Top Companion Plants for Tomatoes

Known for their vibrant colors and prolific yield, no home garden or kitchen is complete without the nutritious and productive tomato plant. 

As one of the most common garden plants, tomatoes are easy to grow and a staple of many home gardens. That being said, companion planting with complementary plants can do wonders for tomato yields and their overall health. 

Essentially, companion planting is a gardening technique that involves growing different plants together in the same area for mutual benefits, including improved nutrient uptake, complementary growth, pest control, and enhanced soil fertility. By planting tomatoes with the right companions, you will have a more diverse and beneficial garden arrangement with better harvests. 

Allowing your tomatoes to grow near companions that also thrive in similar environments will ensure benefits for all plants involved. Apart from the usual good gardening practices like composting or using organic fertilizers, companion planting can help you take your tomato growing to the next level. We also recommend companion planting your tomatoes with raised garden beds like Vego Garden’s Modular Raised Garden Bed  to save space and for more convenient gardening. 

Trusted Teammates 

Tomatoes can be rewarding crops to grow, but they also attract pests like aphids or spider mites, along with diseases that are detrimental to your harvest. Growing your tomato plants with these trusted teammates can keep pests at bay and maximize healthy growth. See below for our top picks for companion plants to pair with tomatoes. 

Marigolds 

Marigolds are easy to manage and ideal for companion planting with your tomatoes. More than just adding variety to your garden beds, the strong scent and bright colors of marigold flowers act to repel pests like hornworms and squash bugs. At the same time, these flowers will bring beneficial insects that enhance pollination in your garden.

Basil

Basil is the perfect companion for tomatoes, and they are often paired in recipes to enhance  flavors. With its strong scent, the basil plant is a natural repellent to harmful insects like hornworms, thrips, and spider mites. Both basil and tomatoes grow well in containers and garden beds, or in smaller spaces. 

Borage 

Similar to basil, borage can also defend your tomatoes from pests, while enhancing their flavor when grown together and even boost overall growth. Many gardeners overlook borage simply because they are unsure where these plants fit in their gardens. In fact, borage is great for increasing pollination activity and boosting biodiversity as well. 

Carrots 

Apart from adding a burst of color to your veggie bed, the long roots of carrots can loosen garden soil, and improve root growth of your tomato plants when planted together. Often paired in recipes and dishes, interplanting tomatoes and carrots is also known to enhance the flavor of both plants. 

Parsley 

Parsley is another plant that comes with a strong natural scent that deter pests in the garden from destroying your tomatoes. Tomatoes and parsley have similar growing and watering requirements, so you can grow them together with relative ease and also in smaller garden spaces. So go ahead and add some parsley with your tomatoes in veggie beds, or even in containers. 

Nasturtiums 

Nasturtiums may not be the first plant you would think of to pair with tomatoes, but they are great helpers that can defend tomatoes from pests like aphids, not to mention fending off fungal growth. Easy to grow in any garden, the flowers and leaves of the Nasturtium plant are also edible, making great additions to salads or garnishes.