Garlic Companion Plants
Vegetable240 days to maturity
Garlic is one of the garden's great protectors, its sulfur compounds repelling aphids, spider mites, and many beetles, which is why it appears in so many companion-planting charts. Grown from individual cloves rather than seed and usually planted in fall for a midsummer harvest, it occupies a bed for most of the year. The catch is that those same pungent compounds stunt beans, peas, and other legumes, so garlic is a friend to most crops but a foe to a few.
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Tap any plant to see whether it pairs well with Garlic and why. Green means a beneficial companion, red means keep them apart.
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Companion Planting Strategy for Garlic
Garlic earns its keep by repelling pests from a wide range of neighbors, from brassicas to tomatoes to strawberries, while taking up little space. The one firm rule is to keep it away from legumes, whose nitrogen-fixing bacteria alliums inhibit.
Best Companion Plants for Garlic
These plants grow well alongside Garlic — providing pest control, attracting pollinators, or making better use of your garden space.
Garlic's strong scent repels aphids, spider mites, and other soft-bodied pests that plague tomatoes, and its antifungal nature may help reduce disease.
Interplanted garlic deters aphids and spider mites that attack peppers, protecting the tender new growth.
Garlic repels cabbage worms, cabbage moths, and aphids, shielding heading brassicas from their worst pests.
Garlic's pungent compounds deter the aphids and cabbage caterpillars that swarm broccoli.
Garlic helps drive off aphids and the cabbage-family caterpillars that disfigure cauliflower heads.
Garlic repels aphids and cabbage moths from kale, keeping the leaves cleaner and more edible.
Garlic's smell masks the carrot's scent and helps confuse and repel the carrot rust fly.
Garlic deters pests above ground while its narrow roots leave the beet's space undisturbed, so the two share a bed comfortably.
Garlic repels aphids and its antifungal scent helps protect strawberries from fungal rots.
Garlic tucks into gaps between lettuces and repels aphids and rabbits drawn to the tender leaves.
Garlic interplanted among potatoes repels aphids and is used in sprays against the Colorado potato beetle, and its antifungal scent may help limit disease.
Garlic repels Japanese beetles and aphids from raspberry canes and lends mild antifungal protection.
What Not to Plant With Garlic
Keep these away from Garlic. They compete for resources, attract shared pests, or inhibit each other's growth.
Garlic and other alliums release compounds that inhibit the nitrogen-fixing bacteria beans depend on, stunting their growth and cutting yields.
Like beans, peas are legumes whose growth and nitrogen-fixing bacteria are suppressed by nearby garlic, so keep the two apart.
Garlic tends to stunt asparagus, and the two are traditionally kept in separate beds.
How to Grow Garlic
- Botanical name
- Allium sativum
- Family
- Onion (Amaryllidaceae)
- Sun
- Full sun, 6-8 hours daily
- Water
- About 1 inch per week; stop watering 2-3 weeks before harvest to let bulbs cure
- Soil
- Rich, loose, well-draining soil high in organic matter; pH 6.0-7.0
- Spacing
- 4-6 inches apart; rows about 12 inches apart
- Planting depth
- Plant individual cloves 2 inches deep, pointed end up
- Germination
- Grown from cloves, not seed; sprouts in 1-2 weeks (fall plantings root before winter)
- Days to maturity
- About 240 days for fall-planted garlic; roughly 90 days for smaller spring-planted bulbs
- When to plant
- Fall, 4-6 weeks before the ground freezes (especially hardneck types); early spring in mild climates
- Harvest
- Early to midsummer when the lower third to half of the leaves have browned; cure 2-3 weeks in a dry, airy spot
Common Garlic Problems
Small bulbs or bulbs that never form
Usually from planting too late, crowding, or too much nitrogen. Plant in fall, space cloves well in full sun, keep nitrogen moderate, and snap off scapes to redirect energy to the bulb.
White rot (yellowing tops and white fluffy fungus on the bulb)
A persistent soil-borne fungus; pull and destroy infected plants, do not compost them, and rotate alliums to a fresh bed for several years since the spores survive a long time.
Garlic rust (orange pustules on the leaves)
Improve airflow with wider spacing, avoid excess nitrogen and overhead watering, remove infected leaves, and clean up all debris at the end of the season.
Bolting and scapes on hardneck garlic
Hardneck types send up a curling flower scape; cut the scapes off once they curl to channel the plant's energy into a larger bulb (and enjoy the scapes in the kitchen).
Garlic Companion Planting FAQ
What are the best companion plants for garlic?
Garlic pairs well with tomatoes, peppers, brassicas like cabbage and broccoli, carrots, beets, strawberries, lettuce, potatoes, and raspberries. Its sulfur scent repels aphids, spider mites, cabbage moths, and other pests, making it a natural protector throughout the garden.
What should you not plant with garlic?
Keep garlic away from beans, peas, and asparagus. Garlic and other alliums release compounds that inhibit the nitrogen-fixing bacteria legumes rely on, stunting their growth, and they also tend to suppress asparagus.
When is the best time to plant garlic?
In most climates, plant garlic in fall about 4-6 weeks before the ground freezes, so the cloves root before winter and size up the following summer. Hardneck varieties especially need that cold period; in very mild regions you can plant in early spring for smaller bulbs.
Can you plant garlic with tomatoes and peppers?
Yes, garlic is an excellent neighbor for both. Its pungent scent repels aphids and spider mites that attack tomatoes and peppers, and it takes up so little space that you can tuck cloves right between the plants without competition.
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Plan Your Garlic Garden
Use our interactive tools to design the perfect garden with Garlic and its companions.