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The original was posted on /r/permaculture by /u/KeezWolfblood on 2024-07-31 21:40:03+00:00.

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“Asparagus gets along with many other plants, but tomatoes are notorious for being excellent asparagus plant companions. Tomatoes emit solanine, a chemical that repels asparagus beetles.” - GardeningKnowHow (emphasis mine)

Aside from the hilarious mental image thanks to the writers of GardeningKnowHow, has anyone tried this or have you read a reputable source about this solanine + asparagus = asparagus beetle protection?

I am trying to plan out an asparagus bed (I’ve never grown asparagus before and am eager to start a patch). I don’t like the idea of monoculture for really anything, if it’s avoidable. I looked through the history on this sub and I see that a few of you have tried (successfully?) the strawberry/asparagus.

Has anyone tried tomatoes with asparagus?

The theory on several websites is asparagus + tomatoes + basil + parsley (contained?) = a happy quartet. 

But I would consider adding borage for a nitrogen-fixer.

The other option I am considering is asparagus + strawberries + borage + sage (contained?).

But you wouldn’t want strawberries and tomatoes together (to my understanding) so probably one or the other.

What seems strange to me is it seems like the tomatoes and asparagus would compete for light no matter how you placed them. And it makes rotating the tomatoes difficult. I was thinking tomatoes might go “behind” the asparagus on the north side for me, or on the east or west side (or all three if I rotate year-to-year). But it seems like that would potentially disturb the asparagus too much when planting tomato starts (in my region, I would likely need to grow myself starts yearly even if I grew from seeds).

These companion planting articles always seem to echo each other and almost never have a first hand or second hand account of any of these combinations actually working.