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Gardener shares simple hack to keep pests off your tomato plants: 'One of the t…
This viral gardening hack on TikTok will help you grow delicious, pest-free tomatoes and is just one way to use companion planting in your garden.
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Gardening Expert Reveals Companion Planting Secrets for Healthier Harvests
In a recent online video, gardening enthusiast Ali, known as aligrowsthings, shared her insights into companion planting, a technique she credits for significantly improving her home garden. The video, which has garnered attention among online gardening communities, demonstrates the strategic placement of different plant species to foster mutual benefits. Ali showcased the planting of tomatoes alongside basil and marigolds in her raised garden beds. According to her, basil acts as a natural deterrent for whiteflies, aphids, and hornworms, while marigolds attract beneficial insects like ladybugs and parasitic wasps that prey on tomato hornworms. "Companion planting is one of the things that has taken my gardens to the next level," Ali stated in her video description, emphasizing the positive impact on soil health, pest control, and plant growth. The video also provided a comprehensive list of other effective companion plant combinations, such as peppers with marigolds and nasturtiums, and the classic 'three sisters' method of corn, beans, and squash/pumpkins. Ali highlighted nasturtiums as excellent trap crops, diverting pests away from other vegetables, and noted their edibility. She also recommended planting bush and pole beans to enrich soil with nitrogen, advising gardeners to keep them away from alliums. "Plant sunflowers everywhere, they attract pollinators and JOY," she added, encouraging the integration of more flowers and strong-scented herbs to protect gardens from pests. The video concludes with a visual update of the garden's progress two weeks after planting, showing healthy growth and early tomato development, underscoring the effectiveness of her companion planting methods.
