If you’re planting watermelons, you might wonder if you can plant any other plants along with them. There are several companion plants you can plant along with watermelons that benefit them in different ways. We’ll explain the benefits of companion planting and provide some information on the best watermelon companion plants.
What is Companion Planting?
Companion planting is the intentional planting of two or more plants close together for mutual benefit. The presence of companion plants improves soil quality, cycles nutrients, and deters pests. Using companion plants in your garden can help improve yields and reduce the need for pesticides and fertilizers.
Watermelons may not require all companion plants to be interplanted with them to be effective. You can plant many companion plants along the edge of a garden plot or place them in the garden in containers without diminishing their plant superpowers.
Best Watermelon Companion Plants
Alliums
Alliums like onions, garlic, chives, and others can help repel aphids, the watermelon’s natural predator. Fragrant plants also help deter larger pests like foraging rodents and deer. As a bonus, the growth pattern of most allium won’t shade the sun-loving watermelon. Don’t use alliums if you’re planting legumes in the same area because they don’t play nice together.
Basil
Basil is a great watermelon companion plant because it helps repel whitefly, which can be a major pest for watermelon plants. Basil and watermelon are a companion pair that confirms the “if they taste good together, they grow good together” theory.
The herbs oregano, mint, and tansy make good companions for watermelons. They are all fragrant plants that prevent pests from feeding on watermelons. During the growing season, many herbs grow compactly, so they won’t shade the vines. If you don’t want your herb garden to be overrun by herbs like catnip or mint, plant them in a container.
Bush Beans
Bush beans, like all legumes, are real garden superstars. Watermelons benefit from their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen into the soil. Beans will naturally fertilize your watermelon crop through the growing season.
Bush beans are a better choice for these plants since they are shorter and will not block as much sunlight as pole beans. Don’t grow beans or any legumes in the companion planting zone if you plan on adding alliums. Alliums inhibit the growth of legumes.
Flowers
Flowers are a great companion crop for watermelons since they attract pollinators. Since watermelons do not attract many pollinators and their flowers are short-lived, having many pollinators around will only help to improve your yield.
Instead of interplanting your flowers, place them near your watermelons in containers, and you’ll still get great results. You can also choose native wildflowers. Cosmoses, coneflowers, coreopsis, and sunflowers are some flower types you might consider.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a fast-maturing cool-season crop that pairs well with watermelon plants. Interplant lettuce with watermelons to help keep the area around the watermelon plants weed-free and to provide some shade during the hottest parts of the day. By the time the vining watermelon needs to take over, the lettuce will be harvested and gone from the garden.
Marigolds
Marigolds are another great companion plant for watermelons. The pungent aroma deters many pests, such as aphids, whiteflies, and cucumber beetles. In addition, marigolds are a beautiful addition to any garden and come in a wide variety of colors. Marigolds should not be planted directly in the same bed or container as watermelon plants. Place these plants near the garden’s edge.
Nasturtiums
Aphids steer clear of these easy-to-grow flowers because of their peppery scented leaves. Nasturtiums come in a variety of vibrant colors, which will enhance your watermelon garden as well as attract beneficial insects. To get the best results, plant them near, but not directly with the watermelons.
Radishes
Radishes are usually a good companion plant. Their rapid growth allows them to provide ground cover and weed suppression to your watermelons, and they can also be harvested before the watermelons need that space. In addition to that, they help watermelon plants by attracting aphids to their green leaves, which are an easy meal for predatory insects such as ladybugs and lacewings, who visit your garden to check out the tansy.
Carrots
Carrots loosen the soil. Instead of planting them in rows, plant them around the watermelons intermittently to fill in the gaps. Make sure they aren’t fully shaded.
Spinach
Spinach provides ground cover to keep the soil moist. It also helps provide some shade to the watermelons and keeps the area around watermelons free from weeds.
Catnip
Catnip helps repel leafhoppers, aphids, flies, and squash beetles, and help improve the flavor of watermelons.
A Few Plants Not to Plant with Watermelons
Just as there are plants that can benefit watermelons, there are also plants that can be detrimental to watermelons’ growth. We’ll list some of those in this section.
- Sunflowers – These take away too much sunlight
- Zucchini and pumpkins – These feed on similar nutrients to watermelons.
- Cucumbers, cauliflower, and mustard greens – Inhibit watermelon growth.
- Kale – This attracts slugs.
- Cabbage – This attracts bugs.
- Tomatoes and Peppers – These take away too much sunlight
- Potatoes – These attract aphids and other pests.
If you want to plant any of these plants in your garden, plant them away from the watermelons so they won’t affect your watermelon crop.
Those are some of the best watermelon companion plants. As you’re planting your watermelons, think about which watermelon companion plants would be best to plant, based on the time of year. For example, if it’s late spring or summer, you could plant radishes, marigolds, or nasturtiums. In early spring, around April you could plant bush beans and most flowers. The fall is when you should plant alliums and lettuce. Once you know when to plant the different watermelon companion plants, you’ll be able to make a planting and harvesting schedule for them.