There are a lot of great companion plants that you can pair with tomato and peppers in the garden.
Can you plant peppers and tomatoes together?
While it is said you should plant them apart because they do share pests and diseases and can compete for the same nutrients, often times gardeners just don't have much room in a home garden so we plant peppers and tomatoes together often.
So the answer is yes, you can pair tomatoes and peppers together. Just make sure leave enough space for the tomatoes to grow to their full size. Tomato seedlings are small when young, but they grow into very large plants, so we like to plant peppers to the south of them to avoid getting completely shaded by their height at the end of the season. Also be sure to leave enough room (at least 24 inches apart) for airflow between the peppers and tomato plants, which can help curb disease or pests and reduce productivity. Both tomatoes and peppers have similar growth requirements, so they can be grown together with success!
We've even grown a smaller cherry tomato and peppers in the same large pot. They may not have been quite as productive as if they were planted in the ground, but they provided lots of tasty treats and allowed us to plant some extra seedlings that we did not have room for in the garden.
What can I plant with tomatoes and peppers?
Here are our top Companion Plant picks
for Tomatoes and Peppers:
1. Marigolds
One of the most common pairings you'll see with tomatoes and peppers is planting them with marigolds. They are known to attract beneficial insects, and repel aphids and even are said to help repel harmful nematodes in the soil! Their strong smell is said to be a deterrent for rabbits and other browsers, too. Whatever it is, when we plant marigolds with our tomatoes, they really DO seem to be much happier and healthier so we plant them every year in our tomato and pepper garden. Marigold flowers are edible and make beautiful presentations on plates and when threaded onto long strings. Read more about Marigolds and Tomatoes »
2. Parsley
The delightful bianniel herb, Parsley makes a nice companion plant for tomatoes and peppers. It attracts beneficial insects like hoverflies, parasitic wasps, ladybugs, and tachinid flies that feast on aphids, caterpillars, thrips, and whiteflies. Plus, parsley it's useful in the kitchen, too! It is said that Parsley companion plants can even make tomatoes taste better. And Parsley is quite beautiful as it is a nice dark emerald green, and makes a good ground cover if you cut it back and use it over the summer months. Our delicious Italian Parsley is a biennial plant that forms a long edible tap root, and it will usually flower in the second year and reseed itself if in the right conditions.
3. Onions
Bunching green onions make a nice plant pairing with tomatoes and peppers as they can be grown in-between plants and don't take up much room. Harvest them regularly to encourage new growth – and throw them into salsas, pico-de-gallo or to top salads, stews, chili, nachos, you name it!
4. Carrots
Low-growing Carrots are perfect to plant between tomatoes and peppers! They green up the garden. Being root vegetables, carrots' roots grow deep and help break up the soil, allowing essential nutrients, water, and oxygen to permeate the roots of the tomato plants.
5. Nasturtiums
Nasturtiums in your tomato and pepper garden can be beautiful, are edible, and they can act as a trap crop for aphids and whiteflies, which are said to adore this spicy plant. We have never seen pests on our Nasturtiums, but they do attract a lot of pollinators. The leaves and flowers and even seeds are edible, they have a spicy horseradish flavor, and are good when tossed with green salads – the flowers make a beautiful salad topping! Some people pickle their seeds and use them like capers. By the way, nearly any plant will do well next to nasturtium – think pumpkins, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, corn, lettuce, cabbage, raspberries, fruit trees, and so much more!
6. Basil
Basil is delicious and a favorite companion plant with our tomatoes and peppers. You can keep harvesting it to keep it pruned back and bushy and it works as a good soil shader between your pepper and tomato plants. Plus, if you let a few of your basil plants to flower, they'll attract tons of beneficial insects and pollinators! Basil also pairs perfectly with tomatoes in the kitchen! Caprese salad, anyone?
7. Bush Beans
Green beans are great companion plants for pepper and tomatoes as they can help keep the soil cool or provide a little side shade for peppers prone to sunscald. Beans also "fix nitrogen" in the soil making it more fertile. Plus, they're delicious, too! Our Provider Green Beans are the most dependable early green bean and are very easy to grow – so make sure to tuck some in between your tomato and pepper plants this season! You won't regret it.
8. Lettuce
Lettuce is another great companion plant for peppers and tomatoes, you can tuck them in-between and enjoy bountiful salads this season! Planting lettuce with tomatoes and pepper is a great way to get an additional harvest in a small space – lettuce has a lower growth habit and helps crowd out weeds so it's a great companion! Out Little Gem Lettuce is a delicious cross between butterhead and romaine, giving it the unique trait of having romaine’s crunch with the sweetness and small size of a butterhead. Lettuce is typically a cool-weather crop and is best grown in spring and fall. Little Gem stands up well to summer heat and is slow to bolt, so if is is planted near tomatoes, the extra shade as summer progresses can help this lettuce grow long into the summer months.
9. Cilantro
Herbs make great pepper and tomato plant companions, and Cilantro is no exception! Cilantro attracts beneficial insects including tiny parasitic wasps and pollinators, and the cilantro flowers smell lovely in the garden. It does like to bloom in the heat of summer, and we like to let it go wild, as the blooms are edible and perfume the garden while attracting beneficial insects – and then they will go to seed and provide lots of coriander for the kitchen (yes, Cilantro seeds are coriander!) or you can also use them to resow for future harvests. Plus, we think that salsas and pico-de-gallo tastes so much better with cilantro!
Other great tomato and pepper plant companions include NATIVE PLANTS!
Planting native plants to your region really help support beneficial insects and pollinators, plus they're easier to grow than exotic plants!
Echinacea, sunflowers, Goldenrod, and many other native plants are great companions for peppers and tomatoes. Sunflowers, of course, are very tall and should be spaced away from the plants so that they don't shade or compete with each other – but having them around the perimeter of the garden can really help boost diversity in your garden to keep pests in check! Check with your local Native Plant Society or Wild Ones chapter to find the best wildflowers to add to your garden. Many wildflowers, like Echinacea, are perennial so they come back bigger and better every year, making your gardening to-do list shorter. Leave the seed heads over the winter to attract birds like Goldfinches, House finches and other birds which will also help with pest control!
Got bug problems with your tomatoes?
Companion planting helps you battle pests on your tomato plants.
What to Plant with Tomatoes to Keep Bugs Away
Here are some more answers to your common questions on this Tomato & Pepper Companions topic:
What should not be planted near tomatoes?
It's best not to plant fennel, potatoes, corn, eggplants, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, or kale near your tomato plants.
What is the best companion for tomatoes?
Hmmm, hard to say, whatever favorite you have from our top companions above! We could possibly say Marigolds or Basil, because they look lovely – and both are edible too. Marigolds seem to especially keep our tomato plants healthy, and they are some of the longest lived bloomers in the garden at the end of the season - they seem to tolerate light frosts with ease so they're blooming long into the fall and provide a last treat for pollinators before winter arrives.
What should you not plant peppers next to?
In a pepper garden, avoid planting the following plants near your pepper plants: eggplant, fennel, potatoes, brassicas (like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower), and corn as these plants can compete for nutrients, attract similar pests and diseases, or provide too much shade, or inhibit pepper growth.
