A quick answer from the garden notebook
Companion Planting for Cucumbers
By David Choi · Updated · How we source and review advice
Short answer
Three cucumber companions have field trials behind them. A border of Blue Hubbard squash draws cucumber beetles away. Flowers that bring in bees raised yields in some plantings. Mixing cucumbers with corn and broccoli cut beetles sharply, but the cucumbers grew less.
Cucumber companions, with the evidence
Some of this is measured in trials and some is long-standing garden practice. Each note below says which it is.
Good together
Trials show a real benefit:
- Blue Hubbard squash (trap crop border)In farm trials, a Blue Hubbard squash border drew cucumber beetles off the cucumbers, cutting leaf damage and spraying; the border itself was sprayed.Measured in trials
- Pollinator flowers (cosmos, borage, basil)In a Texas A&M field study, flowers that attract pollinators, planted with cucumbers, raised yields in some plantings but not all.Measured in trials
- Corn and broccoli (mixed planting)A field study found 10 to 30 times fewer cucumber beetles where cucumbers grew mixed with corn and broccoli, though cucumbers grew less.Measured in trials
A squash border to catch cucumber beetles
Cucumber beetles prefer Blue Hubbard squash. In farm trials run with UMass and UConn, a border of Blue Hubbard around the cucumbers pulled the beetles to the edge, which cut leaf damage and spraying. The border itself was sprayed, so the beetles did not simply move in.
Flowers for pollination
Cucumbers need bees to carry pollen between flowers. In a Texas A&M field study, flowers that attract pollinators, planted with cucumbers, raised yields in some plantings but not in others.
Mixed planting has a cost
A field study found 10 to 30 times fewer cucumber beetles where cucumbers grew among corn and broccoli. The same cucumbers also grew and fruited less, most likely from crowding. It is a trade-off, not a free win.
Nasturtium, radish and sage
Many charts list nasturtium and radish as good cucumber companions and sage as a bad one. We found no trial behind these for cucumbers, so they are not in our list. Washington State University horticulturist Linda Chalker-Scott, quoted by University of Arizona Extension, says traditional companion planting charts have entertainment, not scientific, value.
Sources
- Perimeter trap crop approach to pest management on vegetable farms (Northeast SARE (University of Massachusetts project))
- Companion planting in home gardens (University of Minnesota Extension)
- Benefits of pollinator-attracting companion plants (Texas A&M AgriLife)
- Effects of Plant Density and Diversity on the Population Dynamics of a Specialist Herbivore, the Striped Cucumber Beetle, Acalymma vittata (Fab) (Ecology (Catherine E. Bach study))
- Companion Planting (Backyard Gardener #254) (University of Arizona Cooperative Extension)
- Gardening with Companion Plants (Home Garden Series), EM128E (Washington State University Extension)
The full growing guide
Cucumber
A warm-season vine grown for crisp green fruit that is picked before it turns yellow.
- Harvest
- 50 to 70 days
- Effort
- Season
- Warm
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