9 Vegetable Combinations That Grow Well Together in Containers
With companion plants and compatible pairings, the vegetable harvest goes all season. Containers are no exception, given the right sizing and plant selection. Gardening expert Katherine Rowe explores top vegetable combinations to grow in pots for versatile additions to the garden and culinary endeavors.
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Growing vegetables in pots and containers expands the realm of the edible landscape. Whether growing solely in pots or adding to the in-ground setup, they become a foundation for a productive harvest. They also make it easy to grow a food plot in small spaces. Potted arrangements allow versatility in siting and sun exposure with control over soil quality and moisture levels.
In our potted edible combinations, we’ll pair vegetables that grow well together, especially those that make good companions with mutual growing benefits. The key is to provide plenty of room for all vegetables to inhabit the container space while avoiding combinations that aren’t compatible.
A thriving vegetable container arrangement maximizes space for high yields and the nutritious, flavorful rewards of the season. Diversify the selection with herbs and flowers to boost garden health (they also create a beautiful composition). Our list includes overall combinations and compact vegetable varieties that grow well together in containers.
Companion Planting in Pots
Companion planting is a way of arranging plants to mutually benefit each other. It’s a space-efficient measure and reduces pest damage through partnering deterrents. It’s not an exact science, but research backs the best compliments.
Some vegetable combinations for containers include varying growing seasons and harvest times, when one is maturing just as the other begins to take off. Others provide cooling shade to smaller specimens. Those with different root structures benefit soil health without competition. Different mineral needs, too, reduce competition for nutrients.
Good partners even improve flavor. With natural substances in roots, leaves, and stems, they enhance their paired crops. As pest-deterrents, these substances have repellent qualities through scent, masking, or attracting beneficial predators.
Siting
The first step in setting up a combination vegetable planter is to ensure that all the plants share similar growing conditions, from sun exposure to soil moisture preferences. Observe the sunlight as it moves through your site to inform the plant selection, honing in on edibles for the specific exposure.
While most crops prefer full sun (six hours or more), many also grow in partial shade (four hours or more). Especially in climates with hot summers, they’ll appreciate some shade protection from intense afternoon rays.
The next consideration is easy access to water. Potted vegetables dry out more quickly than in-ground specimens, especially in summer. If you’re using a number of pots for a big harvest, a simple drip system helps control water volume for those with similar growing requirements.
Good air circulation is essential for containers, especially in humid environments, so allow airflow by giving pots space between walls and structures and granting a little room between pots in a cluster.
Pot Size and Soil
The best container for a combination planting is a large one that accommodates the tight spacing that comes with growing vegetables in pots. Size and drainage are the key elements. Allow plenty of room for mature roots and leafy upper growth.
Plan to use at least five gallons for potted vegetable combinations, and more volume for bigger specimens. Or, cluster single-specimen pots together to achieve the mutual harvest benefits. From fabric grow bags to vertical towers, container vegetables allow versatility and creativity.
Opt for containers with good drainage, and use a high-quality potting mix. Formulated for contained growing, pre-packaged potting mixes are sterile, contain nutrients to foster growth, and have moisture-retaining properties in combination with good drainage. The potting mix is airy and less compact than garden soil, letting roots breathe. Amend with compost to improve drainage and add organic richness.
Tomato, Lettuce, Basil, and Marigolds
This classic combination offers loads of mutual benefits. Heat-loving tomatoes begin to grow as cool-season lettuces are ready for harvest. Pluck the lettuce when it finishes for the season. In mild climates, they’ll overlap to extend the lettuce yield, with the tomatoes towering over the lower growers to provide shade on warm days.
Basil and marigolds offer not only a tasty pairing but also serve to repel pests. Studies show a reduction in thrips from both partners. Basil may even promote tomato growth.
Tomatoes become the specimen in the pot, with a surrounding arrangement of the smaller selections. Opt for a determinate bush, cherry, or roma tomato for the most yield in a pot. If you don’t have room for all four in a large container, tub, or planter box, focus on a single tomato and one partner you’ll most enjoy.
Tomatoes also grow well with other nightshades like peppers and eggplants, as they have the same cultural requirements. Since they attract the same pests, interplant with the partner repellents. Tomatoes also grow well with carrots. Providing shade in transitional seasons.
Eggplant and Bush Beans
Both eggplants and bush beans take up space, even compact varieties, so plan for enough room for both in a container. In pots, we’ll go tighter with spacing than in-ground plantings, but still strive to maintain air circulation and room for root growth. The advantage of this pairing is that dwarf selections don’t have vines that sprawl or require staking. They have bushy, high-yielding stems.
Bush beans make good companions for eggplants by deterring pests common to nightshades, like Colorado potato beetles. They also work well with tomatoes and peppers to the same end. Because beans are legumes, they fix nitrogen in the soil to add nutrition. And, bush beans and eggplants don’t compete for the same nutrients.
‘Jewel Amethyst’ is a compact eggplant that produces loads of petite fruits to harvest at three to four inches long and two inches wide. The little fruits are deep purple with smooth, shiny skins. For bush beans, ‘Maxibel Filet’ is a good contender at only two feet tall. The French beans are long and slender, sweet and tender,
Squash and Nasturtium
Squash and nasturtium make a perfect container pairing. The squash takes center stage, and the trailing annual can spill around the edges. Grow squash vertically using a support like a trellis, or opt for a bush type with compact stems that don’t run or travel.
Nasturtium, with edible leaves and flowers, brings vibrant tubular blossoms that hummingbirds enjoy. A nasturtium companion planting with squash boosts pest control and draws pollinators. They’re also a beacon for beneficial insects for natural pest control, including ladybugs, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps.
If you’ve got the space in the planter, squash grows well with tomatoes, peppers, and beans. Good varieties for containers include ‘Emerald Delight’ summer squash, pumpkin ‘Jack Be Little,’ and acorn squash ‘Table King.’ For compact nasturtiums, look for ‘Jewel Blend’ and ‘Tom Thumb.’
Peppers, Scallions, and Cilantro
This edible combination for containers is perfect for taco night. It brings flavor and aroma to the kitchen and the garden, with essential oils to repel pests. Peppers, from bell to chile, are excellent vegetables to grow in pots. Their full, short stature makes them a fit from five-gallon buckets on up to mixed plantings.
They thrive in warm temperatures and produce in abundance. Look to high-yielders like ‘Early Jalapeno Chile’ and ‘California Wonder Sweet Bell’ for compact, all-season performance. Try them with rosemary, dill, and cilantro to boost repellent qualities.
Alliums represent many edible and perennial bulbs, including onions, leeks, chives, scallions, shallots, and garlic. They make superior partners for peppers in a combination vegetable container. They repel aphids, thrips, and beetles – common garden pests with a broad palette.
Scallions (bunching onions) are petite additions to a pot and easy to harvest. Their small roots break up the soil without competing with the peppers’ spread. ‘White Lisbon’ is a 1700s heirloom with good heat-resistance as spring temperatures warm. ‘Tokyo Long’ are Japanese scallions, slender with a mild taste, fresh or cooked. They’re heat-tolerant and disease-resistant.
Carrots and Radishes
Carrots make good partners with a number of crops, herbs, and flowering plants. Grow them with lettuce and tomatoes for a salad garden. They’re also an easy pairing with radishes. Radishes are quick-growing and break through the crusty upper soil, making way for carrot seedlings to emerge.
The radishes are ready first, and harvesting them loosens the surrounding soil as the carrot roots continue developing. Radishes are small and quick to develop roots. Harvest them young as one-inch globes for dynamic flavor and crispness.
For carrots to grow in containers, small varieties mean smaller tap roots. ‘Little Finger’ and ‘Tonda di Parigi’ are flavorful petite roots. Pair carrots with tomatoes, too, to attract parasitic wasps to defend against tomato hornworms. Tomatoes may even improve carrot flavor.
Broccoli, Leeks, and Swiss Chard
For a cool-season bounty, broccoli becomes the central specimen among leeks and Swiss chard as a low-profile filler. As the heftier vegetable, broccoli provides cooling afternoon shade to tender leafy greens like the chard. Slow-to-develop leeks and their bulbous roots develop quietly alongside the other nutrition powerhouses.
Broccoli varieties well-suited to container culture include kailaan Chinese broccoli and ‘Rapini,’ a broccolini with petite florets. Kailaan has small blue-green florets and flavorful leaves and stems. It’s also heat and frost-tolerant for an extended season of tender shoots without bolting. ‘Rapini’ is a mild broccoli raab (Brassica rapa subsp. rapa). Stems and small crowns are tender, mild, and slightly peppery. The leaves of both gai lan and broccoli raab are edible, fresh or cooked.
Cucumber and Dill
Cucumber and dill will be ready to go from planter to pickle jar in the summer heat. As an umbellifer, dill’s broad, flat blooms draw pollinators and other beneficials like hoverflies, parasitic wasps, and ladybugs. These target aphids and cucumber beetles, among others, that may impact the neighboring cucurbits.
Compact cucumbers don’t need staking and are easy to pop in a pot. Look to varieties like ‘Spacemaster 80,’ a classic with good performance, to take up little growing space. The two to three-foot plants produce full-size cukes. Or, you can pick them early for pickling.
Pizza Garden
Vegetable combinations in containers are even more fun with a theme, from ready garnishes in a cocktail planter (like cucamelon and lemon balm) to family-friendly toppings for homemade pizza. Pots give us the opportunity to curate an experience and for a ready harvest of favorites.
A pizza garden could include Roma tomatoes, onions, garlic, and herbs like oregano, basil, and thyme. Throw in sweet peppers for well-rounded flavor.
Smoothie Blend
Summer means smoothies, and what better way to enhance our own than with nutrition-packed veggies from the garden? Use containers to grow your own fixins. From strawberries to leafy greens to ginger, we can grow a variety in a planter. Strawberries grow well with broccoli, carrots, and spinach for a diverse harvest.
Blending the fresh fruits and veggies retains their beneficial fiber in addition to vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Don’t forget refreshing sun teas, either, with herbs fresh from the pot.
