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Homemade carrots are much tastier than store-bought ones. If you want the best crop you’ve ever had, consider planting carrots as a companion plant. Some herbs, vegetables and flowers will enhance the flavor and others will help repel pests.
Let’s be realistic. Carrots can be a bit tricky and take up quite a bit of ground in the garden. So anything that facilitates their growth is worth it.
If you’re ready to plant carrots and want to get the most out of your harvest, let’s talk about supplemental planting with carrots.
Contents
Good companion plants to grow with carrots
Let’s first look at vegetables that go well with carrots.
1. Tomatoes
This is a classic combination and works for a number of reasons. Both plants help each other and should be the first pair to consider.
Tomatoes produce solanine which is a chemical that repels a number of pests. Carrots, on the other hand, attract a parasitic wasp that attacks tomato worms and caterpillars.
Sow carrot seeds directly when transplanting tomato seedlings. Try planting tomato plants in the center of the garden bed and plant carrots towards the edge of the garden. This way, the tomatoes can provide some shade for the carrots, but not completely cover them.
Be sure to provide plenty of water to the carrots or the tomatoes will take it.
2. Onions
Carrot flies are a pest that can decimate a carrot crop. Onions give off a sulfuric odor that repels these pests.
Onions take longer to reach harvest, so timing is important when combining them with carrots. Sow carrots two to three weeks after onions. Make sure the onions are six inches apart so you don’t disturb the carrots if you harvest the onions first.
Onions are a shallow-rooted plant, but you don’t want to disturb your carrots when they’re slow to grow.
3. Bush Beans
If you put fertilizer that is too high in nitrogen in the carrot patch, you will end up with cracked carrots. The beauty of bush beans is that they slowly release a form of nitrogen from their roots.
This should help keep carrots healthy and maximize yield. When you plant the carrot seeds, plant the bush bean seeds at the same time. Keep the beans about six inches from the carrots and be sure to allow for the sun. You don’t want the beans to block the sun from reaching the carrots.
4. Beets
Beets do not bring great benefits to carrots, but they help a little. They don’t have any negative effects, so in the world of companion planting, that’s a bonus.
Beets loosen the soil as they grow, allowing carrots to grow larger.
Plant carrots and beets at the same time, but beware of green tops of beets. They can get quite large and can shade carrots.
Keep beet and carrot rows at least 10 inches apart and you have a happy team.
5. Turnips
People considered turnips an old-fashioned crop, but the newer varieties are sweet and have wonderful flesh to eat. Turnips are a shallow crop compared to carrots, which can grow much deeper depending on the variety.
Some turnip greens have a mustard smell which repels pests like certain species of aphids.
Try sowing Japanese-style turnips at the same time you sow carrots. The Japanese type is usually smaller, so you won’t disturb the carrots when you harvest them.
Keep turnips at least six inches from carrots when planting them as companion plants.
6. Cabbage
Cabbage is a low-growing brassica, but can get a bit broad. I plant cabbage and sacrifice the outer leaves of the cabbage to keep carrot pests away.
Although the sprouts do nothing for the carrots, they do them no harm and can better withstand having their outer leaves eaten than the carrots cannot stand having the tops eaten.
Give carrots plenty of room, as some cabbages grow to 18 inches or more.
7. Leeks
Like onions, leeks repel carrot flies due to the smell they give off. They can also ward off other pests by masking the smell of carrots.
Timing is critical for planting carrots and leeks together. Leeks are a long season crop, requiring up to 150 days to mature. You can also mound your leeks to blanch them if you have a variety that requires that much time.
Sow your carrot seeds when you transplant the leeks. This way, you should get two carrot crops while the leeks continue to grow.
When you harvest the first crop of carrots, use that time to stock up your leeks. Next, plant your second crop of carrots.
Keep carrots at least 12 inches from the base of leeks when using them as companion plants.
8. Lettuce
Although lettuce does not add any benefit to carrot crops, it does no harm. Lettuce does not take up much space and is very light, which works well with carrots.
For this reason, you can plant carrots and lettuce close together about four inches apart, especially if you have pick-and-come-again lettuce that you regularly keep small.
If you’re planting monoculture lettuce like an iceberg, give it a bit more space because you’ll have to harvest it before the carrots.
9. Green onions
Scallions are a fast growing crop and are suitable for carrots as they have shallow roots and very little foliage. Like other alliums, green onions ward off pests with their scent. They also maximize space in the carrot garden.
Leave six inches between rows of carrots and green onions, or better yet, plant the green onions around the perimeter of the carrot bed to maximize their pest defense properties.
Herbs That Grow Well With Carrots
If you prefer to go the herb route, there are plenty of options for planting them as companion plants for carrots:
10. Oregano
Oregano contains strong essential oils like carvacrol and thymol. Nematodes and various species of flies hate them and are deterred by oregano.
Many gardeners believe that oregano enhances the flavor of carrots when planted together. They certainly go well in the kitchen at harvest time.
Directly sow the oregano at the same time as the carrots. A good method is to plant the carrots in rows, then plant oregano in each corner of the carrot patch. Be sure to leave at least 12 inches from the oregano and carrot they are closest to.
11. Cilantro
While I wouldn’t recommend companions from the parsley family (Apiaceae) for carrot plants, cilantro is an exception due to the benefits it provides to carrots as they grow.
If you allow the cilantro to go to seed, the flowers are like a force field for the carrots. Coriander flowers attract the predators of carrot fly, aphids, nematodes and rust flies.
Cilantro likes cooler temperatures like carrots, so plant them both along with companion plants.
12. Rosemary
Rosemary is a companion plant to keep at a reasonable distance from carrots. It grows tall and can overshadow everything around it, and can be very deeply rooted.
Rosemary masks the smell of carrots and keeps carrot pests away.
Plant rosemary at the edges of the garden where you plant carrots, or in a garden right next to it.
13. Sage
Sage is good for us and good for carrots too. Sage repels cabbage moths and threadworms. It can get big in some environments, so treat it like rosemary and give carrots plenty of room.
In warmer regions, sage can be an excellent annual that you prune in the winter and regrow in the spring.
Flowers That Grow Well With Carrots
Most people think of vegetables and herbs when they think of companion planting, but if you have a carrot crop, there are also flowers worth seeing.
14. Worries
Marigolds are the star of companion planting. They get along with just about anything, including carrots. If you want to deter carrot fly and psyllids, marigolds will do just that and provide a burst of color among the greens of carrot tops.
Marigolds can take up to 100 days to mature, so plant them before carrot seeds. Wait for them to push through the surface to find out where you planted them. Plant carrots at least 12 inches from the nearest marigold.
15. Daffodils
Daffodils aren’t the flower you normally think of when planting carrots, but they’re really useful and pretty.
Daffodils are poisonous to deer, mice and squirrels. The bulbs have a taste and smell hated by rodents. For this reason, it’s a good idea to plant daffodils around the outer perimeter of your carrot garden to prevent rodents from tunneling into the garden.
Plants to avoid when growing carrots
Not all plants get along, so here’s what to avoid:
1. Fennel
As delicious as fennel is, carrots don’t like it, so don’t use fennel as a companion plant. Fennel produces chemicals in the soil that can stunt carrot growth. Fennel also attracts a lot of pests, so it’s best to keep them away from your carrots.
2. Parsnip
Coming from the same family as the carrot, the parsnip attracts the same pests and diseases. It is best to plant them at a distance from each other.
3. Cucurbits
This includes pumpkin, cucumber, squash, and watermelons. All these plants take up a lot of space, eat a lot and quickly choke carrots.
4. Dill
Dill is a member of the carrot family and is therefore susceptible to attracting the same pests and diseases, making them terrible companion plants. It also releases a compound into the soil that is not beneficial to carrots.
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