What Not to Plant With Tomatoes
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GardenSays
Keep away from tomatoes: Potatoes, Corn, Cabbage, Broccoli, Kale, Fennel, Raspberry. Use caution with: Peppers, Eggplant, Strawberries, Mint, Rosemary, Sage, Lavender, Sunflower, Dill, Tomatillo, Jalapeno.
- Keep apart
- 7
- Caution
- 11
- Worst offender
- Potatoes
Potatoes (documented): The worst tomato neighbor: same species family, and both host early and late blight — spores move freely between them. Extension guidance is explicit about keeping them apart.
Corn (documented): The corn earworm and the tomato fruitworm are the same insect (Helicoverpa zea) — planting them together concentrates its favorite two hosts, and tall corn shades tomatoes.
Cabbage (traditional): Brassicas and tomatoes are a long-standing 'keep apart' pairing: heavy feeders competing for the same nutrients, and tomatoes are traditionally said to inhibit brassica growth.
Broccoli (traditional): Same as cabbage — two heavy feeders with a traditional antagonism; neither does its best crowded by the other.
Kale (traditional): A brassica like cabbage and broccoli — the traditional advice to keep brassicas and tomatoes apart applies, though kale's smaller size makes it the least-bad of the family.
Why
- ✓The strongest documented effects are trap crops, pollinator/predator attraction, and marigold nematode suppression — most other pairings are about avoiding shared diseases and competition.
- ✓Confidence labels: 'documented' = mechanism supported in extension/research literature; 'traditional' = long-standing practice with plausible mechanism but thin formal evidence.
When this doesn't apply
- →A healthy, well-spaced garden forgives most 'caution' pairings — disease history is what makes them matter.
How this was calculated
- 1. Exclusion rule18 plants
Pairs rated 'bad' (keep apart) or 'caution' out of 41 evaluated pairings.
- 2. Evidence standard
Confidence labels: 'documented' = mechanism supported in extension/research literature; 'traditional' = long-standing practice with plausible mechanism but thin formal evidence.
Data sources
- University of Minnesota Extension — Companion planting in home gardens — Some companion effects (trap crops, pollinator attraction, nematode suppression by marigolds) are documented; many traditional pairings lack formal evidence. (checked 2026-07-15)
- University of Minnesota Extension — Growing tomatoes in home gardens — Avoid planting tomatoes near potatoes (shared blight) or where related crops grew the previous year. (checked 2026-07-15)
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