Grow This Tasty Herb With Your Tomatoes To Repel Insects

Tomatoes are one of the most versatile ingredients out there. From making 3-ingredient tomato soup to making the ultimate tomato sandwich and everything in between, there are so many ways to enjoy tomatoes. Not only are tomatoes delicious but they're also pretty easy to grow at home, even for beginners.

The one drawback when growing tomatoes, like many other plants, is dealing with insects. Pests can be detrimental to your crop, but fortunately there's an herb you can grow with tomatoes to help ward off insects: chives. Chives contain several sulfur-based oils that work as a repellent against multiple types of pests, including aphids, slugs, beetles, and more, making it a natural defender against any pesky bugs that might harm your tomato plants.

In addition to being ideal for repelling pests, chives also attract various pollinator bugs like bees and butterflies when they flower, which can be encouraging in your garden. Since chives are also edible and quite tasty, it means you'd also get some fresh herbs to use in your cooking, so it's a win-win.

Chives aren't the only plant pairing that works with tomatoes; there's plenty of companion plants that have all kinds of benefits when sharing space with a tomato plant. For example, basil is a great companion plant for tomatoes because it naturally deters certain pests like thrips and tomato hornworms. Like chives, basil also helps attract pollinator bugs so it's more of what your garden needs and less of what harms it.

Other vegetables can be paired with tomato plants too. Asparagus is an ideal pairing due to a natural fungicide it releases which helps prevent various diseases tomato plants can have. Alternatively, you can plant flowers like marigolds or lavender, both of which help ward off bugs like whiteflies and aphids.

It is important to note that while there are tons of great companion plants for tomatoes, there's also a lot of plants that are detrimental to your tomato plant. Certain herbs like rosemary or dill should be avoided, as they can deplete the soil of nutrients or damage tomato plant roots. Vegetables like cabbage and broccoli should also be avoided, as they are known to compete against other plants for nutrients in the soil.