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Summer would n’t be the same without a salutary crop of watermelon vine to snack on . These plants are easy to grow and they do n’t ask much attending . But because so many bugs prey on them , many watermelon works die before they even produce fruit . If you require to produce skillful watermelons , you may be wondering how these industrial plant can benefit from Citrullus vulgaris companion plants .
Watermelon comrade plant like Basil the Great , lavender , and marigold keep harmful insects off while attracting valuable pollinators , includinghummingbirds . Other fellow plants , like beans and corn , can offer a little refinement , while sweet clover , quite a little , and radishes help the grime around your watermelons retain wet .
How does companion planting help watermelon production?
Watermelon plant need moist , well - drained , loamy soil and wad of temperateness to arise . But they also need to be pollinated , otherwise , they wo n’t produce . By go along a few watermelon familiar plant life in your garden , you ’ll advance good pollinators to impose , ensuring you get a just Citrullus vulgaris crop .
But watermelon companion plants do n’t stop there . These industrial plant work overtime to keep the bad insects at bay so your watermelon plants can mature . Likewise , they rebuff the cervid and rabbit who like to nybble on fresh watermelon plant life and eat their bid flower .
Some plants can even add together food to the stain that your Citrullus vulgaris plant life need to thrive . These plants may even influence the way your watermelons taste . If you ’re attached to growing the healthiest most delicious watermelon crop possible , companion planting can help you do just that .
What are the best watermelon companion plants for your garden?
Which Citrullus vulgaris fellow traveler plants you choose should come down to your garden ’s needs . If you need some avail with pest ascendency , select bug - repelling plants . If you need a hand knock out the Mary Jane , focus on priming coat covering fire . And retrieve to consider your grow space . Watermelons are big plants , and they take up even more way once they start making melons . Keep these things in mind when choose from the follow watermelon vine companion plants .
Beans
bean are exceedingly helpful in a garden because they increase N availability in the soil . Nitrogen help watermelon vine grow larger , which is why many commercial farmersuse nitrogen fertilizerson their Citrullus vulgaris harvest . In fact , this is why most of the Citrullus vulgaris you buy from the grocery store have chicken rind — it ’s the result of nitrate build - up .
It ’s worth noting that beans do n’t actually append nitrogen to the dirt . They just make the nitrogen that ’s in the soil easier for plants to soak up . Growing bean flora near your watermelons improve land quality naturally . Just be certain to build a treillage for your beans to climb , otherwise , they ’ll get tangled in your watermelon vine industrial plant .
Lavender
As aflowering herbaceous plant , lavender can be particularly helpful in a vegetable garden . The redolent oils in these plant discourage harmful foragers , like deerand hare . They also keep fly front and mosquito by so they wo n’t annoy you when you weed and harvest .
Lavender is an fantabulous choice for keeping risky bugs out of your garden . But this plant is also great for another grounds : it brings more pollinator to your K . Lavender flush in midsummer , at a clock time when other food source are scarce for pollinators , like bee . Giving these insect an additional food author will help capture their aid and encourage them to pollinate the plants in your vegetable garden as well .
Basil
This fragrant herbis often arise with tomatoesbecause it help boost yield production and ameliorate the Lycopersicon esculentum ’s taste . But basil is an excellent watermelon companion plant , too , because it repels armyworms and thrips — two insects that can destroy an integral garden in a affair of a few day . Basil is low - upkeep and fast - growing , so it take a leak a perfect companion flora for any vegetable patch .
Sweet clover
If you ’re having problem pull in pollinators to your garden , habituate sweet trefoil as a watermelon comrade industrial plant . Butterflies , mallet , and honeybees all love to peruse this flora ’s delicious bloom . Planting this ground screening near your vegetables will further pollinator to inspect them as well .
Sweet clover has the benefit of being able to attract wasps , too . This is incredibly helpful because white Anglo-Saxon Protestant prey on worms and larvae , which can smash your vegetables before you even get a chance to try them . raise sweet clover throughout your garden also helps seal in moisture and prevent weeds from germinate up .
Corn
Even though watermelon vine like a batch of sun , in the southerly states , especially in drier climates , you may find your watermelon plants becoming wilted in the sunlight . In this slip , you need a watermelon companion plant that can provide some extra shade .
corn whisky grows nice and tall . When placed on the sunniest side of your garden , these plants offer a suspect spot for the plants on the opposite side . This is the utter place to grow your watermelon . Just be certain to irrigate your corn often , otherwise it , too , may become wilted .
Mint
Mint plants spread rapidly in damp grease , especially where it ’s fishy . So this herb thrives in the shadow of Citrullus vulgaris ’s many spacious leave of absence . And , because quite a little does n’t grow very tall , it will never smother your watermelon vine plants .
Like perfumed clover , mint can help keep the stain damp and preclude weeds from growing . But this works ’s strong fragrance means it keeps vegetable - eat bugs away . When mint flowers bloom , theyattract beesand butterfly stroke , who make love to sip on their odoriferous nectar .
Nasturtium
Cucumber beetle do n’t just eat on cucumber vine . They feed on watermelon , too . Fortunately , nasturtiums can keep these harmful bugs out of your garden . These plants also repel squash bug , so they wo n’t be influence to destroy your watermelons , either .
Some hemipterous insect do enjoy the taste of nasturtiums though . aphid care to eat nasturtium and some moths may resolve to place their ball on nasturtium so their cat can feed on the plant . In these cases , you’re able to practice nasturtium as a trap flora , sacrificing these blossom to the insects to keep your watermelons healthy .
Marigolds
reasonably as they are , marigolds do n’t smell very good . But we do n’t blame them for that because it ’s their pungent odor that make them such a superb Citrullus vulgaris companion plant . marigold keep all form of garden - destroying hemipteron aside , include thrips , whitefly , squelch bugs , pelf worms , and tomato hornworms .
Some insect actually like to feed on marigold . grow marigold near your watermelon vine plants will draw the slug , snails , earwig , and caterpillars that would normally eat your Citrullus vulgaris plant forth from them , giving them a opportunity to mature .
Radishes
Watermelons are by no means slow - farm , but they are slower growing than radishes , which are quick to harvest about a calendar month after they sprout . radish are especially helpful as a watermelon fellow plant because they fill in the blank around watermelon seedlings , help the ring soil hold moisture and preventing nutrient - phlebotomise mourning band from creeping in .
Garlic
Given the chance , rabbits will put down baby watermelon plants . And hungrydeer will wear the mature melons opento eat up the insides . Using garlic as a watermelon companion plant will post a message to these hungry critters to find a repast somewhere else . That ’s because Allium sativum is full of sulfur , giving it a virulent mouthful and a strong odor that cervid , rabbits , and other wildlife abhor .
Garlic has a similar effect on insects , who also ca n’t stand the scent . Interestingly , bees and butterfly stroke are not repulsed by the feeling of Allium sativum and are happy to feed on this plant ’s tall , globe - form flowers .
Which plants should you avoid growing near your watermelons?
watermelon can benefit from having other plants planted nearby . But they must be the right sort of plant . grow the wrong plants near your watermelon harvest may down them off entirely . So when design your garden , keep the following vegetable aside from your Citrullus vulgaris .
Pumpkins
One of the main grounds you should avoid growing pumpkin vine near watermelons is because both of these plants bring on large yield . That takes up a hatful of blank , but it also means they both require a ton of food . Planting pumpkins away from watermelon prevents them from competing . to boot , cervid love to eat pumpkins , and they may be dispose to break your watermelons apart , too , if they ’re close by . Growing them far apart will help keep both plants good .
Squash
All kinds of squash , including zucchini , can fall target to many pests . Cucumber beetle , squash bugs , cutworms , and army worm are just a few microbe that can destruct squash plants . When imbed in snug proximity to watermelons , the plague that prey on these plants may infect them , as well . Be indisputable to farm your squeeze well off from your watermelon to avail keep them pestis - free .
Potatoes
These tumid root vegetables use a lot of nutrients . This makes potatoesincredibly nutritious , but it also takes away worthful mineral that watermelons need to grow . Because they use up so many nutrient , turn over growing potatoes in a separate plot of ground away from your other vegetable .
Broccoli
Broccoliand other cruciferous vegetables , including cauliflower and kail , demand a mint of boron , which is what watermelon plant life need to acquire sweet - tasting melons . Even though planting these vegetables near your watermelons may not damage the plants themselves , it can seriously bear on watermelon vine production , leading to fewer melons . And the resulting watermelons wo n’t be as oral fissure - wateringly sweet as you ’d hope .
Cucumbers
These plant do n’t pose a threat to watermelons nutritionally speaking , but they ’re extremely susceptible to watermelon - eating bugs , especially cucumber beetle . Infected cucumber plants that are too cheeseparing to watermelons can cause them to become infected as well . Try growing your cucumbers away from Citrullus vulgaris , and near some marigolds , or else , which can help keep those destructive pests forth .
Is it worth companion planting for watermelon?
fellow planting can be time - consuming in the beginning . But you pull through yourself a lot of labor throughout the growing season because these plants press plague and sess so you do n’t have to . Try growing a few watermelon vine companion plants in your garden . It ’s a minuscule measure that can make a huge difference .
