greenhouses, and those only last a few days.
     This season, I bought a few sweet pepper plants on sale that ended up being COVERED in aphids. I didn't notice them when I planted, but a few days later they were just crawling with them. I laughed to myself about their ensuing demise and walked away. A few days later all the aphids were gone and now the plants are huge and covered in pods and lacewing eggs. 
     Planting companion plant is a no-brainer for me. I spend probably $10 each season on marigold starts, and that's my pest control all season. No more work, no more money, no spraying schedules, no poisons. I just sit back, relax and watch my aphid terrordome do its thing.  :cheers:
 
Companion planting is great, so long as it doesn't make fertilization difficult.

I mainly try to keep herbs in my pepper containers, on the grounds that if I'm going to have anything in abundance, it's probably going to be nitrogen. For me, there seems to be a correlation between too much nitrogen, and soft bodied insects. (aphids, whitefly) If I keep a nitrogen loving plant in the same space as my peppers, they can, if necessary, be sacrificed. (straight to a hot grill for incineration with the offending critters)
 
Found some marigolds for sale in the local nursery which is a bonus, will get a few and try them out in parts of the garden and compare how things go. Have just started a load of cuttings from some of my peppermint and rosemary bushes. Duel purpose as I love them both for cooking and flavouring drinks. Have something I bought in the local nursery that they called it oregano, but its like no oregano I know, was a little herb plant, strong smell like oregano and sage mixed. 6 months later its a 6ft shrub almost a tree! Big leaves and very pungent, insects do not touch it. so think this might be a great companion around some of the pepper beds, but not too close, its big!
 
Decided not to plant anything in the 10 gallon pots mainly because I have devised a cone planting technique with plastic cover to stop protect from the rain. So only space is for the chili stem and stake.
 
Will just plant the companions in smaller pots and pepper them around the garden. They are pretty much all things I want to grow regardless of how effective they are. Would be great if they help me out though, already had a fight with a caterpillar and some flea beetles. Neem and castille soap seems to keep them away for now. But once they are out in the rain, will not be so effective with daily downpours. That is where I need nature to help me out.
 
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