10 Best Companion Plants for Peppers in Your Garden

Peppers and tomatoes are not good companion plants because they are susceptible to the same pests and pathogens. The same applies to other members of the nightshade family (eggplant, potatoes, tomatillos, ground cherries).

Allium

Aphids are some of the most common pepper pests, causing distorted and yellow leaves when they feed on plant sap. Luckily, chives, onions, leeks, and other alliums naturally repel aphids and other problem insects and make good companion plants for peppers. Even better, if you allow your chive plants to bloom, their cheery purple flowers will attract pollinators to increase your pepper harvest.

Basil

Basil is well-known for being an excellent companion for tomatoes, but it also works well for peppers. Its strong scent helps basil to repel a wide variety of common pests, including thrips. In turn, the taller pepper plants offer some afternoon shade to nearby basil, helping to shield the herb’s tender leaves from too much sun.

Beans and Peas

With the help of certain bacteria, beans, peas, and other legumes have the ability to naturally add nitrogen to the soil and improve soil health overall. Beans and peas planted as companion plants for peppers can give your plants a nutrient boost and promote more vigorous growth. To keep your legumes from overwhelming your pepper plants, try building some cattle panel trellising or opt for bush-type beans and peas, which stay more compact.

Bok Choy

Pepper plants are often targeted by flea beetles, which will chew holes in plant leaves and may transmit bacterial wilt. To avoid this, plant bok choy near your pepper plants to act as a “trap crop.” Flea beetles and other pests prefer bok choy leaves and will naturally congregate on these plants, helping to keep your peppers pest-free.

Cilantro

Growing cilantro as a companion plant for peppers isn’t just good for homemade salsas. It’s also one of the best choices for organic pest control. Cilantro flowers attract all kinds of beneficial insects, such as parasitic wasps, lacewings, and ladybugs. These insects feed on aphids and other common pepper pests.

Cucumbers and Squash

Cucumbers and squash plants pair well with peppers because their low growth habit shields the soil from direct sun, prevents weeds, and keeps your soil from drying out too quickly. If you choose to grow cucumbers as groundcovers without trellising, add organic mulch around your plants, which will keep your cucumbers from touching bare soil, which can promote rot.

Hot Cherry Peppers

Hot cherry peppers are some of the best companion plants for bell peppers you can grow. Bell peppers are vulnerable to pepper maggots, which bore holes into developing fruit and cause it to rot on the plant. However, research has shown that these pests prefer hot cherry peppers to other pepper varieties. Planting cherry peppers as trap crops often works as a trick to keep the rest of your peppers safe.

Lettuce

Lettuce is an undemanding, fast-growing, cool-season vegetable that can be added in between a few pepper plants. Interplanting lettuce or other leafy greens among your peppers will put empty soil to good use. Additionally, peppers can offer a bit of afternoon shade to your lettuce plants, slowing down bolting and prolonging harvest.

Root Vegetables

Carrots, beets, radishes, and other root vegetables grow low to the ground, so you won’t need to worry about them competing with your pepper plants for sunlight. But interplanting root vegetables among your pepper plants is also a smart way to get the most out of your garden space. While waiting for your peppers to mature, sow fast-growing root vegetables such as radishes around your pepper plants and harvest them in just a few weeks.

Sunflowers

Their big flower heads make sunflowers especially alluring to bees and other pollinators. Increasing pollinator activity near your pepper plants will boost pollination rates and lead to a better pepper crop. If you’re working with a small garden space, but still want to try companion planting with sunflowers, look for dwarf varieties that stay much more compact.