Grow the Best Companion Plants for Pumpkins
As you are sorting through seeds for your spring garden, don’t skip over those pumpkin seeds because I’m sharing a list of companion plants for pumpkins to help you have the best season yet! If you’ve ever grown pumpkin plants in your backyard garden, you know it can go one of two ways: happy festive fall balls or outrageously needy problem children.
These large vining plants take up a lot of space, like a monopoly board. But don’t let that scare you away because companion planting might just be the cure! It isn’t some fancy garden jargon; it’s the secret sauce to healthier fruit, a bigger pumpkin harvest, and fewer pests.
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Benefits of Companion Planting
Companion planting is the practice of growing certain plants together for mutual benefits in your vegetable garden. These plants provide natural pest deterrents, improved growth, and better yields for each other, even in small gardens.
When you choose the right companion plants, you’re giving your pumpkins a support squad that keeps them safe, well-fed, and protected— no pesticides required. Plus, you may even attract some beneficial insects to the yard! Maybe we should call them milkshake plants and bring all the pollinators to the yard?
Why Pumpkins Love Company
Companion planting benefits pumpkins in many ways- the right plant buddies can repel pests naturally, attract pollinators (hello, bees!), improve soil fertility and health, and maximize your garden space.
Pumpkins are space-hogs and heavy feeders, plus they have a long growing season. Their vines sprawl everywhere, their leaves get massive, and they need all the nutrients they can suck up. But they’re also vulnerable to pests like squash bugs and vine borers. Cue the companions. Without good companions, your pumpkin plants will likely suffer, or at least not be as fruitful as you’d like. We want a good harvest from our pumpkin patch, so get your buddies some good friends!
The Original Pumpkin Companion Plants
The Three Sisters is an ancient (and genius) planting method used by Indigenous cultures and Native American tribes—it’s the OG companion planting strategy. You grow corn, beans, and squash (or pumpkin) together, and they each bring something important to the garden.
Corn grows tall and sturdy while it acts like a natural trellis for pole beans to climb. The beans climb the cornstalks and then fix nitrogen for great soil health; hello, free fertilizer boost! The squash (your pumpkins included) sprawls across the ground, the pumpkin leaves provide shade to prevent weed growth, and keeping the soil moist.
It’s a beautifully symbiotic relationship — kind of like a garden version of a group project where everyone actually does their part, or those birds that live of the backs of animals eating their bugs.
Space your seeds thoughtfully, and you’ve got yourself a mini food-producing ecosystem with deep roots in tradition. You’ll have a healthy pumpkin crop this fall season and be eating beans and corn mid-summer!
Best Pumpkin Companion Plants
You may not always want to go the route of the three sisters. Maybe you don’t like beans, or don’t have room for lots of corn in your garden bed. No worries, there are lots of other excellent companions that help out pumpkins! Planting aromatic herbs is like hiring a natural security team that smells good and doesn’t cost a dime after planting.
More flowers = more bees = more fruit.
- Radishes – These grow fast and help deter squash bugs and aphids from getting to your pumpkins. Also, they make a great salad topping while you’re waiting for pumpkins to mature.
- Marigolds – Bright, beautiful, and natural nematode-fighters. Bugs hate their smell, and I love their pop of color. Win-win for everyone.
- Nasturtiums – These act like a decoy (aka trap crop), luring aphids away from your pumpkins. They also add edible flowers and leaves to your garden salads.
- Oregano – A powerhouse herb that repels pests with its strong scent. Just don’t let it take over, use a container if needed!
- Borage – Attracts bees like a floral magnet, and the blue flowers are a dreamy touch to your patch. You can also use the spent leaves to mulch and retain soil moisture
- Tansy – A lesser-known plant that repels cucumber beetles and ants. It’s like the bodyguard of the garden.
- Mint – (in containers only!) Mint is great for pest control, but it’s aggressive. Keep it in pots or it’ll be the only thing you harvest next year.
- Sunflowers – These big beauties give bees a reason to hang around, which helps pollinate your pumpkin blooms. Perfect to use instead of sweet corn stalks for the three sisters garden, too.
Try using our Banana Peel Tea Fertilizer in your garden this season too!
Plants to Avoid Near Pumpkins
Not all plants play nice with pumpkins. While we love these plants in our garden, some compete for nutrients or attract pests you’d rather repel. Skip these in your pumpkin zone:
- Potatoes – Hog a lot of nutrients and attract the same pests, better to keep those in a separate bed, or large container
- Brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, kale) – Stunt pumpkin growth because they are heavy feeders and take a ton of the soil nutrients away from your pumpkins
- Squash/Melons – Limit the competition of these sprawling plants otherwise they will all suffer
- Fennel – It’s a garden loner and inhibits many plants, including pumpkins, by releasing inhibitory compounds into the soil (source)
- Tomatoes – Attract aphids and take up a lot of space and sun
Companion Planting Mistakes to Avoid
- Planting mint in the ground — just don’t, it will take over the ENTIRE bed eventually
- Overcrowding – pumpkins need elbow room, don’t plant too many in one bed or the companions too close, give them some breathing room to vine out
- Ignoring soil prep — poor soil equals sad pumpkins, no matter the companions, so make sure you have some good compost in your dirt
Seasonal Planting Guide for Pumpkins & Friends
- Late Winter/Early Spring: Give your marigolds and herbs a head start indoors
- Mid-Spring: Direct sow radishes, herbs, beans, flowers, and corn
- Late Spring/Early Summer: Plant pumpkins outdoors once frost risk is gone and companions have sprouted
Interested in making some pumpkin recipes with all those pumpkins you are going to grow this year? Learn how to make Easy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds, Pumpkin Puree, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, or Pumpkin Cake Cookies!
The best companion plants for pumpkin help boost growth, deter pests, and make you feel like a pro! Your garden will be healthier, happier, and a whole lot more low-maintenance. Remember: gardening isn’t about perfection, it’s about experimenting, getting your hands dirty, and high-fiving yourself when you finally grow a full-sized pumpkin!
FAQS
It’s not ideal. Tomatoes and pumpkins compete for nutrients and attract similar pests like aphids. Better to keep them at a distance.
Marigolds, hands down. They’re low-maintenance, bloom like champs, and are pest-repelling superheroes.
Within a few feet is perfect. Don’t crowd the pumpkin vines too closely, but nearby is close enough for the benefits to kick in.
They can significantly reduce the need for them. While they might not eliminate every bug, they help create a more balanced ecosystem where pests are less of a problem.
Yes! Crop rotation still matters. Rotating helps prevent soil depletion and can help breaks pest/disease cycles.
Great post! You just reminded me that I forgot to start marigolds this year. Shoot! I’ll have to just sow them in the ground I suppose and hope that they’ll grow fast! Super helpful information!