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Beans and cucumber companion planting


13 Best Cucumber Companion Plants

Cucumbers are exuberant plants with vines that can sprawl over a lot of space—the healthier the plant, the more room they seem to take up. But, if you do not want your cucumbers to overgrow in a spot or choke out the competition, give the cucumber vines a trellis to grow up, giving you more space for other nearby plants.

Several garden plants fare well alongside these vigorous vines and make great companion plants for cucumbers. You'll find it's usually easiest to grow plants with similar care instructions, such as light, soil, water, and sun requirements. Some similar growing companions may include plants like tomatoes, zucchini, or squash. However, one thing to be careful of with similar-growing plants like cucumbers and tomatoes is they can sometimes fall prone to the same diseases, like mosaic virus or blight, which can spread easily if they're near each other.

The best companion plants help deter pests and do not compete with cucumbers for water or nutrients. The worst neighbors do just the opposite.

Best Cucumber Companion Plants

Special note about tomatoes and other cucurbits: Tomatoes and other cucurbits (cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin) grow in the same conditions, complementing each other. They also attract similar pollinators to increase your plant's harvest. The reason these plants are not on the list as "best" companions is they are susceptible to some of the same diseases as cucumbers. If one plant gets infected, it's possible to wipe out your entire crop.

Learn more details about the garden plants that make the best cucumber companions and discover why you should not grow potatoes, sage, mint, and melon with cucumbers.

How to Grow Cucumbers

What Is Companion Planting?

Companion planting is the practice of planting different species together based on their ability to enhance one another's growth, offer some form of pest protection, or other advantages.

Sometimes this is a matter of choosing plants with different growth habits that do not compete with one another for space, or it can mean choosing companions that have different nutrient needs in order to make efficient use of soil. Ideally, companion plants help ward off destructive insects, making garden pest management easier.

Some companion planting simply involves common sense—making sure that taller plants don't provide too much shade to low-growing plants, for instance. Strategic companion planting is especially important in small gardens or wherever careful space planning is needed. 

Companion Planting to Control the Insects in Your Garden

Benefits of Companion Planting

Seasoned gardeners swear by companion planting because it increases the health and productivity of crops like cucumbers. Benefits of companion planting for cucumbers and other plants include:

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Best Companion Plants for Cucumbers

Various vegetables, flowers, and herbs make excellent companions for cucumbers.

How to Grow and Care for Oregano

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Worst Companion Plants for Cucumbers

What plants should you not plant near cucumbers and why?

The Spruce / K. Dave 

11 Cucumber Companion Plants & 3 To Never Plant With Cucumbers

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Chances are good that you found this article because you are thinking about planting cucumbers in your garden – and wish nothing but the best for their, and your, success.

Or perhaps these companions for garden cucumbers have found you. Say, you have already planted out your cucumbers, either from seed or transplants, casually heard about companion planting from a friend, or from Facebook, and are ready to learn more.

Whatever the case may be, know that companion planting rarely ever lets you down, and most times the rewards will be visible.

However, there are times when it is more or less effective.

Never let companion planting be a sole substitute for taking proper care of your garden (watering, weeding, fertilizing, mulching, etc.).

Also, keep in mind that companion planting doesn’t account much for the unpredictable weather. If it rains for weeks on end, it is not the fault of the plants, or their ability to thrive. Chalk it up to experience and replant if the season allows, or try again next year with a new strategy.

In a garden, anything can happen! Have fun and be willing to play around with what grows. Even if some veggies are misshapen and knobby, and even if it means that you get to eat some weeds in the meantime.

No one became a master gardener overnight, but we can all keep trying!

Benefits of companion planting

When you invest your time and energy in planting a garden, it often comes to light that you are on a quest for wholesome, nutritious and delicious food. To harvest that, you have to imagine several factors at once, all of which are vying for your attention.

You need to think about seeds and the layout of your garden, how much sun and how much shade it receives daily.

Depending on your climate you may need to consider irrigation, harvesting and storing of crops. And then comes companion planting to make it more complicated still.

Ask anyone who gardens this way, and they will proclaim that it works and that you should try it too!

A handful of benefits related to gardening with companion plants are:

The goal of companion planting is to form symbiotic relationships where plants provide for each other, in a friendly way. Anything from shade, to nutrients or physical support.

So, what do cucumbers prefer to be surrounded by?

Companion plants for cucumbers

Most cucumbers (Cucumis sativus) are ready to harvest in about 50-70 days, making them a popular choice to grow in the garden. You can see, and eat, real results in a short amount of time.

That is, if you can keep them disease-free.

I’ve often read how easy cucumbers are to grow. If you are in the same boat, congratulations! However, growing from experience, I know that cucumbers can be problematic, especially in colder/wetter climates.

Cucumbers may suffer from bacterial wilt, powdery mildew, a mosaic virus or an attack from cucumber beetles. It’s not easy being green!

Companion planting can help overcome some of these challenges. Here are some suggestions of what to plant your cucumbers with for a more reliable crop:

1. Beans

Legumes such as peas and beans will help to fix essential nitrogen in the soil. That being said, it is wise to plant bush beans with cucumbers for increased vigor of your cucumber crop.

It may be wiser still to use a shared trellis for both your pole beans and your cucumbers. Not only will it save you space in the garden, they will enjoy the company of each other too.

2. Beets

Often, in companion planting, we plant certain vegetables next to each other for reasons of disease prevention.

Other times the placement of plants can be neutral. Meaning that the relationship is neither harmful, nor beneficial. Such is the case with beets.

So, if you are looking for a place to plant more beets in your garden, go ahead and sow the seeds near your cucumber plants. By all means, go ahead and eat those highly nutritious beet greens!! A treat you can rarely find at the store.

3. Celery

Celery is often planted near members of the cabbage family, for its strong scent is thought to deter the cabbage butterfly. It also enjoys the company of dill, which we will get to in a moment.

As far as combining celery and cucumbers, there is no superior reason to plant, or not plant them together. However, it is one of those more neutral pairings that makes it easier to space out the many kinds of vegetables in your garden.

With any size garden, you need as many as these neutral relationships as you can get.

4. Corn

Companions in the human and pet world, frequently help each other out. Plants innately do this too.

Corn, like sunflowers, can act as a support for smaller varieties of cucumbers, should the corn be sufficiently tall when the cukes are planted/transplanted.

Keep this timing in mind when getting started with spring planting. Most of all, experiment with companion planting – and keep notes!

Just because it has worked for one gardener, doesn’t mean it will work the same good for you. It depends on your soil, the climate, the order of planting and more.

With time and experience it will be far easier, but don’t give up before you even get started. If one companion plant doesn’t work for you in your personal garden, another one surely will.

5. Dill

If you are going to have one spice crop in your garden, make it dill. Both the young, fresh green leaves, as well as the dill seeds, and dried flowers are perfect for pickling.

Dill also attracts loads of fly-by and crawl-by beneficial insects such as parasitic wasps and other pollinators. In an organic garden, you can never have too many of those.

You might also notice that dill has a slight effect on the flavor of your cucumbers. This is only beneficial if you enjoy the flavor of dill. Only plant it if you do.

6. Lettuce

If you are seeking a vegetable that is incredibly easy to grow, lettuce is your answer.

Sow a line of seeds and something is bound to emerge. Will it ever form a nice head like you buy from the store? Not always. That’s why some people prefer to grow leaf lettuce. It’s all salad greens once it is ripped up and coated with a homemade vinaigrette…

Lettuce, as a companion plant is good next to strawberries, radishes, carrots, and you guessed it, cucumbers. Again, for no special reasons, other than the fact that they do not dislike each other. For beneficial companion plants, that is reason enough.

7. Marigolds

These useful flowers help to repel all sorts of beetles and insects in the garden. There are many reasons why you’d want to grow marigolds in your vegetable garden.

In Hungarian they are known as büdöske. When literally translated, “büdös” means “smelly”, and you will find them in just about every garden in the countryside.

Perhaps without even knowing why, most villagers plant them, they are abundantly and quietly doing their job of helping to protect the entire garden with their “fragrance”.

8. Nasturtiums

Another amazing flower to plant in your garden every year is nasturtiums.

You’ll find time and time again just how essential they are. Not only are they edible, straight from the garden, they can be used in herbal infused vinegars, or as a natural antibiotic tincture.

With regards to planting nasturtiums alongside cucumbers, not only do they have a similar low-growing and sprawling habit that looks beautiful, the nasturtiums also repel insects, such as thrips, aphids and other cucumber munching bugs.

9. Peas

The same as with beans, peas also add to the nitrogen content in the soil. This by itself is not a high requirement for cucumbers, though it never hurts, since the N-P-K levels are slowly adjusting over time. This also depends on how often you fertilize, and with what type of fertilizer you apply.

Looks-wise, peas and cucumbers complement each other, at least in the beginning.

You also need to be mindful of timing when figuring out how to best “companion plant” your garden. As peas can be started – and harvested – earlier, then your cucumbers will have more space to start sprawling when their time comes to shine.

10. Radishes

If you plant several lines of radishes in your garden, you know that it is best to stagger the planting, lest you be faced with eating 60 radishes in a single meal!

But what about growing cucumbers and radishes together?

It is useful to grow cucumbers to find out that they have one larger taproot, and several shallow roots that do not extend very far from the base. When you think about this root system, compared to root vegetables (carrots, turnips, parsley and parsnips), you will come to the conclusion the roots of cucumbers and root vegetables will not interfere with one another.

This, in turn, makes them great companion plants. It has been said that radishes may also help to deter damaging cucumber beetles. Companion planting is definitely worth a try!

11. Sunflowers

Remembering that most cucumbers have a tendency to climb, sunflowers, just like corn, make for a functional and natural trellis.

This, in turn, helps you to save space in your garden. By the time you are ready to harvest the sunflower seeds, the cucumbers will have been long harvested.

A word of advice: choose pickling cucumbers for trellising on sunflowers that are lighter weight. If the cukes become too heavy, they could fall off (slide down) the sunflowers and become damaged.

3 plants you shouldn’t grow next to cucumbers

With ideas in mind what to plant alongside your cucumbers, it is just as useful to know what they don’t like.

Cucumbers are pretty easy going plants without strong likes or dislikes, though there are three plants that stand out: aromatic herbs, melons and potatoes. Never plant these next to cucumbers.

1. Aromatic herbs

Basil is a definite no next to cucumbers. Though it will improve the flavor of your tomatoes. Plant it there instead!

Sage is reported to stunt the growth of cucumbers.

Peppermint, and mints in general, can be tricky herbs to grow in the garden. Not in the sense that they don’t grow well. In fact, they tend to grow overly well! This also lends to their ability to escape boundaries.

While mint can be grown in a pot, in an effort to tame it, it does still prefer the comfort of space in the soil. Since your mint is a sprawling perennial, you will have to find a place further down the row for your cucumbers.

Companion herbs to plant with cucumbers instead:

2.

Melons

Insects that like to feast on melons also like to dine on cucumbers. And once they find and develop a taste for your canteloupe, they may find your pickling material alluring as well. In essence, when the two are planted together, along with other pumpkins and gourds, you are creating a mini-monoculture.

And life in the world of monoculture farming/gardening is never to your advantage. It takes lots of fertilizers and pesticides to keep the insects and other diseases at bay. The very thing we are trying to avoid with companion planting.

Melons can, however, be planted next to Brussels sprouts, broccoli, lettuce, okra, carrots, cauliflower and kale.

Fitting everything into your garden is like putting a puzzle together.

As opposed to an actual 2,000-piece puzzle, the larger your garden, the easier it is to plant. You may also find that the no-dig method of gardening comes to your advantage in combination with companion planting.

3. Potatoes

As you may have already noticed, potatoes are very heavy feeders in the garden. If you have cucumbers growing nearby, you may notice a difference in the quality and size of the harvestable fruit.

The primary reason not to plant potatoes and cucumbers together, is that cukes can encourage potato blight if the conditions are just right. If you have a later variety of potato planted in your garden, make sure it is planted as far away from your cucumbers as possible.

With smaller gardens, creating distance between plants may be hard, if not impossibly difficult.

Just be aware of potential problems and always keep an eye out for signs of disease, so that you can react as quickly as possible, should something go awry.

Planning your future garden with companion planting in mind

As your enjoyment of gardening really begins to take root in your backyard, you’ll find that companion planting really starts with the design of the garden itself.

If you already have plants in the ground that are seemingly “out of order”, or against the set of guidelines regarding companion planting, I am here to tell you not to fret over the small details.

With each season of working in (and with) the garden, you will find out what works best for you and your plants.

It is good to remember that guidelines are not rules. Though they are gardeners’ testimonials of what it means to harvest a wonderful crop.

So, if you want to know what to plant – or not to plant! – for instance next to your potatoes to increase their yield and minimize damage from Colorado potato beetles and other insects, you can find our potato companion planting guidelines here.

Just be sure to plant your cucumbers farther away from your potatoes!

This combination is a growing mistake.

The ever popular topic of companion plants for tomatoes, includes beans, squash, as well as cucumbers. But be sure to stay away from planting tomatoes with Brassicas, such as cabbage, broccoli and kohlrabi.

And never plant tomatoes with potatoes!

Even if they taste wonderful together in a meal, they do not make the greatest of friends in the garden.

The best way to learn about companion planting, is to keep trying new ways of growing and see what works best in your garden. Then share your companion planting success (and failures) with others. You can also share your bountiful harvests too!

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Combined planting of cucumbers next to beans and dill

Cucumbers under temporary shelter can be grown in 2 ways: seedlings and direct sowing in the ground. When using the seedling method, fruiting occurs two or even three weeks earlier, respectively, and the harvest will be larger. Today we’ll talk about when and how, and with what it is right to plant seedlings of cucumbers. Seedlings are planted under shelter at the age of 20 - 25 days.

Cucumbers are thermophilic culture, they do not like: cold water, cold air and cold earth. The soil temperature should be about 20 degrees, and the air temperature during the day 20-24°C, at night 17-18°C. Such conditions occur around mid-May, but you are guided by your climate and weather. nine0003

Cucumbers are very fond of potassium. It is he who makes the lashes dense, and the fruits tasty. Of course, cucumbers also need nitrogen and phosphorus. Cucumber beds have been prepared since autumn: they deoxidize, plant green manure, you can put compost in the beds, cucumbers love it very much. We have carried out all the preparatory work since autumn. The soil should be fertile and light, well permeable to moisture.

We make a hole, if your soil is very dry, then you can first shed the bottom and wait until the water is absorbed, but we have a wet soil, we will not. Pour ash at the bottom, it just contains potassium. About a handful for each cucumber will be enough, add a little tobacco dust to it, or you can take Tabazol. We add 9 to them0009 fertilizer . We are against chemistry, we are for organics, so we will use Fasco biofertilizer, it is completely safe and effective. Instead, you can use rotted compost (a handful) and granulated horse manure (5 gr.) And biohumus (1 tbsp. L.). If your soil is heavy, you can add a handful of sand to this mixture. Mix a little with the earth. Next we need water. Drain well and mix with soil. We need a goo, such a good "mud".

Carefully remove the cucumber from the pot and place it in this liquid. You can see, here adventitious roots have already begun to form on my cucumber, which means that it no longer has enough nutrition. So we plant it deeper, just so that they are in the ground. Then we sprinkle it with earth, it is not necessary to tamp. nine0003

Cucumbers are planted in two rows with a row spacing of 30 cm. The distance between plants in a row is 15-30 cm, depending on the variety.

Together with cucumbers we will plant beans , dill and lettuce . These are “good neighbors” and they feel great on the same bed. These crops are planted extremely simply. We place it in the ground, the beans are deeper with a distance of 10-15 centimeters, dill and lettuce are simply scattered along the groove and sprinkled with earth. Then all three cultures need to be watered.

Cucumbers will need trellises in the future, but now it is still cool at night, so for now we will put arcs and cover them with spunbond (white covering material). If you decide to cover them not with a covering, but with a film, then it will be necessary to make sure that they do not overheat, constantly carefully ventilate them.

Good neighborhood: what can be planted next to cucumbers

Before planting cucumber seedlings on the beds, it is worth choosing the right neighbors for the plants. The health of cucumbers, the quantity and quality of the crop will depend on this. nine0003

Why do cucumbers grow well and bear fruit next to some crops, while next to others they get sick and do not yield? The thing is that plants have an impact on each other, which can be both favorable and negative. It is especially important to take this into account with compacted plantings, when several crops are grown on one bed in order to save space.

But no less important is what plants grow on neighboring ridges. Therefore, it is worth carefully selecting "good" neighbors for cucumbers and protecting them from "bad" ones. nine0003

Let's take a look at the most common questions gardeners face when growing cucumbers.

The neighborhood of plants in the garden is one of the most controversial and discussed topics, so you should rely not only on the advice of experienced summer residents, but also on your own observations. It is sometimes not so easy to understand whether some kind of culture really oppresses cucumbers or whether we are talking about improper agricultural practices. We will proceed from the general principles of neighborhood. You can express your opinion on this issue in the comments. nine0003

Can I plant tomatoes next to cucumbers?

In general, it is possible. But still, it is better not to grow cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse or on the same bed in the ground, because these plants need different conditions for growth and fruiting.

Tomatoes Cucumbers
  • They like moderate temperatures and dry air.
  • Require regular ventilation of the greenhouse. nine0058
  • Demanding for fertilizing.
  • Prefer root watering.
  • They like high temperatures and high humidity.
  • Cannot tolerate drafts.
  • Do not require heavy top dressing if enough organic matter has been added.
  • Prefer abundant watering and sprinkling.

As can be seen from the table, it is quite difficult to create such directly opposite conditions for these crops in one greenhouse, you will have to spend a lot of effort. It is better to plant cucumbers and tomatoes in separate greenhouses or, in extreme cases, plant them in a greenhouse as far apart as possible. nine0003

When practicing mixed planting, do not forget about the annual crop rotation.

Can peppers be planted next to cucumbers?

Again, not the easiest combination. On the one hand, peppers and cucumbers prefer the same warm climate without drafts, are not related and do not compete for food, but they need different growing conditions. Therefore, it is not always possible to get a decent harvest of these vegetables. If you still want to plant peppers and cucumbers in one greenhouse, let there be a maximum distance between them. Otherwise, you will have to constantly monitor whether high humidity harms pepper, whether cucumber lashes obscure it. nine0003

Can marrows be planted next to cucumbers?

Cucumbers and zucchini belong to the Cucurbitaceae family and need similar growing conditions, so it is quite tempting to plant them side by side. According to some summer residents, there will be no harm from such a planting, but only on the condition that the leaves of the zucchini do not greatly darken the cucumber ones, and the plants will have enough top dressing. It is no longer worth leaving your own seeds from such plants for sowing. But more often, gardeners are faced with the fact that the amount of harvest of both crops is not encouraging, and sometimes even completely absent, because. disruption of the pollination process. In addition, related plants often affect the same diseases and pests. In this case, powdery mildew often attacks zucchini and cucumbers, quickly spreading through plantings. Therefore, it is still better not to risk it and find different areas for plants. nine0003

The powerful root system of zucchini can inhibit cucumber roots, which will interfere with its full development and fruiting.

Can cucumbers be planted next to potatoes?

Potatoes are an undesirable neighbor for cucumbers, despite their distant relationship. Both of these crops are susceptible to phytophthora disease, which can adversely affect the yield. Also, during the processing of potatoes, part of the chemicals may fall on cucumbers. Therefore, it is not worth taking risks and planting these plants nearby. True, the experience of some summer residents is more favorable, but only on condition that cucumbers are grown under a film. nine0003

Can cucumbers be planted next to cabbages?

Cruciferous crops perfectly coexist with cucumbers, so you can plant them side by side not only in open ground, but also in a greenhouse. Both cultures love abundant watering, so it will be easier to care for plantings.

Can cucumbers be planted next to corn?

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This planting is quite successful and can significantly increase the yield of cucumbers. In this case, corn will become a real support for cucumber lashes that can be tied to the stems. In addition, it will protect the landing from the wind and the scorching sun. The root systems of these crops do not compete for food, but sometimes a cucumber may lack nitrogen. Therefore, carefully monitor the condition of the plants and regularly fertilize. nine0003

Can eggplants be planted next to cucumbers?

Eggplants, like cucumbers, are thermophilic, but they prefer dry air and do not like spraying, they are afraid of shading, so it will not be easy for these crops to get along in one greenhouse. But if you wish, you can seat them at the maximum distance from each other or separate them with a partition.

Is it possible to plant peas next to cucumbers?

Even necessary! Next to peas, as well as beans and beans, cucumbers feel great and bear fruit well. Legumes enrich the soil with nitrogen, so it is especially useful to sow them around the perimeter of cucumber beds or in the middle of the ridge. After harvesting peas and beans, simply cut the plants, leaving the roots in the ground, and you will improve its fertility. You can plant legumes in a greenhouse. nine0003

Can cucumbers be planted next to strawberries (garden strawberries)?

Yes, you can plant strawberries next to cucumbers. But on the former cucumber beds, you should not plant a berry.

Can cucumbers be planted next to garlic?

Gardeners have different opinions about this planting. Some believe that there will be practically no benefit, and cucumbers themselves can slow down growth. Others, on the contrary, argue that garlic relieves the whip from angular leaf spot (bacteriosis), aphids, bears, etc. In general, both sides are right. Just to achieve a positive effect, do not plant garlic too close to cucumbers, keep a distance of at least half a meter. nine0003

Can onions be planted next to cucumbers?

Onions are "friends" with cucumbers, so you can safely carry out such a planting, but at a short distance. The fact is that a month before the onion harvest, it is necessary to reduce watering, and there may be difficulties with watering cucumbers. Therefore, plant these two crops in neighboring beds, so it will be easier for you to care for them.

Thanks to phytoncides, onions will protect cucumbers from pests, in particular, spider mites and many diseases. nine0003

Is it possible to plant watermelons and melons next to cucumbers?

Watermelon and melon, like cucumber, belong to the Pumpkin family, therefore, on the one hand, they are not bad nearby, but on the other, some problems may arise. For example, lack of nutrition, defeat by the same diseases and pests, pollination, due to which the taste of fruits will suffer. Such a neighborhood in a greenhouse is especially undesirable. In open ground, you can try to plant these plants in neighboring beds. But in general, it is better to come up with a different placement. nine0003

Is it possible to plant different varieties of cucumbers side by side?

Yes, but only if they are the same height. So, you should not plant low-growing and tall varieties nearby, otherwise the first ones will receive less light. If you are going to get seeds for the next year, then it is better not to plant different varieties together so that cross-pollination does not occur.

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