Tomatoes and marigolds

[Bekah]

I've heard that planting marigolds with vegetables will help keep insect pests away. How about planting marigolds with tomatoes? I've heard that spider mites like both of these. Will this be a problem? I like the idea of planting vegetables and flowers together, are there any good combos? Thanks. :)

[Flutecrafter]

I remember back when I was a boy.. we planted marigolds with pretty
much all our vegtables.. not only was it pretty.. but it seemed to work
fairly well... geographically.. this was on the gulf coast.

Don't know much about this North texas area yet. ;)

mark

[Bekah]

Thanks. I've also planted rosemary in the same bed, heard they help as well.

[Maren]

Chives and Basil also are good for tomatoes. The basil makes them more vigorous and the chives can help repel bugs and other creatures. Also find the marigold that repels nematodes. It is a small plant without very many flowers but it does work. I always plant at least one basil plant for each tomato. They really do well together. Carrots also do well with tomatoes. Likes their shade. Good luck.

[unklmike]

The Marigold is a specific type (I think it called a nematode marigold but I'm probably wrong. Somewhere on the package it said something about nematodes). I've always just used the seeds from the previous years flowers which were just regular old French marigolds that I origionally got from Home Dep. Never had a problem with nematodes but I also put out beneficials once a year.
I combine marigolds, basil, chives, garlic and cilantro with my tomatoes. Not only great aroma but it looks nice too :D
unklmike