Winter Squash Companion Planting

Beans fix nitrogen for the heavy-feeding squash. Squash leaf canopy shades soil, conserving moisture and suppressing weeds. The combined canopy creates a more humid microclimate that benefits both crops.

Third component of the Three Sisters. Allow adequate spacing -- squash vines spread 1.5-3 meters.

Squash vines act as living mulch beneath corn, suppressing weeds and conserving soil moisture. Prickly squash foliage and stems may deter mammalian herbivores from accessing corn.

Both are heavy feeders. Prepare beds with compost. Space generously.

Nasturtiums serve as a trap crop for squash bugs (Anasa tristis) and cucumber beetles (Diabrotica spp.), concentrating pest populations where they can be monitored and managed.

Plant nasturtiums in a ring around squash hills. Blue Hubbard squash is also used as a perimeter trap crop for cucurbit pests.

Phacelia flowers attract native bees (Halictidae, Megachilidae) and honeybees that are critical pollinators for squash. Enhanced pollination improves fruit set and berry count in cucurbits.

Sow phacelia strips between squash hills. Phacelia is frost-tender -- sow after last frost.