Growing tomatoes is something I find very rewarding, as it results in masses of fresh, nutritious fruits at the best of times that taste better than anything you can buy in the supermarkets. A few weeks ago, I planted some tomatoes alongside basil plants in hopes of a tastier harvest. The plant has already begun to fruit impressively and shows no signs of damage.
Eager to grow some more of this delicious fruit in my garden and with June being the last chance to plant tomatoes, I headed down to my local garden centre to get my hands on another one. However, this time I decided to pick up some marigolds too, as they are known to be one of the best companion plants for tomatoes, particularly when it comes to warding off pests.
Not only do marigolds offer prolific flowering and add colour wherever they grow, but they also bring huge benefits along with them. And when it comes to helping tomatoes, they are “pure gold” and help you “grow your best crop of tomatoes ever”, according to gardening experts Jim and Mary Competti of This Is My Garden.
Marigolds are one of the most drought, pest and heat-resistant flowers you can grow. They bring in helpful insects for tomato plants to make them taste better while keeping a few bad insects far away.
The strong scent of marigolds is well known to repel whiteflies. Even better, they also repel mosquitoes, helping to keep you safe as well when working in the garden.
While some gardeners plant their marigolds in pots and then place them right near their tomato plants, I decided to grow mine in the ground near the plant.
Either option is fine — the key is to get those marigolds as close as possible to your plants to maximise their benefits.
I started by planting my tomato plant, which had already started to fruit in the pot it was originally in.
I chose to plant it in a sunny, sheltered spot in my garden in soil with plenty of well-rotted homemade garden compost added. When planting, I made sure the hole was deep enough and that the plant was buried almost to the crown in the soil to help secure it.
Moving on to planting the marigolds, I made sure to plant these vibrant flowers within 20cm of the tomatoes so they will offer all the benefits of companion plants and are simple to keep hydrated when I water the tomato plants during the summer.
Once planted, I made sure to water both the tomatoes and marigolds deeply, given the extremely hot weather the UK has been experiencing.
By watering plants deeply, it encourages the plants to grow stronger and deeper roots, which makes the plants more resilient to dry conditions as those roots can seek out any moisture deeper in the soil.