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Planting pumpkins in a mixed culture has several advantages for you as a gardener. The more different plants you have growing in your beds, the less trouble you will have with pests and diseases. It also helps to maintain soil fertility, as monocultures leach the soil to one side. This article gives you an overview of good and bad neighbors for pumpkin plants. Below you will also find an example of a mixed crop with pumpkin with planting plans for an entire garden year.
We have created an example of a mixed crop with pumpkin with digital planting plans. This plan covers an entire garden year, as we have prepared bed plans with pre- and post-crops for you.
Pumpkins are part of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae). In addition to pumpkins, the cucurbitaceae family also includes cucumbers, melons and zucchinis. However, good and bad plant neighborhoods differ within the various species of a family. The zucchini, for example, has different good neighbors than the pumpkin.
These plants originate from Central and South America, so they are heat-loving crops. Therefore, choose a sunny but sheltered location for your pumpkin plants. The soil should be rich in humus and nutrients, as pumpkins are heavy feeders. Whether the soil is loamy, clayey or sandy is relatively unimportant for pumpkin plants. The only important thing is that the soil should not dry out.
Pumpkins are particularly suitable as ground cover in a mixed culture. Within one season, they can cover an area of up to three square meters and provide shade with their large leaves. As a result, less water evaporates from the soil and the soil is protected from wind and water erosion.
Good neighbors | Bad neighbors |
---|---|
Beans | Aubergine |
Camomile | Courgette |
Corn | Dill |
Garlic | Onion |
Hyssop | Pepper |
Kohlrabi | Potato |
Lavender | Tomato |
Marigold | |
Majoram | |
Nasturtium | |
Oregano | |
Peas | |
Peppermint | |
Radishes | |
Radish | |
Sunflower |
Pumpkin plants have a high demand for nutrients. Plant or sow after heavy feeders, medium to light feeders or a green manure. Planning a good succession plan is important to maintain soil and plant health. You can find out how to plan succession planting in this article.
Suitable pre- and post-crops for pumpkins are lettuce (lamb's lettuce, Asian lettuce, winter lettuce), radishes, spinach, peas, broad beans, postelein, endive (as young plants), parsley and Jerusalem artichokes.
As with most vegetable plants, a cultivation break of 4 years on a bed (section) is recommended. This information should be understood as somewhat flexible. If you prepare your beds well, have not previously had any problems with severe pest or disease infestation, sow green manures and plant mixed crops, 2 to 3 years is often sufficient.
We have prepared a garden year with pumpkin in mixed cultivation with suitable pre- and post-cultivation for you.
As pumpkin plants are heat-loving crops, they are only planted in the bed after the last frosts. To use your bed all year round, you can sow some cold-resistant plants in early spring: spinach, lettuce, radishes and kohlrabi . While the other crops are harvested by mid-May, the kohlrabi can remain in the bed. ,Superschmelz' is a kohlrabi variety with a relatively long growth phase. The tubers can then be harvested from July.
Summer crops can then be planted in the bed from May. Pumpkin plants are usually grown on the windowsill and planted as young plants, as are nasturtiums, oregano and sunflowers. You can harvest earlier if you plant young plants. You can find out how to grow and sow your pumpkin plants in this article. You can sow runner beans directly into the bed. Sunflowers that have been pre-grown and have a head start on growth will serve as a stable climbing aid. You can also sow radishes such as 'Easter greetings pink' in April/May. Radishes also grow relatively quickly and are ready to be harvested after 2 to 3 months.
When the temperatures drop, the summer crops gradually die off and make room for new ones. As pumpkin plants have a high nutrient requirement, you should either sow a green manure or choose low-yielding crops, as shown here in the plan. You can sow cover crops such as peas, spinach, lettuce such as rocket, radishes and lamb's lettuce.
Here you can find more planting plans as inspiration for your mixed crop with pumpkin. Have fun browsing!
If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at [email protected].
If you need help with your planning, take a look at the Fryd bed planner. It will help you find the best crops for your location and skill level and give you tips on how to grow your own vegetables. Register here or download the Fryd app for Android or iOS.
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Cover image by Patrick Pahlke on Unsplash.
Marie is an agronomist. She is particularly interested in the sustainable and organic cultivation of vegetables and other plants. In her own garden, she gained experience and likes to try things out to learn from nature. She is particularly interested in the values and principles of permaculture, in order to contribute not only to the well-being of nature, but also to the well-being of people and future generations.
Learn moreWhat are good neighbors for pumpkin?
Good neighbors for pumpkins include beans, peas, chamomile, nasturtium, garlic, kohlrabi, corn, radishes, marigolds, sunflowers and marigolds. But the herbs marjoram and oregano, hyssop and lavender also go well alongside pumpkin.
Which plants are bad neighbors for pumpkins?
Plants that you should not plant next to pumpkins are eggplants, dill, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and onions.
Can you plant pumpkins and zucchinis together?
Zucchinis and pumpkins are bad neighbors as they come from the same plant family. However, if you otherwise ensure a wide variety in the bed and sufficient fertilization (both plants are heavy feeders), it should not be a problem to plant them next to each other.
Are pumpkins and tomatoes good neighbors?
Pumpkins and tomatoes are also not supposed to be good neighbors. However, if you take care to plant otherwise weak to medium growers in the bed and fertilize them sufficiently, it should not be a problem to plant pumpkins next to tomatoes.