Companion planting
In gardening and farming, companion planting is the planting of different crops next to each other. It is done to help the crops grow and to use the space available as much as possible.[1]
Depending on the crops chosen, companion planting may encourage processes that help the plants, such as pollination. Some companion plants may help stop pests, such as caterpillars or fungi, from damaging the crop.[2] Some of these, called trap crops attract pests away from the crop. Other plants may serve as shelter for the crops.
Many of the basic principles of companion planting were used thousands of years ago in Mesoamerica. From about 8,000 years ago, Native American peoples grew squash,[3][4] maize and common beans together. The stalk of the corn were there for the beans to climb, and the beans fixed nitrogen, helping the maize.[5][6][7]
Companion Planting Media
Root nodules of legumes fix nitrogen, assisting the growth of nearby plants.
Shade-grown coffee plantation in Costa Rica. The red trees in the background provide shade; those in the foreground have been pruned to allow full exposure to the sun.
Related pages
References
- ↑ McClure, Susan (1994). Companion Planting. Rodale Press. ISBN 0-87596-616-0.
- ↑ "Companion Planting and Crop Rotation". The Self-Sufficient Gardener Podcast. 11 August 2010. No. 24.
- ↑ Smith, B. D. (1997). The initial domestication of Cucurbita pepo in the Americas 10,000 years ago. Science 276 932-34.
- ↑ "Cucurbitaceae--Fruits for Peons, Pilgrims, and Pharaohs". University of California at Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ↑ Mt. Pleasant, J. (2006). "The science behind the Three Sisters mound system: An agronomic assessment of an indigenous agricultural system in the northeast". Histories of maize: Multidisciplinary approaches to the prehistory, linguistics, biogeography, domestication, and evolution of maize. Ed. Staller, J. E.. 529–537.
- ↑ Landon, Amanda J. (2008). "The "How" of the Three Sisters: The Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica and the Human Niche". Nebraska Anthropologist. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 110–124.
- ↑ Bushnell, G. H. S. (1976). "The Beginning and Growth of Agriculture in Mexico". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. London: Royal Society of London. 275 (936): 117–120. doi:10.1098/rstb.1976.0074.