{"id":557,"date":"2026-10-09T00:28:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T22:28:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/192.168.60.121\/en\/companion-planting-honestly\/"},"modified":"2026-10-20T10:59:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T08:59:16","slug":"companion-planting-honestly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/en\/companion-planting-honestly\/","title":{"rendered":"Companion planting in a pot: what the data says (no miracles)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Companion planting is full of legends (&#8220;basil cures the tomato&#8221;). The data says otherwise: compatibility depends on <strong>light, water, space and family<\/strong>, not on magic. The site&#8217;s dataset is explicit on this: <strong>there are no miracle pairs<\/strong> and allelopathic effects are mostly <strong>uncertain and never assumed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image oib-infographic\" data-oib-fig=\"g6-cocoltivazione\" style=\"margin:0 0 2.25rem\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/g6-cocoltivazione.jpg\" alt=\"Co-coltivazione: le regole oneste \u2014 Companion planting: the honest rules\" width=\"1672\" height=\"941\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/figure>\n<h2>Companion planting: what compatibility really is<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Similar needs.<\/strong> Plants that want the same light, the same water and the same space coexist better: that is the real logic of companion planting, because you can manage everything together.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Adequate space.<\/strong> Two plants that take light and air from each other are in competition, whatever the species.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Same family = same pests.<\/strong> Putting more plants of the same family on the same balcony concentrates the risk of a specific pest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What the research says, and what it doesn&#8217;t<\/h2>\n<p>Many famous pairs have little evidence behind them, and the scientific literature stays cautious. Where data exist, the documented effects are specific: for example, <strong>marigolds<\/strong> (<em>Tagetes patula<\/em>) can contribute to controlling root nematodes in the substrate, a recognized but not guaranteed benefit that depends on dose and conditions. Another real effect is that of <strong>flowers that attract useful insects<\/strong>: nasturtium, calendula and other flowering species draw in pollinators and natural predators (ladybirds, hoverflies) that keep aphids in check. This is not folklore: it is functional biodiversity on the balcony.<\/p>\n<h2>The honest rules<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Pair plants with <strong>similar light and watering needs<\/strong>: that is the real benefit.<\/li>\n<li>Give <strong>space<\/strong>: the right density (see the guide and the dedicated tool) avoids competition.<\/li>\n<li>Grow <strong>a useful flower<\/strong> (nasturtium, calendula): it attracts beneficial insects, a concrete and documented advantage.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t trust <strong>miracle pairs<\/strong>: they are not supported by the data.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The <a href=\"\/en\/tools\/\">Compatibility and companion planting<\/a> tool evaluates pairs based on these real factors.<\/p>\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/powo.science.kew.org\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew \u2014 Plants of the World Online<\/a> \u2014 taxonomy<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rhs.org.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Royal Horticultural Society<\/a> \u2014 plant care<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umd.edu\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">University of Maryland Extension<\/a> \u2014 container growing<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umn.edu\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">University of Minnesota Extension<\/a> \u2014 containers and climate<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/extension.psu.edu\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Penn State Extension<\/a> \u2014 urban container growing<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/extension\/news\/creating-biodiverse-vegetable-garden\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">University of Vermont Extension \u2014 Creating a Biodiverse Vegetable Garden<\/a> \u2014 beneficial flowers and nematodes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Companion planting is full of legends (&#8220;basil cures the tomato&#8221;). The data says otherwise: compatibility depends on light, water, space and family, not on magic. The site&#8217;s dataset is explicit on this: there are no miracle pairs and allelopathic effects are mostly uncertain and never assumed. Companion planting: what compatibility really is Similar needs. Plants [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_GB","_original_post":"556","oib_translation_group_id":"","oib_affiliate_link_limit":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guide","tag-guide","en-GB"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ortoinbalcone.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}