Companion Plant Pack

(30 Plug Plants)

Easy-to-grow companion flowers

Organically grown plugs

Help keep pests at bay naturally

Estimated Delivery from mid-May

£13.99

Help to keep pests at bay with beautiful companion plants
Companion planting is a traditional and natural way to deter pests from crops that you are growing and to attract good insects such as hoverflies, lacewings and ladybirds which are the best natural predators of aphids and whitefly. Our little companion plant pack is a great way to get started and not only do the plants look lovely when interspersed with your vegetables, they all have the advantage of being edible too.

With 30 plants in total, this pack contains the following plants:

Calendula x 10 plug plants
Plant calendula all around your plot, particularly close to your tomatoes, peppers and aubergine to help deter aphids. They also look very pretty when in flower. Use petals to garnish salads.

Marigold x 10 plug plants
The strong colour of marigolds attracts beneficial hoverflies, lacewings and ladybirds. Plant them in amongst your crops or next to rows of veg. The flowers and leaves have a mild citrus flavour and can be used to garnish salads or desserts.

Nasturtiums x 10 plug plants
Nasturtiums secrete a mustard oil that insects love, plant them as a sacrificial crop close to brassicas to deter caterpillars. A wonderful pretty companion plant with edible leaves and petals which have a distinctive peppery taste.

Growing Companion Plants

Delivery & FAQ’s

If you order now we would estimate delivery from mid-late May. Please see FAQs for up-to-date delivery info.

FAQs →

About the plants

All our companion plants come as bare-rooted plugs that are ready to plant

More info →

Using companion plants

There are different ways of using companion plants to keep pests at bay

Advice →

Array ( [name] => Companion Plants & Flowers [blogtitle] => Interested in Using Companion Plants? [blogintro] => Here are a few articles that will help you get started with using companion plants in your veg garden [blogs] => Array ( [0] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 154808 [post_author] => 4 [post_date] => 2020-05-29 14:17:10 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-05-29 14:17:10 [post_content] => Last week our Rocket Gardener wrote a post on companion planting and we received several enquiries about how to use companion plants as a result. So...here's a little introduction for those of you who would like to find out more. YOU CAN USE COMPANION PLANTS FOR:

Attracting natural predators – for example, marigolds and tagetes can be used anywhere that aphids and and whitefly are a problem as they will attract ladybirds and lacewing which will help to keep whitefly and aphids at bay.
Providing food for pollinators – a lot of companion plants tend to flower for a long time over the spring and summer months, and often into autumn too. They provide valuable food for pollinators for a long time, and it’s a great thing to attract more pollinators into your veg patch. More pollination = more tomatoes/beans/courgettes/squash etc etc
Deterring pests – Strong scents can deter pests, so planting companion plants alongside vulnerable crops can help. For example, mint can help wherever you have problems with flea beetles whilst onions/chives/garlic can deter carrot fly from carrots.
Acting as a sacrificial crop – in this instance, companion plants are planted to attract pests away from vulnerable crops. The most obvious example of this is where you would plant nasturtiums close to brassicas to attract cabbage white butterflies. In doing so, the butterflies lay their eggs on the nasturtiums, meaning that when the caterpillars hatch they eat the nasturtium leaves rather than brassica leaves.

SOME IDEAS: Chives and Garlic Chives – Plant amongst carrots to deter carrot fly. You could also plant rows of spring onions or onions between rows of carrots for the same effect. Nasturtiums – Plant a clump near brassicas. They’ll act as a sacrificial crop protecting brassicas from cabbage white caterpillars. Marigolds and Tagetes – Use anywhere that aphids and and white fly are a problem, (for example, in amongst your tomato plants) as they will attract ladybirds and lacewing which will help to keep white fly and aphids at bay. Mint – Can deter flea beetles (lots of leafy veg are affected by these bugs which make lots of tiny holes in the leaves). Chamomile, Lavender, Borage & Hyssop – attract bees and other pollinators. Plant them in and around your beds. Basil - in greenhouse can help deter aphids Dill & Fennel - can attract ladybirds which in turn feed on aphids Red Campion - can deter blackfly away from your broad beans [post_title] => An introduction to companion planting [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => closed [post_password] => [post_name] => an-introduction-to-companion-planting [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2020-05-29 14:18:04 [post_modified_gmt] => 2020-05-29 14:18:04 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/?p=154808 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 11231 [post_author] => 4 [post_date] => 2024-01-10 12:31:42 [post_date_gmt] => 2024-01-10 12:31:42 [post_content] => Using companion plants is a good way of bringing a bit of balance into the veg plot and allowing nature to work in your favour. It's not completely fool proof, but planting companions in addition to using other natural methods of pest control can have good results. There are a vast number of pests that magically find their way into your veg patch as soon as you plant. The usual suspects include aphids, whitefly, greenfly, cabbage white caterpillars and other caterpillars, pigeons, cabbage root fly, carrot fly and, of course, slugs and snails. There are hundreds of others, but you get the picture. Think of companion plants as little bodyguards for your veg. You pop a few companion plants in a row alongside a row of veg and they'll either take a hit for the team by attracting the pests to eat themselves rather than the veg that they're guarding, or they'll fend them off with their scent. Here are some ways to get started with companions this coming season:

Plant a row or bed of nasturtiums alongside your brassicas to protect them from caterpillars. You'll find that butterflies are attracted to the nasturtiums and will lay their eggs there instead. When the caterpillars hatch, they'll completely destroy your nasturtiums but your brassicas will remain largely untouched. We can definitely say that this has worked for us many times in the past, however, we'd still encourage you to net your brassicas with mesh netting so that your plants stand an even better chance.
Pop a few plants from the allium family in a row alongside carrots to deter carrot fly. Onions, spring onions, leeks, chives and garlic chives work well. The smell masks that of the carrot plant so that the carrot fly doesn't bother paying your plants a visit in the first place. We will often plant a full row of onions in between two rows of carrots, for example.
Marigolds and Tagetes can be used anywhere that aphids and and whitefly are a problem, (a prime place would be in amongst your tomato plants) as they will attract ladybirds and lacewing which will help to keep whitefly and aphids at bay. You can also try planting basil in pots in the greenhouse with tomatoes.
Mint in pots can help wherever you have problems with flea beetles (lots of leafy veg are affected by these bugs which make lots of tiny weeny holes in the leaves). The strong scent deters the flea beetles.
Dill and fennel can help to attract lacewings & ladybirds and therefore keep numbers of aphids down.

We do have a Companion Plant Pack that contains Marigolds, Tagetes and Nasturtiums if you'd like to make a start with using companions in your vegetable garden. [post_title] => Companion Planting to keep pests at bay [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => companion-planting [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2025-03-25 13:51:29 [post_modified_gmt] => 2025-03-25 13:51:29 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://www.rocketgardens.co.uk/?p=11231 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 81067 [post_author] => 4 [post_date] => 2019-02-07 17:39:58 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-02-07 17:39:58 [post_content] => Some people remain sceptical of using companion plants as a natural way to keep pests under control. In fairness, there's not a lot of proven science to back it up. We've tried growing veg both with and without using companion plants, and this is our take on it... when we have the companion plants in the plot (and we're talking about our Companion Plant Pack here which includes nasturtiums, marigolds, and tagetes) we simply see a more diverse range of wildlife. It's a more balanced eco-system, and although many of the bugs are so tiny you can hardly see them, they are there in good numbers. More ladybirds, different butterfly varieties, more bees. And that's just for starters. That's our first observation. Our second observation is that when we plant nasturtiums near brassicas, the nasturtiums get completely annihilated by caterpillars, whilst the brassicas receive relatively little damage. Our third observation is that the more we plant in and around our veggies, the more effective it seems to be. It makes sense really, as it replicates nature a little more closely. We can't imagine carrots would grow alone in a perfectly straight row without a little help from us humans. So it seems logical that a few alliums planted in amongst them to mask the scent would help to make them less of a target to the ubiquitous carrot fly. Our final observation is that everything you do in your veg patch is just part of the bigger picture. Protecting your plants well uses a mish-mash of different methods - nets, fencing, cloches, fleece, beer traps, companion plants, human intervention - they all play a part and we'd always advise that you don't rely on one thing to do the job. But definitely, bring more diversity into the plot, and it'll make a difference. Finally, here are some ways you can use companion planting:

Plant a row or bed of nasturtiums alongside your brassicas to protect them from caterpillars. You'll find that butterflies are attracted to the nasturtiums and will lay their eggs there instead. When the caterpillars hatch, they'll completely destroy your nasturtiums but your brassicas will remain largely untouched. We can definitely say that this has worked for us many times in the past.
Pop a few stinky plants from the allium family in a row alongside carrots to deter carrot fly. Onions, spring onions, chives and garlic chives work well. The smell masks that of the carrot plant so that the carrot fly doesn't bother paying your plants a visit in the first place.
Marigolds and Tagetes can be used anywhere that aphids and and whitefly are a problem, (for example, in amongst your tomato plants) as they will attract ladybirds and lacewing which will help to keep whitefly and aphids at bay. You can also try planting basil in pots in the greenhouse with tomatoes.
Mint in pots can help wherever you have problems with flea beetles (lots of leafy veg are affected by these bugs which make lots of tiny weeny holes in the leaves). The strong scent deters the flea beetles.
Dill and fennel can also help to attract ladybirds and therefore keep numbers of aphids down.

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