In small gardens or even limited beds, it makes sense to create mixed cultures. Plants that fit together and get along are mixed together in a row. Carrots, for example, are suitable for a mixed culture with onions.
Which plants fit into a mixed culture with onions?
In a mixed culture with onions, cucumbers, carrots, parsnips, zucchini, herbs such as dill, savory and chamomile as well as beetroot make good neighbors. Less suitable are leeks, potatoes, beans and peas.
Advantages of mixed culture
If you only have a limited area available for growing vegetables, you should think about creating mixed crops or mixed row crops. With this planting method, different types of vegetables are mixed in a row, making optimal use of the available space. Since different types of vegetables have different nutrient requirements, they can all grow together. Weeds hardly have a chance in such a mixed bed. Pests and diseases also have difficulty spreading.
Tip:
Do not grow vegetables from one plant family one after the other because the following crop no longer receives enough nutrients. For example, beetroot should not be cultivated after the chard harvest; the beets would not grow optimally due to the lack of nutrients. Creating a mixed culture table can be helpful when selecting planting pairs for the field.
What goes into a mixed culture with onions?
Good neighbors for growing onions are, for example
- Cucumbers
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Zucchini
- Herbs such as dill, savory and chamomile
- beetroot
If these vegetables or herbs are grown together with onions, the plants benefit from the diverse neighborhood. You stay he althier and thrive better. Diseases and pests hardly stand a chance.
Leeks, potatoes, beans and peas are less good neighbors for onions. As heavy and medium eaters, these vegetables require a lot of nutrients, leaving little left for the onions.
What should be taken into account when cultivating mixed crops with onions?
With a mixed culture, care must always be taken to ensure that the selected plants are able to absorb balanced nutrients from the soil. Vegetables with high, medium and low nutrient requirements should be alternated, as should deep-rooted and shallow-rooted vegetables. This means that the plants in and above the ground do not get in each other's way and can develop optimally. Onions, for example, have shallow roots. They accept a deep-rooted plant like the radish next to them because both plants get their nutrients from different layers of soil. However, care must always be taken to ensure that all types of vegetables get enough light and air. A sufficient planting distance between the individual plants is therefore immensely important.
