Compatible planting is an excellent technique to protect and nourish your main crop and utilize your garden space to the fullest.
Pepper plants are no exception. There are some excellent compatible plants that you could choose while growing peppers.
However, some plants could prove detrimental to the yield. You could refer to them as the worst companion plants for pepper.
We discuss these plants in detail so that you can avoid planting them. Let’s get going.
Pepper Plant
The Pepper plants also referred to as bell peppers or sweet peppers, are found in the species Capsicum annuum. They produce edible fruits of different colors.
The plants love full sunlight, which promotes healthy growth. They prefer growing in the warm season and slightly acidic soils. Additionally, the soils must be well-draining since pepper doesn’t love wet feet or surroundings.
Due to the risks associated with disease outbreaks, the growing area should also not have a previous planting of crops in the nightshade family, such as potatoes and tomatoes.
What Not To Plant Next To Peppers?
This section lists plants that you shouldn’t grow with your peppers. There are various reasons to avoid them.
Some of these plants deprive peppers of essential nutrients, while some expose them to harmful diseases.
The plants on the list include:
- Cabbages
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Kale
- Peas
- Beans
- Kohlrabi
- Apricots
- Fennel
- Cauliflower
Let’s talk about these plants in detail and highlight why you shouldn’t grow them.
Cabbages
Cabbage is an annual vegetable crop in the Brassicaceae family. Gardeners mainly grow the vegetable for its densely leafed head.
It thrives in cool temperatures and is a heavy feeder that quickly depletes the soil nutrients. This is the very reason you shouldn’t plant your peppers with cabbages.
Their nutrient requirements are also quite different. Cabbages prefer a more neutral pH than peppers, which like some acidity levels.
Broccoli
Broccoli is an edible green vegetable and a member of the cabbage family; it’s typically grown with green flower buds and has purple variations.
Broccoli is best grown during the cool season and prefers direct sunlight. It thrives in a pH range of between 6.0 and 7.0, which means you should change the soil acidity levels by adding lime if necessary.
It’s not the best pick for growing together with peppers for being a heavy feeder.
Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprout is a leafy vegetable grown for its edible buds. It counts among the Gemmifera group of cabbages or the cole crop family.
The vegetable prefers at least six hours of sunlight. The soils should be fertile and well-draining, with pH ranging between 6 and 6.8.
Being in the same family as cabbage, they attract the same pests. It’s another of the worst plants you shouldn’t grow near your peppers.
Kale
Kale, also known as leaf cabbage, is a member of the cole family and is loved for its edible leaves. Interestingly, the plant is closely related to wild cabbage.
Their growing conditions include full sun, well-draining fertile soil with a pH range of 6.5 to 6.8. Like other Brassicaceae members, kale requires proper feeding with the right amount of rich organic manure.
It’s also not among the ideal companion plants for pepper. For the best results, plant them at quite a distance from peppers.
Peas
Pea is an annual cool-season crop grown for its pods which contain edible seeds. Their best growing areas are the cold high, altitude regions, and the tropics.
Pea is a legume— it will add nitrogen to the soil useful for other plants. However, excess nitrogen interferes with the healthy growth of the pepper plant.
It leads to poor production of pepper pods.
Beans
Beans are leguminous and add a certain percentage of nitrogen to the soil. It’s a warm-season crop directly sown via seeds into the garden.
If you intend to grow peppers in your garden, avoid planting them with beans.
Planting the two plants separately also helps to ensure their different fertilizer needs are well met.
Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi, or the German turnip, is a member of the Brassica oleracea Gongylodes. The vegetable is a biennial and a cultivar of wild cabbage.
It has edible stems and leaves that can be consumed raw or cooked. Kohlrabi thrives well in plenty of sunlight and prefers fertile and well-draining soils.
To ensure optimum leaf production, feed the plant with water-soluble plant food.
Its pH range is somewhat incompatible with that of pepper. You are better off growing them separately.
Apricots
Apricots are also among the plants you shouldn’t plant near chili peppers.
They require 600 to 900 chill hours that typically range between 0 – 7 degrees celsius. They also need well-draining loamy soils that are slightly alkaline.
Their growing conditions do not match that of pepper.
Fennel
Fennel is a flowering perennial herb in the carrot family. It’s not only aromatic but flavorful and makes a good cooking ingredient.
On the flip side, Fennel is not a companion plant for most vegetables. It attracts several pests that are detrimental to your veggies.
However, it can distract these pests when planted away from pepper.
Cauliflower
Cauliflower also adds to the long list of plants in the Brassicaceae family.
It is a cool-season crop that thrives well in sunlight and prefers neutral soils.
Cauliflower is a cousin of broccoli and contains white edible flesh referred to as curd.
You should not grow cauliflowers near peppers for the same reason as other crops in this family— they are heavy feeders and deplete the soil of essential nutrients.
Conclusion
You are now in the know regarding the worst companion plants for peppers.
The plants from the Brassicaceae family should be totally avoided as they have high nutritional requirements and out-compete your peppers.
Besides, the legumes such as beans and peas add nitrogen to the soil, which causes stunted production of pepper pods.
Ideally, you want to grow vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, radishes, squash, and eggplants near peppers as they all benefit mutually.
Herbs such as Basil, Chives, and Dill also do an excellent job repelling harmful pests and insects away from peppers.
