Hello Everyone. Yesterday I planted my new little veggie plot. It's small and a bit crowded but roughly along the lines of the square foot gardening idea.... EXCEPT, after I planted, I was reading about companion gardening and several accounts said NOT to plant brassicas near tomatoes as they will stunt the growth of the toms. Of course, the broccoli, cauli and brussels sprouts are beside the toms. In fact, the plot is so small, everything is near everything. In your experience, how crucial is it for me to move the brassicas? My priority is the toms. And, thank you for the advice.
Several companion planting guides say to keep tomatoes and brassica apart but not why. Since your garden is small with everything close to the tomatoes I would pot them up and move them away from the veggie plot.
Since you only planted the plants a short time ago, you could probably get away with moving them. I do not know why these two plant types should not be planted near each other...and I am always skeptical of info given that does not include a reason. I think for that reason that I might be tempted to just leave them and feed your toms according to Hoyle, so to speak...and see what happens. It is not clear what is best...but as I said, having planted your plants not long ago, you might get away with it. The big choice is which plants to move. If the toms have begun to flower and infdeed form fruits-then I would move the brassicas. Otherwise, it may not make any difference.
I did this last year. I planted eggplants along side of my tomatoes and they were quickly eaten up by flea beetles. I pulled up the stumps and planted red cabbage in their place. My tomatoes did just fine, but the cabbage never got heads larger than golf balls. I thought maybe it was because I put them in so late in the spring. It was late May or early June.
I think that the reason they say not to plant them close is because both are heavy feeders. Would not be enough nutrients for both to do well and they would have to compete.
