Mustard greens companion plants – can’t decide which to grow? There are many to choose from, from garlic to dill. Planting mustard can be a bit confusing.
Having these greens grow with other plants is a great gardening idea. Let this article help you because below, we list down below the best options you can choose from.
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Options to Interplant with Mustard Greens
The most typical reason for companion planting when it comes to vegetables is to repel pests that may damage your precious plants. Now, let’s start to identify the plants that are ideal to sit next to your mustard greens to help you make your decision.
1. Garlic
As we all know, garlic is one of the most famous herbs. Which is why every household in any part of the world typically uses it as a seasoning for almost every savory dish that they cook.
– Unique Characteristic
The distinctive smell of garlic will help your mustard greens be safe from starving bunnies, which are known to hate its smell. Aside from that, home gardeners consider garlic as one of the herbs that can enhance the taste of your green veggies.
The chemical compound allicin gives garlic its distinctive taste and flavor. While garlic is aromatic for most humans, it can be toxic to animals. As a result, garlic is often planted to discourage wildlife from foraging around gardens.
– Main Benefit
It is also said that having garlic accompany your mustard greens can deter insect pests, especially aphids, which are a very common pest for this plant.
Allicin is very irritating to animals with a keen sense of smell. Once rabbits, deer, and raccoons smell allicin, they tend to avoid the area altogether. The compound also affects insects negatively. As a result, animals tend to leave garlic and its surrounding plants alone.
2. Corn
Corn or Zea may make a nice neighbor to your mustard greens because they both love soil with neutral pH. You won’t have to worry as well because competition for nutrients and water is not possible as mustard greens are faster growing than corn.
– Unique Characteristic
While growing, mustard plants defend the territory from weeds, and when the time comes that the mustard greens are mature and ready to be harvested.
Corn and mustard plants can be planted together because they have different growth habits. Corn is a tall plant that can shade mustard plants from the heat.
– Main Benefit
Mustard plants also act as a natural mulch for corn. This means that they help to retain moisture while suppressing weeds. These two plants have different nutrient requirements, so they do not compete for resources in the soil.
The corn will be starting to produce its cob and will be getting all the nutrients and water from the soil alone after the mustard plants were harvested. It’s a win-win!
3. Mint
Make sure to plant mint a little while after you plant mustard greens so they won’t have any competition for nutrients. You may also consider planting your mint in a container because it spreads quickly and is highly invasive through underground rhizomes.
– Unique Characteristic
Mint was admired for its mentholated- fragrant foliage but it also produces flowers in shades of white, purple, and pink. The leaves, in particular, are what make mint plants extremely beloved.
Menthol compounds make up a high percentage of the mint leaves, which is the reason for its cool, refreshing taste. Menthol is a known pest repellant and is often mixed with other herbs to curb the spread of pests and diseases.
– Main Benefit
Mint is known for its insect-repellent ability. You will have natural pest control for your mustard greens if you choose this as a companion plant. Aphids, whiteflies, cabbage loopers, and flea beetles are only a few of the bugs on the list that this herb can deter.
So, having mint grow beside your mustard greens will be an excellent choice that you can make.
4. Chamomile
Aside from giving benefits to its neighboring plant, Chamomile can also be consumed by humans in foods and beverages. This can be done for its beneficial effects like sleep improvement. It can be taken as tea, ale, and beer.
– Unique Characteristic
Chamomile is known for its relaxing properties. It contains several compounds, such as flavonoids, polyacetylenes, and coumarins, that make it effective in many traditional medicinal uses.
One of the most popular uses for chamomile is as a sleep inducer. This effect is caused by the flavonoid apigenin, which causes a mild sedative effect. The compound binds to receptors in the brain that are responsible for decreasing anxiety and inducing sleepiness. On top of this, chamomile is often brewed into teas to treat flatulence, indigestion, nausea, and diarrhea.
– Main Benefit
The good thing about having Chamomile as a companion plant for your mustard greens is that it can attract several different beneficial insects. These include ladybugs and hoverflies and can repel numerous types of brassica pests, such as whiteflies.
5. Celery
The maturity cycle of celery would not affect your mustard greens’ growth because growing mustard greens can take only 20 to 60 days until maturity while celery takes months to produce. Celery is still on its way to full growth by the time you harvest mustard greens.
– Unique Characteristic
Celery is famous for its leaves atop long fibrous stalks that can be used in cooking and can be eaten. It also secretes a particular scent that many pests find repellant.
– Main Benefit
Celery is known for improving the flavor of your mustard greens and other members of the cabbage family according to generations of home gardeners. Eating celery has loads of benefits as it is packed with antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress, a factor in cancer.
6. Yarrow
Another beneficial plant perfect for companion planting is Yarrow or Achillea millefolium. It is a flowering plant from the Asteraceae family also called devil’s nettle, old man’s pepper, thousand seals, and many more.
Yarrow is an herbaceous perennial plant native to Asia, North America, and Europe. It is also known as feed for livestock in Australia and New Zealand.
– Unique Characteristic
Grow mustard greens beside yarrow because aside from the colorful blooms it produces that will definitely look good on your vegetable garden. When taken as a tea, yarrow can introduce the body to certain plant-based flavonoids.
These compounds can increase the amount of saliva produced to help improve the process of digestion. Additionally, yarrow is used to relax muscles in the uterus and intestines. This results in lessening menstrual cramps and relieving stomach aches.
– Main Benefit
It also attracts numerous insects, such as ladybugs, lacewings, and hoverflies that deter pests, especially aphids. These beneficial insects not only discourage pests, but actually eat them. Once the pests are gone, these insects will still visit yarrow for its nectar.
7. Rosemary
Grow mustard plants with rosemary and you’ll enjoy a healthier garden once you do. While rosemary is a wonderful option, you can pair it with other plants in the same family. These include sage and thyme, which are also powerful pest-repelling plants.
– Unique Characteristic
The distinctive woody scent of the rosemary is due to the compounds found in its leaves. Pinene, myrcene, and camphor are some of the chemical compounds that make the rosemary smell pungent with a strong pine accord. These compounds repel cabbage moths, carrot flies, and even mosquitoes.
– Main Benefit
Harvest mustard greens are damage-free by having rosemary as it can deter cabbage moths that usually lay eggs as your plants grow and eventually eat holes in the foliage, especially the tender ones. Additionally, rosemary is a fragrant addition to your mustard dishes and other food choices.
8. Onions
Onion or Allium cepa is a close relative of garlic, chive, scallions, and leeks. It belongs to the family Amaryllidaceae native to southwestern Asia but is now widely cultivated.
– Unique Characteristic
It is typically grown for its edible and flavorful bulb. Like garlic, onion is a vegetable that is widely used for culinary purposes. They share the same chemical compound allicin, which has been found to discourage pests from going near these aromatics.
– Main Benefit
This plant can be beneficial to your mustard plant with their ability to repel pests like cabbage loopers and cabbage worms. Onion also makes a great spinach companion plant. To grow onion, make sure to provide it with full sun exposure, ample amount of water, plenty of space, and proper nutrients for optimum growth.
9. Dill
Dill or Anethum graveolens is from the family Apiaceae and is widely grown in Eurasia. Flavorful and easy to grow, dill is also a wonderful pick if you’re looking to keep pests away.
– Unique Characteristic
Dill is loaded with flavonoids, which are compounds that reduce many coronary health risks. It is the oil found in the leaves that make dill a powerful insect repellant.
Limonene, one of the compounds, is particularly known to suffocate insects. In the kitchen, dill is typically used as a spice or herb for cooking and as a garnish for dishes.
– Main Benefit
Aside from having delicious pickles beside your leafy mustard greens, you can also have instant pest control in your vegetable garden as dill can reduce the population of pests, such as cabbage worms and aphids.
It can also attract beneficial insects like syrphid flies, lacewings, ladybugs, and hoverflies. Help your dill thrive by situating it in a full-sun location with consistent moisture. It prefers fertile, rich, and well-draining soil with lots of organic matter.
Conclusion
Having companion plants for greens is an important factor in growing mustard plants and will be a great help in your vegetable garden.
Here are the key points to remember:
- Yarrow, onion, and chamomile attract beneficial insects.
- A short period of time after you plant mustard, you can plant celery, mint, or corn to prevent these plants from competing with your mustard plant for nutrients and water.
- Mustard plants thrive in the cool season.
- Most of these companion plants repel a range of brassica pests.
- Planting celery and garlic next to your mustard plants improves its flavor.
We bet that you have already made a choice after you have finished reading this article. So, in just a few weeks, you can harvest tasty mustard greens from your vegetable garden.
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