Fast-growing, cold-hardy radishes grow in spring and autumn and often deliver a harvest before the rest of your garden starts producing. Radishes also help repel pests from nearby vegetable plants and help keep your garden pest-free. Get even more benefits from this cool-weather crop by growing the right radish companion plants nearby.
Beans and Peas
Beans, peas, and other legumes grow well with most herbs and vegetables, and radishes are no exception. As they grow, beans and peas fix nitrogen in the soil, enhancing soil health and boosting the growth of nearby plants. If you plant low-growing radishes beneath your vining legume crops, you can pack more veggies into your garden and put empty soil to good use.
Spinach
Radishes and spinach are often grown in spring and autumn when temperatures are too cool for most other vegetable crops. Interplanting these two vegetables is a great way to save garden space, and radishes break up tough soil, making it easier for spinach roots to grow. Beyond that, radish leaves act as trap crops, luring flea beetles and leaf miners away from your spinach plants.
Lettuce
Lettuce plants thrive in cool weather, but like spinach, they tend to bolt in heat. Since radishes also grow best in spring and autumn, you can grow these two plants together and get more fresh produce out of even a small space garden. Plus, lettuce and radishes have similar care requirements, and low-growing radishes won’t compete with lettuce for sunlight.
Nightshades
Nightshades, including tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants, are slow-growing crops that often take months to mature. They’re primarily harvested in summer to early fall. If you want more produce from your garden and to extend the growing season, intercrop radishes beneath the nightshade plants. You’ll often be able to harvest a crop or two of radishes before the tomatoes ripen and then harvest a second crop of radishes in the fall.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers, squash, and other members of the cucurbit family are vulnerable to squash bugs. However, evidence suggests that keeping radishes near your cucumber and squash vines can repel these troublesome insects and help keep your cucurbit plants pest-free. On top of that, growing radishes beneath cucumber vines maximizes your garden space.
Calendula
Calendula is often grown as a medicinal herb. It is also a stunning cut flower and can be brewed into a natural fabric dye. Despite its delicate look, calendula continues to bloom well into fall, adding much-needed color to the garden late in the season. Moreover, calendula is a trap crop for aphids, keeping the pests off your radishes.
Carrots
If you’ve ever struggled to grow carrots in your garden, you may want to try companion planting them with radishes. Carrots and radishes have similar growing needs, but radishes usually germinate faster than carrot seeds. When these plants are grown together, radishes sprout first and prevent the soil from crusting over, making it much easier for carrot seeds to germinate.
Alliums
Alliums are some of the best companion plants to grow for natural pest control. They enhance the growth of most other vegetables, including radishes. When onions and other allium plants are interplanted with radishes, they repel most common garden pests, as well as deer and rabbits. Also, radishes and low-growing alliums don’t compete with each other for sunlight, so you can harvest a crop or two of radishes before the onions mature.
Chervil
Also known as French parsley, chervil is a less commonly grown culinary herb, but it has a delicious, tarragon-like flavor and is easy to grow. When used as a companion plant, chervil improves the flavor and growth of radish crops. Chervil’s strong scent is ideal for repelling many common pests, including aphids.
Marigolds
Marigolds are often grown in vegetable beds for their pest-repelling properties, and they are known for keeping aphids and other pests off nearby radishes. Marigolds are attractive plants that bloom from early summer to fall, adding cheery color to drab vegetable gardens. For the best pest protection, opt for French marigolds or select dwarf marigold varieties that are perfectly sized for small gardens and containers.