Sweet pea companion plants can be vegetables or flowers – such as cucumbers or roses even! Companion plants can help your pea plants in their growing process by adding fertility to the soil, repelling pests, and providing cover to the plant.

Companion Planting with Sweet Pea

Companion planting can be practiced using fruit trees, garden flowers, kitchen herbs, and fodder crops. This article will give you a guide to the plants that you can pair with the sweet pea so that you get the looks and other benefits that are preferable to you.

Plants That Pair Suitably With the Sweet Pea

The sweet pea companion plants include pole beans, snap beans, roses, and catmint. Ideally, sweet pea companions should have some of their requirements that can match those of sweet peas to enhance easier maintenance.

In this section, we will discuss various characteristics of some of the best companion plants for your sweet peas. The information that is provided here will help you to make learned decisions with regard to the sweet pea companion plants that best match your preferences with regard to uses, benefits, and care needs.

1. Cucumbers

Fresh Cucumbers Green Delight

Benefits
  • Avoids sunburn
  • Aids skin nourishment
  • Keeps away pests, for example, slugs
Uses
  • Used to drive away hangovers
  • Used to remove marks and dirt on walls
  • Used as medicine to cure headaches
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Can be white, green, orange, or yellow in color
  • Has a trailing stem and hairy leaves
  • The cucumbers are cylindrical and can be 24 inches long and 4 inches in diameter
Care
  • When watering, avoid pouring water on leaves as this causes fungal diseases
  • Should feed the plant with a balanced liquid fertilizer when flowers appear
  • Cut off flowerless side shoots when they reach 2 feet long

The cucumber is a creeping vine plant that belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. It exists in three types which are seedless, slicing, and pickling cucumbers. This plant originates from south Asia and it produces cylindrical fruits which are mostly green in color.

Finally, here is an interesting fact about cucumbers: they are 95 percent water in their raw form.

2. Carrots

Orange Oasis Crisp Carrots

Benefits
  • Aids healthy vision
  • Aids good skin health
  • Attracts pollinators
Uses
  • Used to manage diabetes
  • Used to reduce constipation
  • Used in strengthening bone
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Plants grow to 1 foot in height and they spread to about 9 inches
  • They are orange in color
Care
  • Plant them in well-cultivated and well-drained soil
  • Requires 1 inch of water per week
  • Requires soil that is slightly acidic that is six to 6.8 pH

Carrots are vegetables that originate from Afghanistan. There are four main types of carrots from which you can choose to grow, which are little finger, imperator, Paris market, and Denver’s half long.

Carrots do well in temperatures ranging from 55 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Nasturtiums

Blooming Beauty Vibrant Nasturtiums

Benefits
  • Attract butterflies which help in pollination
  • Keeps away aphids
  • They decorate spaces, especially the trailing type
Uses
  • Used to make tea
  • Leaves can be used as disinfectants when crashed
  • Leaves can be used in soups
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Can have yellow, red, white, or orange flowers
  • Produce flowers that have a spicy fragrance
  • Can reach a height of 10 feet 
Care
  • Irrigate with 1 inch of water per week
  • Do not add fertilizer
  • Remove faded flowers on a regular basis

This plant is also called Tropaeolum. There are two types of Nasturtiums, which are the trailing or climbing types, as well as the bush type. These two are differentiated by their growing habits. The trailing ones form vines while the bush Nasturtiums are compact.

4. Spinach

Leafy Greens Nutritious Spinach

Benefits
  • Improves oxidative stress
  • Improves eye health
  • Improves blood pressure
Uses
  • Can be used as a relish
  • Can be used in soups, curries, and stews
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Has green thin leaves
  • Has leaves that are arranged in a rosette
  • Can grow to a height between eight to 12 inches
Care
  • Requires three to four hours of light per day
  • Requires 1 to 1.2 inches of water per week
  • Prefers temperatures that are between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit

Spinach is a green vegetable that originates from Western Asia. It belongs to the Amaranthaceae family. This plant has leaves that are consumable and can be cooked or eaten raw. Its leaves are ovate to triangular in shape.

5. Turnips

Rooted in Flavor Tasty Turnips

Benefits
Uses
  • Can be used in salads
  • Can be used as vitamin and mineral suppliers
  • Reduces the risk of cancer
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Can grow up to a height of 12 to 18 inches and can spread about 6 to 8 inches
  • It is a cool weather crop
  • They are creamy white and have a purple top
Care
  • Does good in sandy, well-draining soil
  • Requires soil pH between six to 6.5
  • Requires at least 1 inch of water per week

Turnips are root vegetables that are mainly grown for consumption by humans and livestock. The roots of this plant are in the form of bulbs. Turnips belong to the Brassica family, together with plants like broccoli and Brussels sprouts.

Some of the turnip varieties to note are alltop, scarlet queen, shogoin, Tokyo cross, and golden ball.

6. Basil

Herbaceous Heaven Aromatic Basil

Benefits
  • Attract pollinators
  • Protects other plants from pests, for example, worms, bean beetles, and Japanese beetles
Uses
  • Used as a flavoring element in salads, pasta, and pizza
  • Can be used in treating snake and insect bites
  • Used to treat worm infections
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Can grow to a height of 18 to 24 inches
  • Has oval-shaped and glossy leaves
  • Has flowers with colors that range from white to magenta
Care
  • Requires at least 1 inch of water per week
  • Does well at temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Requires fertilizer with equal amounts of potassium, nitrogen, and phosphate

The basil is a culinary herb in the Lamiaceae family. It can also be called great basil. It is one of the best companion herbs for peas. It originates from southern Asia and the south pacific islands. It is a fast-growing herb that can grow from seed to harvest in a period of three to four weeks.

7. Roses

Petal Perfection Radiant Roses

Benefits
  • Beautify spaces
  • Rose food can work as fertilizer
  • Aids in peaceful sleep
Uses
  • Used to relieve headaches
  • Used to heal scars, cuts, and burns
  • Used to treat sore throats and coughs
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Has leaves that are feather-like
  • Has oval leaflets that have sharp teeth
Care
  • Use liquid artificial fertilizer or banana peels to aid fertility
  • Require at least six to eight hours of sun per day
  • Does well in temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit

The rose is a flower in the Rosaceae family and it is one of the best companion flowers for peas. Most of these plants originate from Asia and a small number are indigenous to Europe. They can be climbing, erect, or trailing shrubs.

8. Catmint

Feline Favorite Soothing Catmint

Benefits
  • Attracts butterflies, which help in pollination
  • Protects other plants from insects like flea beetles and ants
  • It freshens the air because of its aromatic leaves
Uses
  • Leaves can be crushed to make tea
  • Can be used to add fragrance to salads
  • Can be used to treat bug bites, hemorrhoids, and arthritis
Distinguishing characteristics
  • Can grow to a height of 6 to 12 inches
  • It produces gray-green aromatic flowers
Care
  • No need to fertilize because it is not a heavy feeder
  • Needs frequent watering during its establishment week and then 1 inch of water per week in the following month
  • Require temperatures between 55 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit

The catmint is a type of mint plant that is native to Africa, Asia, and Europe but is now grown in various countries across the globe. It is also called catwort or catnip.

The naming of the catmint is mainly based on the fact that when cats sniff the catmint, they exhibit strange behaviors, which include rolling over, rubbing, and pawing. Catmint can be grown in a vegetable garden, or indoors.

Conclusion

If you had questions about which plants can best pair with your sweet pea plant, this article has provided you with some information that you had been searching for.

Let’s quickly go through some of the important points that you should keep in mind as far as companion planting or this type of peas is concerned:

  • Planting peas side by side with other plants so that the companions help each other in pest controlling, soil enrichment, and attraction of pollinators.
  • The companions that you can consider when growing sweet peas can be plants or flowers, though you can also pair the plant with legumes like snap peas, sugar beans, or clover.
  • Some of the plants used to pair can be used to produce medicine, for consumption, and in beautifying spaces.

Now that you have ideas on the alternatives you can add to your garden, it’s time to try the plants out when you plant sweet peas, enjoy companion planting, and reap the benefits!

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