I have read that radishes repel squash bugs but I have also read not to plant radishes near squash plants, does anyone know which is correct or has anyone tried, I have a Serious problem with squash bugs.
In my North Central Texas, zone 7 garden, squash bugs and squash vine borers are my worst nemesis. I don't known about radishes, but last year I planted squash family plants surrounded by lemon balm and squash plants without lemon balm. Guess which plants were pest free? I plan to plant all of my squash family plants with lemon balm this spring. Good luck in your battle.
There is a cool book called "Carrots Love Tomatoes" by Louise Riotte that is the best on companion planting. There is another great book by Sally Jean Cunningham "Great Garden Companions" that is a popular book on this subject. You should be able to get these books at your local public or botanical library.
Posts: 55 | Location: Birmingham,AL | Registered: February 11, 2002
There was something in a previous issue of Organic Gardening magazine--just a little blurb, not a whole article--that said peppermint worked for this. I can't remember the issue, maybe over a year ago. Isn't lemon balm in the mint family? Maybe that's why it works, too!
Lastyear we planted radishes around our summer and winter squash and it seemed to work until the radishes seeded and died. This year we will try successive radish plantings around the squash. At the Great Plains Vegetable Growers Conference this past weekend, someone said they planted mint with their squash and that seemed to work. However, mint can be invasive.
I'm a new visitor to the OG website and was directed to a link at sign-up for a free download of "Companion Planting Made Easy", excerpted from "Companion Planting" a book from Rodale's "Successful Organic Gardening" series (1994). Maybe you can get it through the home page. It says in there that you can plant catnip or tansy, or radishes as a deterrent to squash bugs. No mention of incompatibility with radishes that I could find. Worth a try, I'd say. Lemon balm probably would work, too, but it's as invasive as any mint I've ever planted, and then some. But it's a delightful herb in its own right, so it's worth a try also. I've grown squash close to radishes and not more than 10' away from mint, catnip and lemon balm and still had a squash bug problem. I've found that keeping dead leaves and debris cleaned out helps, but doesn't eliminate the problem. I just plant more and hope some will be left for me at end of the season!
