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
- Companion Planting Interactions.svg
Multiple interactions between companion plants, target crops, weeds, pests, and beneficial insects such as parasitoids and predators of the pests make a multitrophic approach necessary.
- Companion Planting Mechanisms.svg
Some of the many mechanisms by which polyculture including companion planting may help to protect crops or otherwise increase productivity
- Medicago sativa root nodules.JPG
Root nodules of legumes fix nitrogen, assisting the growth of nearby plants.
- Microplitis mediator adult female.jpg
Companion planting of cornflowers among cabbages helps the parasitoid wasp Microplitis mediator (shown) to control cabbage moth.
- Coffee shadow trees costa rica.jpg
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
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
- ↑ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities at line 38: bad argument #1 to 'ipairs' (table expected, got nil).