Re: Scientific Proof of Companion Planting

**K* M* <k*@iol.ie>**

Seems to me that there are a lot of myths about companion planting out there, mostly because there are a lot of different definitions.

Some plants are allelopathic and won't make friends with anything, others seem to help almost anything thrive because they are so good at attracting beneficial insects or deterring pathenogenic nematodes. Legumes, given the appropriate soil bacteria, are good companions for anything that needs extra nitrogen so long as they don't shade out their companions, And some plants have such a dominant scent that they prevent predators finding their victims (though this is not, in my experience, true of the oft cited "scallions protect carrots" theory, nothing except a row cover protects carrots from a determined carrot fly. In a few cases symbiosis exists - surely your reader is not going to deny that companion planting works in that case - where would mistletoe be without its host - and some plants share mycorrhiza so those are true companions. There are a lot of old wives tales out there, but that doesn't mean that some plants are not companions, and it certainly doesn't mean that 
 well planned mixed planting doesn't lead to benefits for all concerned

kathryn

On 30 Mar 2010, at 17:40, Sheri Ann Richerson wrote:

> Does anyone have a link or the name of a publication that proves studies
> have been done on companion planting and that it does work? I have a reader
> who has informed me that stating that companion planting works is dishonest
> and that it is merely an old wives tale. This reader furthermore states
> there is no scientific proof what-so-ever to support my suggestions
> concerning companion plants.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks so much!
> 
> Sheri Ann
> 
> 
> 
> Sheri Ann Richerson, Author The Complete Idiot's Guide to Year-Round
> Gardening
> 
> http://www.experimentalhomesteader.com
> 
> 
> 
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