Okra Companion Planting Guide: 5 Plants to Grow With Okra

Companion planting is a time-tested gardening method that enriches and protects vulnerable crops. Farmers and gardeners plant specific crops near each other in order to deter pests, attract beneficial insects, and stimulate growth.

Companion plants will either help a specific crop grow or will grow better beside a specific crop, and can do many support jobs in the garden:

1. 1. Repel insect pests. Cabbage worms, cucumber beetles, Mexican bean beetles, carrot flies, cabbage moths—all kinds of pests can plague vegetable gardens. Many companion plants (like marigold flowers, catnip, and rue) repel specific pests and should be planted near certain crops to keep them pest-free.
2. 2. Attract beneficial insects. Pollinators like bees and ladybugs can use a little encouragement to visit vegetable gardens and pollinate the crops. Gardeners often plant attractive plants like borage flowers to encourage pollinators to visit.
3. 3. Improve soil nutrients. When crops grow, they take up valuable nutrients from the soil—leaving the gardener to do a lot of work at the end of the season to renew the soil’s nutrients. However, there are many companion plants (like bush beans and pole beans) that add nutrients like nitrogen back into the soil, helping keep other plants healthy.
4. 4. Encourage faster growth and better taste. Many companion plants (like marjoram, chamomile, and summer savory) release specific chemicals that encourage faster growth or better taste in the plants around them.
5. 5. Provide ground cover. Plants that spread low across the ground (like oregano) serve as a blanket over the soil, protecting it from the sun and keeping it cooler for plants that benefit from lower temperatures.
6. 6. Provide necessary shade. Plants that grow tall and leafy (like zucchini and asparagus) can provide welcome shade for sun-sensitive plants beneath them.
7. 7. Serve as markers. When growing slow-growing plants, it can be difficult to tell where the rows will be while you’re waiting for the seeds to sprout. Gardeners often use fast-growing plants (like radishes) interspersed with the slow growers in their rows to delineate where the slow growers will be.

The okra plant (Hibiscus esculentus) grows as a tall stalk with large leaves and butter-yellow flowers, but it’s the immature, star-shaped seed pods that we eat as a vegetable. Okra, sometimes called lady’s fingers, is unique in that it is the only member of the mallow family (relatives include cotton, cacao, hibiscus, and durian) eaten that way.

Native to either Eastern Africa or Southwest Asia, okra arrived in the southern United States with the slave trade. The name okra may come from the Igbo ókùrù; while the Bantu word for okra, ki ngombo, or gombo for short, is the origin of the Creole word gumbo. Okra is especially popular in Africa, the Caribbean, India, the Middle East, and the southern United States. A hardy, adaptable vegetable, okra can now be found at farmer’s markets from California to New York, where it’s drawing attention for its health benefits.

Okra grows well with many different vegetables, herbs, and flowers. Okra needs a lot of water, so you can plant okra alongside other thirsty crops like eggplants or cucumbers. Examples of other good companion plants to grow and harvest with okra plants include:

1. 1. Calendula. Calendula is great at repelling pests like aphids, squash bugs, Japanese beetles, cucumber beetles, and squash vine borers. Plus, this flowering plant attracts bees and other pollinators.
2. 2. Aromatic herbs and flowers. Plants like chamomile, wormwood, chives, summer savory, coriander, tansy, yarrow, dill, mint, thyme, hyssop, chervil, geranium, rue, sage, and oregano are all very beneficial companion plants to okra. These plants repel insect pests (like cabbage moths and spider mites) and attract beneficial insects and pollinators.
3. 3. Brassica. Plants like kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, and other brassica family members plant well with okra. They add nutrients to the soil which helps improve the health of your okra plants.
4. 4. Sunflowers. These flowers act as a companion plant to attract pollinators, allowing your okra pods to bloom.
5. 5. Nasturtiums. Nasturtiums help attract beneficial insects, like flies, which in turn deters pests like aphids and bean beetles.

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