Dos and don’ts of companion planting for tomatoes

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Q. As a friend strolled with me through my vegetable garden recently, I noticed that she looked quite horrified at a new transplanting I’d made of staked tomatoes positioned next to cabbage and cauliflower plants, which she declared would have an adverse effect on growth and productivity in the tomatoes. Is this a fact?

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A. None of my references on companion planting caution against planting tomatoes and cabbage family vegetables near each other in the open garden. Most indicate they could be good companions because tomato foliage repels cabbage butterflies.

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I’ve heard only once of tomatoes not doing well, in a raised, boxed outdoor bed when cabbages were growing right up against the tomato stems. That tomato stunting was most likely the result of cabbages being extra greedy (nutrient-hungry) feeders, able to out-compete the tomatoes for both moisture and nutrients.

Personally, I never grow heavy feeders like cabbage family vegetables next to tomatoes, but I do use the tomato “suckers” removed from my staked tomatoes to repel the cabbage butterfly — simply by laying the suckers on the cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower plants. A veteran gardener from Holland gave me that useful tip.

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The only plants I grow next to the bases of my staked tomatoes are very light feeders. Lettuce transplants are my usual choices. In the heat of summer, lettuce does especially well close to and on the shaded side of the staked tomatoes.

Q. In January, squirrels dug out the tulip bulbs I’d planted in large pots. How is this prevented?

A. After I lost my potted tulips, lined up against a house wall on shelving, to squirrels, I began over-wintering the pots in enclosed, unheated places like a store room next to the house or a garden shed, where the plantings need only an occasional light watering during the winter months. Then I bring the pots to their spring display locations. I’ve never had squirrels bother the bulbs at that point.

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