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13 Plants You Won't Want Too Close to Your Tomatoes This Year
By LUCY CLARK
Strawberries
Strawberries and tomatoes may grow in the same season, but they should not be planted together due to their susceptibility to verticillium wilt, a potentially fatal fungal disease.
To prevent the rapid spread of this disease, avoid planting these red-fruited plants in close proximity. This way, one plant can't easily transmit the disease to the other.
Corn
Corn and tomatoes make for a lovely culinary pairing, but they're a mismatch in the garden. They’re both vulnerable to a shared pest — the corn earworm or tomato fruit worm.
Not only do these pests spread quickly between the two, but corn may provide too much shade and deprive your tomatoes of the full sun they need to thrive.
Dill
Dill and tomato plants have a love-hate relationship. Dill repels aphids and hornworms from tomatoes, and tomatoes protect young dill from wind damage.
However, mature dill stunts tomato growth. Since tomatoes are annuals, you could plant them near young dill for one season, but avoid planting them near mature dill plants.
Fennel
Fennel's enticing fragrance and stunning appearance in the garden belie its negative impact on neighboring plants, especially tomatoes.
Fennel roots secrete a substance that can majorly stunt most plants' growth, making fennel an unsuitable companion for any crop.
Cauliflower
While cauliflower has many compatible companions, tomatoes are not among them, as both crops have high nutrient demands and require a lot from their soil.
Planting them together results in either one plant depriving the other of nutrients, or both competing to the point that neither
gets enough.