Companion Planting Potatoes: The Best Potato Plant Companions

Companion planting potatoes in your garden beds is a great way to help ensure that your garden is thriving. By companion planting your potatoes, you help to create biodiversity that helps your potatoes thrive better than on their own.

Companion plants can help keep pests away and add nutrients to your garden bed. Planting water-hungry plants can even help to protect your potatoes from too much moisture in the soil.

How to companion plant potatoes

Potatoes are a bit tricky to companion plants because of how they grow in mounds that have soil added to them after the initial planting.

This means you may have to wait on adding plants to some areas of your potato garden bed or planter until after your potatoes have had their last addition of soil.

Along with planting shallow growing plants near the potatoes, you can use the space around the mounds and in the rows between your potatoes.

Companion planting this way allows you to make the most of your garden space while still leaving room for your potatoes to grow.

Remember that while some perennials grow well with potatoes, anything you grow with your potatoes has the potential of being dug up or damaged during harvest so you should only plant things you are willing to replant the following year.

The best companion plants for potatoes

Kale

Kale makes a great companion plant for potatoes. Plant the kale in the spaces between mounds or along the outer area of your garden beds.

As the summer heats up kale will, like other leafy greens, tend to die back leaving more room for your potato vines to continue to grow and thrive. The leafy kale makes a great living mulch for your potato garden beds.

Horseradish

While not the most common plant to find in the home garden, is a great companion plant for potatoes in your garden.

If you like horseradish, grow it in your potato garden bed to help repel Colorado potato beetles and improve your potato disease resistance to help protect your crop. This spicy root vegetable is great for adding flavor to your table.

Leeks

Leeks make an amazing partner for your potatoes in the garden. You can make the most of your garden space by growing leeks right in with your potatoes.

Leeks are shallow growing and will not share the same pace as your deep-rooted potatoes allowing you to grow them right in together easily.

Beans

Beans are a great companion plant for potatoes. Beans tend to have a shallow root base allowing you to grow more food in less space.

Because of the short growing season of green beans they can be planted into your potato grow bags and containers after the last addition of soil and be ready to harvest before your potatoes are done for the season. Beans will also help improve your soil by adding nitrogen and you can make the most of every inch in your garden space.

In your garden beds, you can grow beans along the north side of the garden bed. Potatoes will even help your bean plants by repelling the common Mexican bean beetle.

Chives

Chives are a great addition to your potato bed. Chives grow with a shallow root system helping to prevent the plants from bothering your potato plants allowing you to make the most of your space.

Chives also make a great addition to many potato dishes allowing you to make use of every part of your garden.

Plus our favorite, marigolds, deter harmful pests from potato plants and also protect them from viral and bacterial diseases.

Worst companions For Potatoes

Potatoes are very heavy feeders and should not be grown with other heavy feeders. They do not make good companion plants for vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes as this will leave your soil depleted and unable to support either plant. It is vital that you do not cause competition between your potatoes and other plants in your garden.

Taproot plants like carrots should not be grown near your potatoes as the deep taproot will intrude upon the space your potatoes grow, preventing both plants from producing a healthy root.

Onions and garlic should not be grown in with your potatoes because they can add an odd odor and flavor to your potatoes that can leave for a less than pleasant finished product. For the same reason, you should avoid growing peppers and highly fragrant herbs like mint near your potatoes.

Do not grow other ground vines like pumpkin and squash with your potatoes. The vines of these plants will compete for the limited space available and block out light from each other reducing your final harvest of each plant.

Also, keep in mind that potato plants also should not be planted in the same spot where eggplant, tomatoes, or anything from the nightshade family has previously been planted.