What Not to Plant With Calendula – 7 Worst Companions

Calendula, which is sometimes called “pot marigold,” is a happy flower whose bright yellow and orange blooms can make any garden look better. But, like all plants, calendula has some garden friends that it doesn’t get along with. When you plan your calendula patch, you should know what not to plant next to it so that it doesn’t get stunted growth, more pest problems, or bad flowering.

In this article we’ll look at 7 of the worst companion plants for calendula and explain why they don’t make good neighbors. Avoid these unsuitable plant pairings and your calendula will reward you with plenty of bright beautiful blossoms.

Tomatoes – The Big Bully

People who garden often choose tomatoes, but these big, sprawling plants don’t do well with calendula. Here’s why you should never plant tomatoes and calendula together:

• Competition for resources – Tomatoes are aggressive growers that need lots of food, water, and space. They will hog all the nutrients and crowd out delicate calendula.

• Different growing needs – Tomatoes thrive in warmer weather and need stake support as they grow large and heavy. Meanwhile calendula prefers cooler temperatures and can’t grow well in the shade of towering tomato plants.

• Risk of disease – Tomatoes are prone to fungal diseases like blight that can easily spread to calendula in their vicinity.

Give tomatoes their own separate vegetable bed or cages. Keep them far from your calendula patch to prevent one-sided competition.

Broccoli & Cabbage – Not Cuddly Companions

Broccoli, cabbage, kale and other brassicas are not compatible with calendula due to the following reasons:

• Voracious appetites – These fast-growing brassicas have high nutrient demands. They will quickly take nitrogen and other nutrients out of the soil, leaving calendula roots hungry.

• Heavy shade – Mature brassica plants grow quite large and leafy, blocking out sun from lower-growing flowers like calendula. Lack of sunlight equals reduced blooms.

• Pest magnets – Brassicas attract cabbage loopers, aphids, and flea beetles. Nearby calendula will easily fall prey to these bugs too.

Give brassicas their own plot on the other side of the garden, far from your calendula. This prevents competition and separates the pest attraction.

Peppers – Spicy & Not So Nice

Sweet peppers and hot chili peppers make poor companions for calendula for these reasons:

• Different needs: peppers do best in hot, dry conditions, while calendula does best in cooler, wetter soil. This mismatch in needs causes stress.

• Shading and crowding – Lush pepper plants quickly grow large and dense, blocking sun access for lower calendula. Their sprawling growth crowds out nearby plants.

• Minimal benefits – Peppers are mostly self-pollinating so don’t attract many pollinators that could cross-pollinate calendula.

Keep peppers in their own beds or containers away from your calendula. This prevents moisture and sunlight issues.

Mint – Rampant & Bullying

Mint’s aggressive spreading nature and tall growth habit make it a very poor choice to plant near delicate calendula, for several reasons:

• Very invasive – Mint expands rapidly via underground rhizomes and will quickly take over any bed, choking out calendula and hoarding all moisture/nutrients.

• Gets too tall – Fast-growing mint towers over and shades out smaller calendula plants, leading to reduced flowering.

• Hazards when pruned – Trying to control mint’s spread often involves digging it up, causing root damage to nearby calendula plants.

To avoid mint outcompeting and destroying calendula, plant it by itself in containers or give it an isolated garden bed far away from your flowers.

Beans & Peas – Dense & Smothering

Beans and peas quickly grow into dense, crawling thickets of foliage that don’t play nice with calendula:

• Rampant vines – Bean and pea vines grow fast and long, smothering, crowding, and tangling fragile calendula stems.

• Heavy nitrogen needs – These legumes require lots of soil nitrogen, depriving calendula roots of this essential nutrient.

• Attract pests – Aphids, Japanese beetles and other insects are drawn to beans/peas, and will spread to nearby calendula.

Avoid planting leggy beans and peas in the same bed as your calendula. Give them their own plot or grow vertically on trellises to minimize their smothering sprawl.

Corn – Greedy & Shading

Sweet corn is another garden favorite that is incompatible with calendula for these reasons:

• Heavy feeder – Corn’s dense plantings demand high levels of nitrogen and other soil nutrients. This starves nearby calendula of vital elements it needs.

• Blocks sun – Mature corn plants grow quite tall and leafy, keeping the sun from reaching shorter calendula and reducing its blooms.

• Shallow roots – Corn’s roots only grow 2-3 feet deep, competing with calendula’s shallow root system for water.

Grow corn in its own blocks or rows, far from calendula. This prevents nutrient deficiencies and lack of sunlight caused by corn’s greedy habits.

Vining Squash – Rambunctious & Spreading

Rampantly spreading vining squash like zucchini, pumpkin and cucumber are a bad mix with calendula due to:

• Sprawling vines – Unruly squash vines wander far and wide, easily overtaking and tangling fragile calendula stems.

• Dense foliage – Large squash leaves block sunlight from reaching and nourishing calendula plants.

• Moisture greed – Fast-growing squash soaks up lots of water, leaving little for thirsty calendula roots.

Grow winter and summer squash separately from calendula – either in their own garden beds or vertically trellised to contain their wild sprawl.

By avoiding planting these incompatible companions next to your calendula, you can provide the optimal growing conditions it needs to produce the biggest, brightest blooms. Give calendula breathing room and plant partners that don’t compete directly for sunlight, nutrition and water.

With smart companion planting, your calendula will thrive and add a cheery glow to your garden!