elilla&, famigerada sapata travesti<p>companion gardening is frustrating because there's very little research on it, and there's so many compounding factors involved that it's super hard to do the research. but it's also the kind of thing that anyone gardening has seen effects—positive and negative—so you know there's something there, and especially for people like me that do high-density high-biodiversity wild gardening it's very relevant. I'm not the kind to dismiss lore as superstition, a lot of gardener's lore is just stuff that works, but the lore on companions is too contradictory to know what works or not. and I like testing things myself but again, compounding factors.</p><p>so thinking on first principles, reasons why companion gardening may work:</p><p> - mechanical. "three sisters" principle: a tall plant, a low bushy plant and a climber, together, means they can all share in the sun.<br> - compatibility of needs. basil likes a lot of water and sun, so does tomato, so if you add both you can just strive to keep that pot well moist.<br> - overpowering plants. mint grows so much so fast that it can literally overshadow other herbs. but nothing's stopping you from planting it under something tall like corn, or say next to an ivy that's climbing a wall, or to nettles with can stand up to it in growth rates.<br> - biome/ecology. wild strawberry grows in forests, so it should have evolved to negotiate with a forest-type soil food web, which is fungus-centric. make a foresty soil with lots of wood/bark and leaf mulch etc. and it will probably be happy with other foresty plants like waldmeister or bear garlic. by contrast rosemary grows on sunny dusty meadows and exposed rocks in the Mediterranean, so it will be more bacteria-oriented, so maybe make a sunny pot with thyme and sage. mints are happy with wet boggy soil meaning they're adapted for anaerobics; could probably share a bog-pot with forget-me-not and spring-snowflake, for example (as long as you contain her spready tendencies, e.g. with a lil fence).<br> - cross-pollination. maybe don't plant dill next to angelica or fennel, because the resulting hybrids are unlikely to taste good. (or do it on purpose to develop your own varieties, but you'll need some guided selection until you develop a tasty hybrid or heirloom.)<br> - insect repellents: I'm rather sceptical of the idea that if you plant this or that aromatic herb insects wouldn't come because the herb itself is a repellent. rather in my experience plants are able to defend themselves from insects almost perfectly, _as long as_ you have living soil with rich microbiome and the plant is healthy enough (you can proxy this by measuring sugar production with a brix refractometer). what I suspect is happening is that when people plant savoury next to their tomatoes or etc. they're increasing biodiv and general health of the tomato, which is then able to produce more secondary metabolytes and become unpalatable (or just flat-out thicker cell walls, which is enough to shake off aphids).*<br> - and the one everybody imagines: specific species of plants having evolved compatible or detrimental chemistry together. e.g. allelopathins from sunflowers or brassicas are said to be especially effective at hindering the growth of nightshades.</p><p>but there's very little reliable information on this, and I wonder how big of an effect it is, compared to what you get from the basics: plenty of sunlight, adequate watering, and a richly alive soil microbiome that you feed with living things (organic compost, worm tea etc.). like doing periodic drenches of worm tea is like night and day, you can test it yourself in two pots at similar positions, but you'll feel guilty for the plant you deprived of friends when you see how much more the other one grows. I'm not sure how much the companion factors matter if you nailed everything else your plants need. like onions are said to inhibit the growth of beans, but if you plant beans next to onions and they don't grow, it's hard to be sure if *that's* the reason they didn't grow, it could be so much else.</p><p><a href="https://transmom.love/tags/wildGardening" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>wildGardening</span></a> <a href="https://transmom.love/tags/Naturgarten" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Naturgarten</span></a></p>