Through the spring and into summer, peas growing up a trellis are a boon to the spirit as well as the soil. Whether you're growing snow peas, snap peas, or sweet peas, these legumes can help to aerate and fix nitrogen in the soil, and maximize space in a small garden. Companion planting peas with other space-efficient vegetables or pest-deterring flowers is a great way to take advantage of these benefits-- while helping the peas, too.
This guide breaks down what grows well with peas, what not to plant with peas, common pea pests to look out for, and how to use companion planting to suit your garden's needs.
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Benefits of companion planting for peas
Some pea companion plants specifically benefit peas, some will benefit from being planted near peas, and some have a mutually beneficial dynamic. Here are a few ways that companion planting with peas can improve your harvests:
- Providing shade: A dense row of peas grown up a trellis can provide needed shade for cool weather companion plants like cilantro and radishes.
- Covering soil: Peas like consistently moist soil and cool temperatures, which can be difficult to maintain in early and midsummer. Plants that shade the soil help provide both of these conditions as temperatures rise.
- Maximizing space: Peas grown vertically can easily maximize your garden space, leaving ample room at their base for a companion plant.
- Improving soil condition: Peas like loamy soil, and their shallow roots will benefit from growing near other plants that help to aerate the soil.
- Deterring pests: Some pea companion flowers actively deter common pests like aphids, beetles, and nematodes.
The best pea companion plants
Companion planting with peas can be confusing, with some guides suggesting that virtually any plant can benefit from proximity to peas and their nitrogen-fixing roots. While peas can likely provide some added nitrogen for some companions, not all vegetables will benefit from more nitrogen in the soil.
For example, some root crops and brassicas don't need particularly nitrogenous soil and will actually suffer slightly in peas' rich growing conditions. That said, there are a few plants that would benefit from peas' added nitrogen, rich soil, and water needs, like leafy greens and cucumbers.
At a minimum, plants that grow well with peas enjoy loamy, rich soil with lots of added compost, and consistently moist soil.
Here are a few herbs, flowers, and vegetables that grow well with peas:
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1. Potatoes
Potatoes like a rich soil, but they don't need a particularly nitrogenous soil; for root crops, too much nitrogen can produce abundant leafy growth at the expense of the roots. Still, potatoes and peas enjoy the same conditions and can maximize space when grown together.
If you hill tomatoes, this creates a perfect valley into which you can sow peas. The peas will benefit from the potatoes' loamy soil, occupy an otherwise unused space, capture any run-off water, and be ready to harvest before main crop potatoes need to be pulled from the ground.
Read More: The 17 Best Potato Companion Plants
2. Cucumbers
Companion planting with cucumbers provides excellent ground cover, will help aerate the soil, and may result in a better harvest for both the peas and cucumbers.
As heavy feeders, cucumbers enjoy the same rich, loamy conditions as peas. Both plants will benefit from consistent watering, and growing the cucumbers along the ground will help the soil to retain that moisture.
3. Corn
Corn provides an easy trellis for peas to climb up, and peas provide some added nitrogen for corn. Both plants enjoy rich, loamy soil that's been amended with compost or composted manure.
4. Beans
Peas and beans share the same companions, have the same growing requirements, and can grow up a shared trellised. Sown in a row into loamy soil with plenty of compost, they won't compete with each other for nutrients.
While pole beans and peas will get along well side-by-side, bush beans can provide shade for pea roots, which like cool, moist soil.
5. Radishes
Radishes sown at the same time as peas will mature quickly and be ready for harvest as early as a month after planting. Radishes won't offer much in the way of pest deterrence, but they are a space efficient companion plant. They can also grow as a trap crop for flea beetles which, while they don't generally eat peas, could prove useful for other pea companions like cucumbers and potatoes.
If you plant radishes with your peas, be sure to sow them when they peas are being sown or planted out. As the peas grow, they won't appreciate their shallow roots being disturbed by radish harvesting.
6. Leafy greens
Lettuce, spinach, and other leafy greens are a perfect companion plant to place next to or even between peas. Greens thrive when the soil is well draining and rich, as nitrogen spurs leaf growth. Planting them in the shade of a pea trellis may also help to delay them bolting in early and mid-summer.
Read More: The 11 Best Companion Plants for Spinach
7. Cilantro
Peas and cilantro both enjoy rich, well draining soil and regular watering. Cilantro will benefit from the nitrogen that peas fix in the soil, and its flowers attract beneficial predatory insects like hoverflies that can help keep pea pests in check.
Cilantro is a cool weather plant, and even slow bolting varieties are quick to bolt as the summer heats up. If you grow cilantro and peas together, expect to have to replace the cilantro with another companion in early summer. Alternatively, you could let the cilantro flower, enjoy the beneficial insects it attracts, and harvest the coriander seeds.
Read More: The 9 Best Companion Plants for Cilantro
8. Parsley
Parsley is another cool weather herb that enjoys rich soil and part shade in the summer. Like other leafy greens, parsley benefits from the slightly more nitrogenous soil that peas enjoy and help to create. In return, bushy parsley plants shade the soil around pea roots, helping to keep peas happy and the soil cool into the summer.
If allowed to flower in their second year-- or if they bolt in their first year-- parsley plants will support beneficial insects like lacewings, ladybugs, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps and flies. For any gardener who struggles with aphids, mites, or caterpillars, this is a great way to reduce pest damage.
Read More: The Best and Worst Companion Plants for Parsley
9. Marigolds
Marigolds top the list of the best flowers to plant with vegetables, thanks to their impressive ability to deter a long list of pests. There's plenty of research on both French and African marigolds, which has shown that they can reduce damage from aphids, reduce root-knot nematode populations, and support parasitic wasps that prey on stink bugs.
Marigolds like full sun and loamy soil, and they're prone to downy mildew if their soil is kept too moist. If you plant them with peas, be sure to water the soil directly (instead of the leaves) and avoid overwatering, which can harm both plants.
Read More: The 16 Best Companion Plants for Marigolds
10. Nasturtiums
Aside from being a good companion plant for peas, nasturtiums are another versatile flower in a veg garden. They have a low-growing habit, allowing them to suppress weeds, create habitat for beneficial insects, and keep the soil cool. But they can also help reduce whitefly populations, are an effective trap crop for nematodes and aphids, and may repel cucumber beetles.
If you struggle with nematodes or aphids and want to grow nasturtiums as a trap crop, plant the flowers a short distance from peas and let them become established before planting the peas out. This will encourage the pests to migrate to the nasturtium plants, and they're unlikely to wander far away.
What not to plant with peas
Not all plants benefit from the nitrogen that peas fix in the soil, or enjoy sharing the soil with legumes. Planting peas with these plants could actually stunt their growth or make them more prone to pests and diseases:
1. Alliums
Alliums like onions, garlic, chives, and leeks are categorically bad companions for peas because they're known to stunt legume growth. Instead of planting alliums with peas, they would do well as part of a crop rotation where peas are followed by a brassica, which is then followed by an allium.
Read More: The 20 Best Companion Plants for Onions
2. Brassicas
Brassicas like kale, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are best planted with other companions like leafy greens and onions. In a small garden, they could grow well enough near peas-- and it's worth a try, if you're keen to grow both and have limited space.
But brassicas don't want as much nutrition in the soil as peas do, and too much nitrogen will actually produce quicker, weaker brassica growth that makes them more susceptible to pests.
Read More: The 10 Best Companion Plants for Broccoli
3. Mediterranean herbs
Rosemary, sage, oregano, marjoram, and thyme don't enjoy the same soil as peas do. While thyme and oregano can grow well in fairly rich soil, none of these plants will appreciate a very rich soil that's consistently moist.
Read More: The 11 Best Companion Plants for Rosemary
4. Mint
There are a few mint companion plants for container gardening, or that will benefit from having potted mint nearby. But growing mint in the ground with peas will allow it to outpace them, spread aggressively, and take up the nutrients that peas need.
Common pea pests
Young pea plants are especially vulnerable to damage from pests that eat the first tender leaves. This includes the insect pests below, as well as slugs, snails, rabbits, and mice. When planting out peas-- and especially when sowing peas directly-- it's worth giving the plants some protection in the form of row covers or cloches.
Here are a few more common pea pests you might see on mature plants:
- Aphids
- Spider mites
- Leaf miners
- Pea weevils
- Bean beetles
- Root knot nematodes
- Thrips
Aphids, spider mites, leaf miners, thrips, and pea weevils all do visible damage to pea leaves. Some of these pests can be deterred through close companion planting with marigolds or nasturtiums, and are otherwise easily removed with a quick blast from the hose.
Root knot nematodes live in the soil and affect a wide range of vegetables, which also includes tomatoes, potatoes, and cole crops. Again, companion planting is one of the best lines of defense against these pests-- nasturtiums are an effective trap crop.
Pea weevils can affect the leaves, pods, and seeds of pea plants. Adult pea weevils burrow into pods and lay their eggs on the outside of individual peas, allowing the larvae to hatch and burrow into the pea to mature. You'll be able to tell if your peas have been affected by looking for the large round hole that adult weevils create when they leave the pea. This ruins peas for consumption, but you can salvage saved seed peas that might contain weevil larvae by storing them in the freezer overnight.