Companion Planting
Companion planting is used by farmers and gardeners in both industrialized and developing countries for many reasons.
The Legend of the Three Sisters
The term Three Sisters emerged from the Iroquois creation myth. It was said that the Earth began when Sky Woman, who lived in the upper world, peered through a hole in the sky and fell through to an endless sea. The animals saw her coming, so they took the soil from the bottom of the sea and spread it onto the back of a giant turtle to provide a safe place for her to land. This Turtle Island is now what we call North America.
Sky woman had become pregnant before she fell. When she landed, she gave birth to a daughter. When the daughter grew into a young woman, she became pregnant (by the West wind). She died while giving birth to twin boys. Sky Woman buried her daughter in the new earth. From her grave grew three sacred plants: corn, beans, and squash. These plants provided food for her sons and, later, for all of humanity. These special gifts ensured the survival of the Iroquois people.
Companion planting can be described as the establishment of two or more plant species in close proximity so that some cultural benefit (pest control, higher yield, etc.) is derived. The concept embraces a number of strategies that increase the biodiversity of agroecosystems. Generally, companion planting is thought of as a small-scale gardening practice.
Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial insects, maximizing the use of space, and otherwise increasing crop productivity. Companion planting is a form of polyculture.
Companion planting is used by farmers and gardeners in both industrialized and developing countries for many reasons. Many of the modern principles of companion planting were present many centuries ago in forest gardens in Asia, and thousands of years ago in Mesoamerica.
Companion Planting
While conventional agriculturalists and BD practitioners may disagree over the validity of sensitive crystallization research, there is general agreement today on the validity of several mechanisms that create beneficial plant associations:
√ Trap cropping. Sometimes, a neighboring crop may be selected because it is more attractive to pests and serves to distract them from the main crop. An excellent example of this is the use of collards to draw the diamondback moth away from the cabbage.
√ Symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Legumes such as peas, beans, and clover. have the ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen for their own use and for the benefit of neighboring plants via a symbiotic relationship with Rhizobium bacteria. Forage legumes, for example, are commonly seeded with grasses to reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer. Likewise, beans are sometimes interplanted with corn.
√ Biochemical pest suppression. Some plants exude chemicals from roots or aerial parts that suppress or repel pests and protect neighboring plants. The African marigold, for example, releases thiophene, a nematode repellent, making it a good companion for a number of garden crops. The manufacture and release of certain biochemicals is also a factor in plant antagonism. Allelochemicals such as juglone found in black walnuts suppress the growth of a wide range of other plants, which often creates a problem in home horticulture. A positive use of plant allelopathy is the use of mow-killed grain rye as a mulch. The allelochemicals that leach from rye residue prevent weed germination but do not harm transplanted tomatoes, broccoli, or many other vegetables.
√ Physical spatial interactions. For example, tall-growing, sun-loving plants may share space with lower-growing, shade-tolerant species, resulting in higher total yields from the land. Spatial interaction can also yield pest control benefits. The diverse canopy resulting when corn is companion-planted with squash, or pumpkins is believed to disorient the adult squash vine borer and protect the vining crop from this damaging pest. In turn, the presence of the prickly vines said to discourage raccoons from ravaging the sweet corn.
√ Nurse cropping. Tall or dense-canopied plants may protect more vulnerable species through shading or by providing a windbreak. Nurse crops such as oats have long been used to help establish alfalfa and other forages by supplanting the more competitive weeds that would otherwise grow in their place. In many instances, nurse cropping is simply another form of physical-spatial interaction.
√ Beneficial habitats. Beneficial habitats. sometimes called refugia, is another type of companion plant interaction that has drawn considerable attention in recent years. The benefit is derived when companion plants provide a desirable environment for beneficial insects and other arthropods. especially those predatory and parasitic species which help to keep pest populations in check. Predators include ladybird beetles, lacewings, hoverflies, mantids, robber flies, and non-insects such as spiders and predatory mites. Parasites include a wide range of fly and wasp species, including tachinid flies, Trichogrammatid, and ichneumonid wasps. Agroecologists believe that by developing systems to include habitats that draw and sustain beneficial insects, the twin objectives of reducing both pest damage and pesticide use can be attained.
√ Security through diversity. A more general mixing of various crops and varieties provides a degree of security to the grower. If pests or adverse conditions reduce or destroy a single crop or cultivar, others remain to produce some level of yield. Furthermore, the simple mixing of cultivars, as demonstrated with broccoli in University of California research, can reduce aphid infestation in a crop. (ATTRA, 2007)
The Scientific Foundations for
It doesn’t only matter what plants you grow, it also matters where you plant them. As author Jessica Walliser explains in her book Plant Partners, gardens are “an ecosystem rather than a contrived environment,” and choosing to grow certain plants together can be the secret to gardening success. Companion planting works by pairing the right plants in garden beds to enhance the growth of one or both plants. But what are companion plants exactly?
Companion plants benefit each other in at least one way. These benefits can include natural pest control, increased pollinator activity, improved plant and soil health, added shade and support, weed suppression, and better disease resistance.
One of the most classic examples of companion planting is the Three Sisters, developed by Native American cultures centuries ago. In this companion plant pairing, corn, squash, and climbing beans are interplanted together to enhance each other’s growth. The corn supports the beans, the beans boost soil nutrients due to their nitrogen-fixing abilities, and the squash’s large leaves shade the soil to conserve moisture and block weeds.
The Three Sisters is just one example of companion planting, although there are many more.
Bestselling Author of the Apocalypse DJ Cooper writes books like these and many others to help others learn about the threats we could face in emergencies while offering ideas of how we can circumvent issues on our own.
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