9 of the Best Companion Plants to Grow with Broccoli
Here’s one of the most important lessons I learned this summer:
Broccoli and rhubarb are not good companion plants, if you squish them close together.
I had read somewhere that they were great companions, so I stuck a rhubarb seedling in between two of my broccoli plants. I don’t like math, so I didn’t measure anything.
Besides, I’m a greedy gardener. I tend to overcrowd plants in an effort to grow all the things.
The point of companion planting is that one companion benefits the other in some way. In the best situations, this type of planting is mutually beneficial.
We link to vendors to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links, we may earn a commission.
But here’s what happened to my rhubarb: the broccoli grew so enormously tall that it blocked every ounce of light. To compensate, the rhubarb leaves grew as large as elephant ears and the stalks got long and floppy.
Not an ideal companion-gardening scenario. I ended up moving the rhubarb to a totally different area.
But since I want to grow my favorite cruciferous vegetable again next year, I started to wonder… what companion plants grow best with broccoli? And is rhubarb really one of them?
Here’s what I discovered:
Why Your Broccoli Needs CompanionsBrassica oleracea var. italica, aka broccoli, may take up quite a bit of space in your garden. But it has a secret to share with you: if you just pick the right plants to sow alongside it, they can all thrive together.
What’s even better is that many of these companion plants taste really nice when eaten in combination with it.
Broccoli-potato-shallot soup with a lettuce, celery, and spinach salad on the side, anyone?
Yum! The cultivar I grew
Read more on gardenerspath.com