Here are 3 different planting techniques that you might find useful when your plants arrive.
- Plant onions and carrots in rows next to each other, or alternately planted within the row. The idea of this is that the scent of the onions deters carrot flies and keeps your crop a little better protected. You could alternatively use leeks or garlic in place of the onions.
- Grow lettuces in between cabbages and cauliflowers. Lettuces are quick growers whilst cabbages and cauliflowers take a few months to grow. You can maximise your growing space by planting quick growers in between slow growers. By the time the cauliflowers and cabbages need the space, you will have had loads of leaves from your lettuces and you can pull them up!
- Plant lots of dill if you have troubles with aphids. Dill is really good at attracting ladybirds which eat aphids. It’s a great natural pest control!
There are so many more ideas around this, and the principals remain the same: You can plant quick growers next to slow growers or you can plant short veggies that don’t mind a bit of shade next to taller crops (e.g. spinach and broccoli). This is known as intercropping. Alternatively you can plant companion plants to deter pests, or to attract natural predators. Both are a good way of growing your veggies, and we’d definitely recommend reading more about it. There are some related articles below for you to have a look at…
