This might not be what you want to hear, but in my opinion (and I know others share this opinion) companion planting is a bunch of baloney. I have planted things that were supposed to be antagonistic next to each other will no ill results. And I've planted things that are supposed to benefit each other together with no noticable benefits.

As for your plan, a few things stick out.

Box 3: Not sure how much basil you are planting but you will be able to fit more than 5 peppers in a 4'x8' bed.

Boxes 4 &5: Trying to interplant corn and vining crops like pumpkins and melons usually don't work well. You might want to grow one with just corn and grow one with the vining crops.

Box 7: Peas and spinach will be gone by mid-summer. They don't take heat well. So you should be able to plant something here for fall. Cilantro also bolts quickly but you can succession sow it.

Box 8: If your cucumber will be trellised, then depending on your beds orientation you should be able to fit more than one plant.

Hope this helps some.

Rodney

It is primarily a fad that never really caught on. But if you want to get specific details then I suggest the Companion Planting forum here as those who try to practice it would be the best source of info.

But I encourage you to buy into many of its claims with great care as they never seem to work all that well in real practice, just in the books. :) The marigods is a good example as they must be a very specific type to be of any benefit as most varieties of marigolds are well-proven aphid and white fly magnets, not repellents.

As Rod pointed out the only issue I see with some of your plans is that 1) peas are not normally considered a small garden crop as they require so many plants to produce even a minimal crop. If you want to can peas you will need a minimum of a 50" row and 2 50" rows would be better, and 2) brussel sprout and beets have totally different planting times - beets earl spring, BS is a fall to early winter crop. Plant your spinach with the beets and use an empty mid-summer plot for the BS. That is another problem with Companion Planting - it fails to take into consideration the very different planting times of many crops as well as their different nutrient and water needs. Corn requires lots of nitrogen at specific times of the season. Excess nitrogen in a bed with squash planted gets you big bushy plants with little production. See the problems?

And, since you are growing in separate boxes "companions" really become of little value.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Companion Planting forum

A bit discouraging but helpful. Thanks for taking the time. I'll tweak and post Round 2 tomorrow.

The ultimate goal, of course, is to grow as much as possible in a very limited space.

I agree with Dave that companion planting isn't going to make that much difference. My biggest issue with companion planting (and I don't practice the method in my 800 square-foot garden) is that it defeats my efforts at crop rotation which IS critical and will guarantee you a much better result over the course of time. I divide my garden into four zones: Nitrogen (lettuce, spinach, broccoli, leaves); Phosphorous (tomatoes, peppers, squash, fruit-bearing plants); Potassium (carrots, onions, garlic, root crops); and Soil Builders (beans, inoculated of course). That's it. Keep your garden clean, be vigilant about insect infestation, build your soil every season, and stay away from poisons and you'll find that YOU are the best companion your plants will have.

I support the above posters. Don't plant squash with corn. You will have a poor corn crop, Don't believe the "3 sisters" garbage you read on the internet, It sounds nice but your crops will suffer.

You never really specify WHY you want to companion plant. As noted, I don't think it does any particular good for the plants, but I suppose it might make harvesting and access more convenient.

Now, another view might be that planting tall stuff on the north side and short stuff on the south side of the box might make best use of available sunlight, especially in the early spring. But for plants for which proximity is important for fertilization, as for corn, grouping it in different places doesn't seem to be all that wise.

I'd agree that your proposed plant spacing seems kinda sparse. 4x8 plots are pretty big.

Thanks for the replies I wanted to companion plant for weed control, and because I have so much different stuff I want to plant that I need to get the most bang for my buck, space-wise.

I'm trying to get better, and to try new techniques, each year. I've been gardening seriously for 4 years--my entire front yard is devoted to fruits and vegetables--and it's worked out well, even with mistakes (like planting nine melon vines in the same box last year--got great melons!)

That said, I did fall for the 3 sisters deal last year. Beans never grew and corn, which was planted in mounds, didn't grow as well as previous years.

So is the consensus that I should plant the same vegetable in each box? Can I still grow herbs and marigolds in the boxes to keep weeds down?.

I've never heard of a companion plant that keeps weeds at bay. The purpose of companion planting has nothing to do with weed management. To control weeds, you have to get out there and pull them or mulch to keep them at bay.

I had some space in between my vegetables last year, where weeds grew. Thought it would be better to have herbs than weeds. If this is not so, you have saved me time and trouble.

To some extent, if you plant "companions" to fill space (such that weeds don't grow in that space and use soil nutrients) those companions are just going to use the soil nutrients instead. So in that respect, companion planting is basically planting edible weeds. Either will suck nutrients away from crops, but at least companion plants are edible when they do it.

Was about to hit "Post" when I noticed Dan's post. I agree with Dan. If your goal is to fill up space to avoid weeds, plant anything you'd like. But know that whatever you plant with the intention of letting it grow is robbing your main crop of much-needed nutrients. Your pepper bed can hold lots more plants, six per square foot, so you'd be better growing high-value vegetables in those spaces and growing herbs in pots, close to the kitchen or grill, where you can use them before they bolt. Annual herbs in containers can also be brought indoors and used throughout the winter provided you have enough light coming in through your windows.

Correction: Peppers can be planted ONE per square foot. Not six. Oops!

I consider basil to be a high value crop because I freeze tons of pesto so I can have it all winter. It's all relative. If you like peppers better, then I definitely agree that you should fill the box with them and put the basil in pots. Sweet pepper yields, at least in my zone, are typically not great unless you're planting the non-bell types like Jimmy Nardello. The more pepper plants, the better.

As for weeds, buy some straw mulch. It's great for moisture retention and weed reduction.