COMPANION GARDENING

Companion planting, or intercropping, allows us to take advantage of certain chemical interactions between plants. These interactions can be used to encourage plant growth and health in a symbiotic manner. Every plant releases different chemical agents, either above ground through its leaves, or below ground from its roots.

These chemicals attract or repel insects, and either aid, or discourage their growth and reproduction.

Below ground, plant roots release amino acids, vitamins, sugars, tannins, alkaloids, phosphatides, and glucosides into the soil, affecting plants either positively or negatively, resulting in plant health, or disease. Chemicals emmitted from plant roots will either attract or repel underground insects.

Above ground, plant foilage also gives off chemical scents - alkaloids, sulphides, and phenolic compounds - which repel or attract insects, or act as a natural fungicide.

Chemicals released by a plants foilage are increased by watering, heat, and stress.

Each plant has a different molecular vibration, or wave length. Insects use these vibrations to determine the location of the plants growing in your garden. Using companion planting, insects are not able to easily find and settle into an area to eat, reproduce, or hide.

Bottom Line...

 Vegetable Companion Planting Chart

 Herb Companion Planting Chart

 Books on Companion Planting

Intensive Planting

As we learn to sustain and maintain our soil with resource conserving techniques, we learn to sustain ourselves. When we design a garden with this in mind, we work with the land, and not against nature.