Companion planting
In gardening and farming, companion planting is the planting of different crops next to each other. It is done to help the crops grow and to use the space available as much as possible.[1]
Depending on the crops chosen, companion planting may encourage processes that help the plants, such as pollination. Some companion plants may help stop pests, such as caterpillars or fungi, from damaging the crop.[2] Some of these, called trap crops attract pests away from the crop. Other plants may serve as shelter for the crops.
Many of the basic principles of companion planting were used thousands of years ago in Mesoamerica. From about 8,000 years ago, Native American peoples grew squash,[3][4] maize and common beans together. The stalk of the corn were there for the beans to climb, and the beans fixed nitrogen, helping the maize.[5][6][7]
Related pages[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ McClure, Susan (1994). Companion Planting. Rodale Press. ISBN 0-87596-616-0.
- ↑ "Companion Planting and Crop Rotation". The Self-Sufficient Gardener Podcast. Episode 24. 11 August 2010. Archived from the original on 24 February 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
- ↑ Smith, B. D. (1997). The initial domestication of Cucurbita pepo in the Americas 10,000 years ago. Science 276 932-34.
- ↑ "Cucurbitaceae--Fruits for Peons, Pilgrims, and Pharaohs". University of California at Los Angeles. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved September 2, 2013.
- ↑ Mt. Pleasant, J.; et al. (2006). "The science behind the Three Sisters mound system: An agronomic assessment of an indigenous agricultural system in the northeast". In Staller, J. E. (ed.). Histories of maize: Multidisciplinary approaches to the prehistory, linguistics, biogeography, domestication, and evolution of maize. Amsterdam. pp. 529–537.
{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ↑ Landon, Amanda J. (2008). "The "How" of the Three Sisters: The Origins of Agriculture in Mesoamerica and the Human Niche". Nebraska Anthropologist. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska-Lincoln: 110–124.
- ↑ Bushnell, G. H. S. (1976). "The Beginning and Growth of Agriculture in Mexico". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. 275 (936). London: Royal Society of London: 117–120. doi:10.1098/rstb.1976.0074.