Cucumbers are a few of my very favourite backyard veggies. I like them sliced up in salads and, in fact, turning them into every kind of scrumptious pickles. However, ounce for ounce, cucumbers are a few of the trickiest veggies to take care of.
They’ve exact spacing necessities, a bent to vine and climb, and are very thirsty, however additionally they have shallow root programs, which means it’s tougher for them to get the water they want.
And to high all of it off, they’re very heavy feeders that want vitamins all season lengthy to supply an amazing harvest.
You’ll be able to enhance your possibilities of getting that nice harvest, and assist out your cucumbers, by selecting the best companion crops to develop subsequent to them. I’ll let you know about 18 nice decisions on this article.
Chili Peppers
Chili peppers can add quite a lot of selection and spice to your meals and vary anyplace from pleasantly piquant to enamel-melting agony relying on the range.
All have one factor in widespread for our functions: these spicy compounds will repel bugs and might drive off veggie thieves like deer, rabbits, and groundhogs.
The trick to getting this profit from scorching peppers is to make use of them on the perimeter. If the animals can get to the cucumbers earlier than they pattern the peppers, it gained’t do any good.
Sunflowers
These enormous, showy flowers are a number of enjoyable to develop as ornamental crops, and you can even harvest sunflower seeds.
Sunflowers can work as dwelling trellises for cucumbers similar to corn, and in the event you develop them in tight ranks, the big heads will help present satisfactory shade for them, too – actually essential in areas with intense summers.
Simply ensure you begin the sunflowers earlier than your cucumbers, planting the latter anyplace from 2 to three weeks after the previous.
Onions
Onions can develop simply superb close to cucumbers and are one other nice alternative for maximizing the return in your usable gardening area.
However greater than this, onions are extremely repellent to many pests, together with animals! Onions and different alliums will repel varied beetles, aphids, rabbits, and even deer.
You don’t have to fret concerning the shallow roots of your onion crops interfering with cucumbers or them competing for sources, however you’ll nonetheless wish to preserve the cucumbers rising upward to stop interference.
Put the onions in their very own row about half a foot out of your cucumber trellises and preserve half a foot between every onion.
Garlic
Garlic has the identical advantages that onion does in relation to repelling pests, solely it’s even stronger. And higher but, as a result of garlic spends a lot of its time creating underground, it gained’t intrude along with your cucumbers within the least.
Maintain your garlic a minimum of six to eight inches away out of your cucumber trellises, and in the event you’re planting a cucumber selection that grows alongside the bottom, ensure you handle it nicely sufficient in order that it doesn’t fully overwhelm your garlic till it’s prepared to reap round midsummer.
Shallots
One more allium genus plant, the pungent compounds emitted by shallots will drive off insect and animal pests alike, they usually appear to be notably repulsive to rabbits.
It’s simple to squeeze small shallots in near vertically rising cucumbers, round 6 inches / 15 centimeters away. Like onions, their shallow roots gained’t get in the best way of cucumber crops.
Shallots will thrive rising beneath cucumbers due to the added shade and decrease soil temperature, serving to shallots retain extra moisture.
Peas
Many pea varieties are climbing similar to cucumbers are, and surprisingly sufficient, they’ll develop on the identical trellises or different constructions so long as you take note of spacing and administration early on.
Planting peas and cucumbers about 6 inches / 15 cm aside on alternate sides of a trellis that’s positioned north-south will provide you with loads of room for each and guarantee satisfactory publicity to mild and shade.
Other than being a space-saving and effectivity proposition, peas and different beans are often called nitrogen-fixing crops.
What this implies is that they put extra nitrogen within the soil they’re rising in and, as soon as harvested, their roots break down and launch a giant load of nitrogen that future crops can reap the benefits of.
Pole Beans
Pole beans are a bean selection which you could deal with similar to peas for the needs of companion planting with cucumbers. Planting each collectively can save a ton of area, and pole beans will put nitrogen again into the soil.
Use a north-south trellis, preserve them a minimum of 6 inches aside once you plant them as seed, and handle them fastidiously once they first begin rising up the trellis.
Lettuce
Lettuce is easy to grow and an amazing pairing with climbing cucumbers as a result of it may profit from the dappled shade that it’s going to present going into the latter half of spring and early summer season.
Most sorts of lettuce are extraordinarily liable to bolting once they get too scorching, so cucumber will allow you to prolong the rising season somewhat bit.
Lettuce doesn’t do something for the cucumbers or the remainder of your backyard in return, although: it simply helps you to make higher use of in any other case wasted area.
Plant your lettuce about 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 centimeters) from the bottom of every cucumber plant in a single row, and preserve a minimum of half a foot between your heads.
Arugula
This lettuce selection isn’t fairly as simple to develop as Iceberg or Bibb, but it surely’s hardy and might put up with somewhat little bit of shade from cucumbers, making it a gorgeous alternative in the event you’re getting it began somewhat late.
Of even larger profit is the truth that arugula readily attracts these useful backyard bugs we wish to cling round, particularly ladybugs.
Ladybugs bloodbath aphids by the hundreds, and an excellent ladybug inhabitants could make the distinction between a bumper crop and a lackluster one. The identical as different lettuce varieties, intention for 10 to 12 inches of spacing between arugula and your cukes.
Carrots
This hottest of root veggies is the right space-saving pairing to place with cucumbers as a result of the cucumbers can develop up a trellis or different construction whereas the carrots keep down on the floor. That is purely an effectivity pairing, as neither plant helps or hurts its neighbor in any other case.
You need to plant your carrot seeds south of your rising constructions on the similar time you do the cucumbers, ensuring to provide them a minimum of a foot of area from the bottom of the construction.
Maintain an in depth eye in your cucumbers as they begin to develop and vine and prepare them accordingly so that they don’t strangle close by carrots.
Once more, in the event you’re rising cucumbers on the bottom, don’t waste your time with carrots as a result of they gained’t make it.
Radishes
Radishes are an environment friendly pairing for growing alongside cucumbers, particularly in space-limited areas like raised beds.
Many radish varieties are totally grown and able to harvest in simply 30 days, and even much less! Some are able to dig up in simply 3 weeks or somewhat longer. Sora, Rover, and Pink Globe varieties are all nice decisions.
All you want to do is plant your radishes in their very own row that’s a minimum of 6 inches away from younger cucumber crops.
Whichever selection you choose, they need to be prepared for harvest earlier than the cucumbers get uncontrolled and begin overtaking the radishes completely. Then you possibly can simply let the cucumbers have the area and end maturing.
Beets
One other intelligent pairing to maximise harvestable space, if you’re vertically rising your cucumbers, this can be a positive factor. You may have the ability to grow your beets, relying on the range, as shut as 6 inches away from the bases of your cucumber crops.
Beets, like radishes, develop rapidly and needs to be able to take out of the bottom and revel in earlier than the cucumbers mature sufficient to totally shade them.
That is one among my favourite pairings for raised beds due to the pure effectivity. I hope it’s apparent, however in the event you’re rising cucumbers truly on the floor, don’t waste your time planting beets as a result of they’ll get choked out.
Celery
Celery is a dual-use companion for cucumbers. Though not the strongest pest-repelling planting on our listing, it’s recognized to repulse sure veggie predators just like the cabbage butterfly and sure species of aphids.
Aside from that, in case your cucumbers are headed up, celery will just do superb down on the floor, and might profit from somewhat little bit of shade because the cucumbers mature. Relying on the number of celery you might be planting, ensure you go away loads of room for the leafy crown.
Take into account 12-inch (30 cm) spacing between these crops to be absolutely the minimal, and one and a half ft is healthier in the event you can handle.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes are greatest described as a sympathetic cucumber pairing.
The water and soil wants of each crops are mainly an identical, so in the event you can develop one, you possibly can actually develop the opposite, and you may get much more profit by rising the cucumbers horizontally on the bottom so the tomatoes can shade them.
Begin the cucumbers a minimum of 8 inches/ 20 cm away out of your tomatoes, and preserve the bottom freed from weeds till the cucumbers are nicely established. They’ll deal with it after that.
Corn
I do know that is certain to shock some gardeners as a result of corn has a fame for completely dominating backyard areas. However consider it or not, corn and cucumbers are made for one another, and never simply in relish.
Cucumbers can use established corn crops as a trellis to climb on, and the lengthy leaves of the corn can provide cucumbers somewhat little bit of wanted shade.
The 2 crops rising collectively will produce a dense cover of leaves that can shade out weeds and different undesirable crops. You’ll simply want to remain on high of fertilization since each crops are such heavy eaters.
rule of thumb is to plant cucumbers 2 to three weeks after you seed the corn, and between corn rows, a few foot from the crops. As soon as the cucumber begins sending out tendrils, begin coaching it to climb up the stalks.
Broccoli
That is certain to be essentially the most controversial inclusion on this listing. All people is aware of that you simply aren’t imagined to plant brassicas alongside your cucumbers as a result of they’re too resource-hungry.
Whereas that is true, that can be managed with good soil modification previous to the planting season and periodic fertilization all through.
And also you’ll wish to take into account planting broccoli, particularly, as a result of it produces pure insect repellents that may preserve a number of persistent cucumber pests at bay, particularly many aphids and cabbage worms.
Simply keep on high of giving these crops the vitamins they want as they develop, and also you shouldn’t count on some other issues.
Give your broccoli crops a minimum of 12 inches of area to themselves between your cucumbers, and in a row of their very own. And double-check your selection: some can develop as much as 2 ft broad and can want much more area!
Oregano
Ounce for ounce, one of the crucial helpful and well-liked kitchen herbs used around the globe, oregano is easy to grow, and notably simple to develop close to cucumbers.
Merely plant it across the perimeter of your cucumber crop or on the corners of your backyard or raised mattress. It might probably develop giant, so preserve spacing from different crops to a minimum of a foot.
Oregano is a superb one-two punch in your backyard, secreting compounds that repel plant-killing pests like varied beetles, bugs, and aphids, whereas on the similar time attracting helpful pollinators and predators as soon as it bolts and blossoms.
Many such predators, like lacewing larvae, will bloodbath cabbage worms, aphids, and beetles that can prey in your cucumbers and different crops.
Dill
Let’s get actual. For those who’re rising cucumbers, chances are high you’re already growing your own dill. How else are you going to make your grandma’s award-winning pickle recipe? And since you’re rising the 2, you’ll be completely satisfied to be taught that it’s best to develop them close to one another.
Dill is thought to boost the expansion of different crops round it, together with cucumbers. It’s additionally extremely enticing to backyard pollinators and predators of pests, together with varied wasp species, ladybugs, and extra.
Do not forget that you wish to let it bolt when the climate will get scorching so the blooms will appeal to the helpful bugs.
This can be a pure combo that can develop harmoniously so long as you give your dill about 16 inches of area from the cucumber crops.
Tom has lived and labored on farms and homesteads from the Carolinas to Kentucky and past. He’s enthusiastic about serving to individuals put together for robust occasions by embracing life of self-sufficiency.
