Companion planting with your cucumbers can help your garden grow better, taste better, and have less problems with pests. So how does companion planting work? What can you grow with your cucumbers and what should be kept far away?
Below you will find a list of cucumber companion plants that you can grow alongside your cucumber to prevent pests and disease. And a list of what you should keep separate from your cucumber bed.
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If you are just getting started growing cucumbers check out my posts on Tips for Growing Great Cucumbers and Cucumber Varieties to Grow first!
Pick up a copy of my Companion Planting Guide and Binder to help you design the perfect garden beds with companion planting in mind. Everything you need to know about companion planting in an easy to read format so you can start companion planting sooner!
Cucumber Companion Plants For a Better Cucumber Harvest
Corn: Corn is one of the best companion plants for cucumber. The cucumber benefits from the shade and protects the corn from raccoons who don’t like to wade through the vines. Corn also provides some protection from the virus that causes wilt in cucumbers
Beans: Beans are legumes that help enrich the soil and fix nitrogen making them perfect for growing along with cucumbers.
Peas– Like beans, peas are legumes and help enrich the soil. I like to plant my peas and cucumbers successively so that pea plants are dying out right as the cucumbers are starting to take off.
Lamb’s Quarter: While Lamb’s Quarter is sometimes seen as a weed, it should be allowed to grow in the garden. Not only is it edible (similar to spinach) it helps the growth many crops including cucumbers. Don’t know what lamb’s quarter is? Read this for more info: How to Use and Dry Lamb’ s Quarter
Sunflowers: The tall stalks of sunflowers help shade cucumber plants in the hot summer sun, and their strong stems give the cucumber vines something to grow up!
Dill: Dill is one herb that cucumbers love, making it a perfect companion plant. Dill improves the flavor of the fruit as it matures.
Other Cucumber Companion Plants to Try:
Kohlrabi
Lettuce
Beets
Plan your garden using my Yearly Garden Planner- it will help you keep track of everything, including all of your companion planting ideas!
Cucumber Companion Plants for Pest Control
Radishes– Plant a few radishes around the base of the cucumber plant and allow them to grow without harvesting to protect from cucumber beetles.
Tansy– Tansy is another cucumber companion plant that helps repel the striped cucumber beetle.
Nasturtium: Nasturtium can be allowed to grow alongside your cucumber vines and repel a variety of insects that may try and feed on your cucumber plants.
Marigold: Marigolds should be planted throughout your garden since they help with a variety of pests. Marigold is a good cucumber companion plant since it helps to repel cucumber beetles and other beetles that may feed on your cucumber vines.
Pro Gardener Tip: Cucumbers planted in the late summer and fall tend to have less trouble with cucumber beetles and other pests.
Check out 16 Ways to Use Companion Planting to Prevent Pests Naturally to get more ideas on how to use companion planting in the garden!
What Not to Plant with Cucumbers
Potatoes: Cucumbers and potatoes have similar soil needs and will compete for nutrients if grown together. In general cucumbers don’t grow well with potatoes and potatoes can be more likely to be affected by blight when cucumbers are near.
Sage, and other aromatic herbs: The aromatic scents of these herbs can attract pests and they also can affect the taste of the cucumber fruits.
Melons and Squash– Melons and squash are in the same family as cucumbers and have the same feeding needs. Their vines will compete for space in the garden. You cucumber plants could be weakened by diseases and pests shared between the plant family. Don’t plant them together- or rotate them after one another.
Related: How to Tell the Difference Between Cucumber, Watermelon, and Cantaloupe Vines
Once you’ve harvested your cucumbers, check out these articles on how to use them:
For Eating Fresh Cucumbers: 30+ Fresh Ways to Use Cucumbers (includes how to store them)
For Preservation: 10 Ways to Preserve Cucumbers That Every Home Gardener Should Know!
More Companion Planting Articles:
Best Corn Companion Plants
Best Companion Plants for Squash
Companion Plants to Keep Aphids Away
Best Garlic Companion Plants
I tried marigolds in the garden last year and they attracted hundreds of japanese beetles which then decimated my grape vine. I was knocking them down into soapy water everyday. They were also next to my squash which broke out into a wave of squash beetles! I’m trying to go organic but here in NC it seems tough.
Plants like nasturtiums and marigold are meant to be sacrificial lambs. When they are infested, pull and dispose of them immediately. That protects your high value veggies. Don’t try to save them once infested and don’t compost. They should immediately go in the landfill trash. I think that’s what most people miss about planting those particular flowers… if you are using them as pest deterrents they are meant to be sacrificed upon infestation. Although, all parts of the nasturtiums are edible so you could consider it a salad green.
If you heavily feed your birds in the backyard with sunflower seeds they will set up house and then eat every single Japanese beetle in the area! My Rose bushes were absolutlely covered in Japanese beetles and I never say a rose anymore it was almost scary to look at my poor bushes. But then I stumbled on the bird feeding thing accidentally. I also live in NC, Western NC (Denver) and knocked out my beetle problem in one season feeding my sweet birds- mostly cardinals. They LOVE eating those shiny beetles HAHA!
From my own experience I would discourage planting beans next to cucumbers. I had green beans in my garden planted by my Japanese cucumbers, the latter of which took off initially and grew beautiful fruit.
Not long after the green beans started to strangle my cucumbers and choked them out, destroying my plant.
I am kind of a newby to the garden world. So don’t laugh at my dumb question..?.
What is the best way to grow the cucumbers? The vines are all tangled up and it is very hard to get in the to see if there are any growing. Do you have any suggestions?
Growing them vertically helps some….proper spacing….you can read tips on growing cucumbers here: https://thefreerangelife.com/growing-cucumbers/
And how to trellis them here: https://thefreerangelife.com/cucumber-trellis-ideas/
Install a short web wire for cucumbers to climb on. Makes it easy to harvest and control vines.
You might try stringing up some chicken wire next to the cucumber vines I know that peas & green beans runner vines climb the chicken wire making it easier to see & pick beans it’ll probably eork with cucumbers too
I trellis everything I can, including cukes, squash, some tomatos, as well as supporting sunflowers.
I use the heavy duty tomato cages for them to grow on works really well.
For cucumbers. Get tomato. Cage the vine can rap around the cages and you can see at top what is going on.
I have had very good luck growing Marketmore cucs up a trellis made of bamboo stalks i zip tied together. Reusable and wind resistant. Oh, and it was 8′ tall, at completion.
Trellis work wonderfully keeps the vines out of the beds and you can get them out of all the vines
how to kill cucumber beetles? They hit my cucumber plants hard.
Ive got a great cucumber plant, on a trellis, loads of flowers but it doesn’t seem to produce any cucumbers.. just one so far and it was good, why isn’t it producing more?
Hi!
When cucumber flowering a lot at the same time..it doesn’t mean it’s good..the more flowers it has the more fruits you will lose..WHY?
Any shoots you have on the main plant cut them off..just keep the fruits on the main..you’ll have more cucumbers to eat..
This is only a small tip for you..
There are many things you have to understand about growing produces.. Irrigation(water)..soils..nutrients..pest control + nursing your plants
Need this for small garden
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Hi last year we had our green beans on a trellis side to it we had cucumbers on trellis then the other direction we had rows of zucchini rows of cantaloupe and rows of peppers.our garden got swarmed by squash bugs and something else.everthing was destroyed quickly we also had a white residue on zucchini.we r trying to do organic please help what are we not doing right?
Squash bugs can be a BIG problem in the garden. You can try planting things like nasturtium in with your cucumbers and melons and planting some icicle radishes around the base of your plants. Planting flowers and herbs like dill can help draw in beneficial insects that will help fight bugs.
I manually pick squash bugs off of my plants and destroy any eggs I find daily. You can also experiment with trap cropping to draw bugs to a more favored plant and then remove the infested plant or the insects.
I put a round cage around my squash plants to keep my chickens from destroying them. The funny thing is the plants grew straight up. No leaves were on the ground. I was able to kill the squash bugs easily with neem oil and dawn dish soap. 1 tsp each of oil and soap per quart of water. Killed the bugs quickly. Have to spray the bugs every day till gone. I was able to spray the stalk without bothering the foliage.
I plant garlic in the fall where I know I want to plant my squash, cucumbers and melons. my garden is 65 X 65 and each get their own fence row around the garden. Beatles do not care for the smell of garlic also use all of the grass clippings I can get hold of for week control.
I take a 10 X 25 sheet of black plastic, roll it out and weigh it down with cement blocks – then cut 4 inch round holes (I use a can and knife) every 18 inches each way – about 140 holes – and plant my peppers there. plastic warms the ground keeps the weeds out and keeps the rain water from drying out – I use concrete reinforcement wire (150 foot long rolls 5 foot wide ) to make 5 foot tall tomatoes cages i get about 15 to 17 per roll.- the 5 inch spacing in the wire makes it easy to reach in and pick. Cut the bottom ring off and the wires will poke into the ground to prevent movement.
i plant 4 rows of 16 or 17 tomato plants and between the 1st and 2nd and then the 3rd and 4th rows I will broadcast plant radishes. Radishes are pulled before the tomatoes grow very tall. then I’ll spread all of the grass clippings I can get around the tomatoes (steal from your neighbors before they take to the compost site, don’t worry about them using week killer because people who need to bag have nice yards and very few weeds so no weed spray.) the more clippings you lay down the better the weed control, moisture retention and better for the worms that eat that grass and deposit black castings to build up your soil –
I’ll plant 1000 onions (3 varieties) divided into in 12 rows with 5 inch spacing and spread a light covering of clippings over them for the next 4 weeks for weed control. I use NO SPRAYS IN MY GARDENS.
Green beans – four 10 foot rows only 6 inches apart and when they come up – on go the clippings.
why do I grow so much – for older people (I’m 76) that can not grow their own. and i take a lot to the food bank. It also keeps my healthy eating FRESH SPRAY FREE food and the fresh air and exercise keeps my young and healthy – but the number one reason I grow so much ? keeps me away from the wife!!!
Oh my goodness! You are certainly a hardworking guy with a good heart. I’m sure your wife appreciates the sacrifice you’re making for her! 😉
Are tomato plants ok to plant beside cucumber plants?
I have used the need oil and dawn every day on my summer squash, crook neck squash
To no avail. I have never seen so many little black bugs the more I sprayed the worse it got. Anything I can do for my next planting.
Plant in a New whiskey barrel or large container with fresh\new soil. Miracle grow raised bed soil is our favorite, we keep amending and reuse adding earthworms/worm castings, rough crush eggshells and plant a couple of marigolds in their pots in the container. Once or if you see those little eggs underneath the squash leaves, take clear gorilla tape or shipping tape and press onto the eggs and pull off, this will take the eggs and not hurt the leaves. Then just toss the tape right in the outside trash. Enjoy!