Jalapeno comes from the Spanish word Xalapa. Jalapa, or Xalapa, is the capital of Veracruz state in Mexico. Also called Mexican chili, Jalapeno is the staple diet of Mexican cuisine.
Jalapeno is a fruit that belongs to the nightshade family. They are nutritious and have a flavor ranging from sweet to spicy.
Growing Jalapenos peppers can add great fun to your garden. You can spice them up in your kitchen as a key ingredient.
You can add Jalapenos to your diet; it has all the essential vitamins and minerals to keep a healthy heart, control weight, fight infections, and prevent cancer, ulcers, and pains.
If this interests you, this article is perfect for you!
In this post, we’ll learn about Jalapeno’s best companion plants and their growing needs. You will also learn about some pests and diseases to take care of to help increase their longevity.
Let’s move on to the article for a more comprehensive understanding.
Why Does Jalapeno Need Companion Plants?
To understand the need for Jalapenos’ companion planting, let’s first understand what it means and how it works.
Companion planting is the easiest way to improve the healthy growth of plants. They enhance each other’s development in different ways.
Jalapenos’ need for companion planting is necessary for thriving vegetation. Planting them together can help maintain moisture, increase soil nutrients, provide shelter, decrease pests and diseases, and improve flavor.
With that out of the way, let’s check out the companion plants that can help Jalapenos flourish when planted together!
6 Best Jalapeno Companion Plants
The best companion plants of Jalapenos are the ones that will not compete for resources but help in their growth.
Let’s look at the companion plants that work best with Jalapenos.
1. Spinach
Spinach is a vegetable that grows yearly. It thrives in full sunlight to partial shade. It grows well in moist, loamy, and well-drained soil with a pH between 7 to 8. Start harvesting them in spring or fall.
Spinach and Jalapenos can prove to be good companions since they have similar requirements for soil, sunlight, and water. Also, they have the same harvesting season.
Jalapenos are prone to some pests. When placed alongside Spinach, the latter will attract beneficial insects, such as green lacewings, ladybugs, and praying mantids, to keep pests away from pepper plants (Jalapeno).
2. Lettuce
Lettuce is a vegetable plant that grows yearly. They grow best in plenty of sunlight and can also tolerate partial shade. It grows well in rich, loamy, and well-drained soil. It can grow in neutral to alkaline soil with a pH value ranging from 6 to 7.
Both have similar harvesting seasons, and their blooming season begins in early spring and extends through fall.
They also have similar soil, sunlight, and water requirements.
Jalapenos proliferate and benefit from Lettuce as the latter contains pest-repelling properties that drive pests away from Jalapenos. Lettuce provides ground cover that crowds out weeds.
3. Garlic
Garlic has natural antifungal and antibacterial properties. It can help protect jalapenos from various diseases, including fungal infections like blight and bacterial infections affecting pepper plants’ leaves, stems, and fruits.
Since both Garlic and Jalapenos are pest-repellent plants, planting them together can help keep pests out from each other.
Garlic suppresses harmful pathogens from soil and improves its overall health. So it can create a healthy soil environment for Jalapenos to grow and thrive.
4. Leek
Leek is a perennial vegetable plant. It performs best in full sunlight. Their growing needs are loamy and well-draining with acidic to neutral soil. You can start seeding leek in early spring.
Leeks have deep root systems that enhance water drainage and increase nutrients. When planted together, it can prove beneficial for the growth of jalapenos.
Further, leeks attract beneficial insects that cross-pollinate, increasing Jalapenos’ and your garden’s overall productivity.
Leeks have a strong odor that acts as a that deter harmful pests such as aphids, carrot flies, and onion flies. Planting them together in your garden can protect the jalapenos from these pests.
5. Okra
Okra are tall plants with large leaves. Their shade can protect jalapenos from excessive sun exposure and act as a natural support preventing the latter from bending or breaking under the weight of their fruits.
Okra has attractive flowers and unique foliage. It can add visual appeal to your garden. Mixing tall, robust okra plants with compact and vibrant jalapeno plants will enable you to create a garden landscape that is aesthetically pleasing and diverse in nature.
Also, their pest-repelling properties are what make them good companions.
6. Borage
Borage is known to draw up nutrients from the soil and store them in their leaves. When the borage plants are cut and left as mulch or added to the soil, they release these stored nutrients, which helps improve soil fertility and structure. This can, in turn, benefit the growth and increase productivity of jalapenos.
Borage grows to be dense, which can help shade the soil and prevent weed growth. This allows the jalapenos to thrive without the invasive weeds interfering with their growth. Also, it reduces competition for important resources like water, nutrients, and sunlight.
Borage attracts pollinators like honeybees and bumble bees that can help pollinate Jalapenos.
Borage, also called starflower, has vibrant blue or pink flowers that combine with Jalapenos to give a unique look to the garden. When planted together, they can create a visually appealing and diverse garden landscape.
4 Worst Companion Plants For Jalapeno
While there are numerous companion plants for jalapenos that can promote growth and deter pests, as mentioned in the previous section, it’s absolutely important to be aware of plants that may negatively affect the growth of jalapenos.
Here are the four companion plants that you should avoid planting with Jalapenos at all cost.
1. Brassicas
Brassicas and Jalapenos belong to the same Nightshade or Solanaceae family. Since these families are heavy feeders, harvesting both plants together is not recommended, as they can compete for soil and other resources.
If brassicas and jalapenos are planted close to each other, there is likely to be cross-pollination between them. This cross-pollination can affect their flavor, heat level, or other characteristics.
2. Potatoes
Potatoes and jalapenos have similar requirements when it comes to sunlight, water, and nutrients. When planted close together, they may compete for these resources. This can lead to stunted growth and reduce the yields of both crops.
Both potatoes and jalapenos are known to be susceptible to certain diseases, such as late blight and early blight. So planting them together can increase the risk of transmission of these diseases and can result in widespread infections that can affect both crops. So you see they are not exactly the best of companions.
3. Kohlrabi
Kohlrabi and jalapenos are known to be susceptible to different diseases. For example, kohlrabi can be susceptible to fungal diseases like clubroot, while jalapenos may be more vulnerable to diseases like bacterial spots. As a result, planting them together may increase the risk of cross-contamination, or diseases might spread between them, thus leading to widespread infections and reduced overall plant health.
Pests such as cabbage worms or flea beetles tend to target the kohlrabi plant. These may also feed on jalapenos, thus posing a threat to both crops and stunting their growth and overall well-being.
4. Fennel
Fennel seeds release toxic chemicals that can destroy their neighboring plants when seeded next to each other. So planting Jalapenos alongside fennel is not recommended for this very reason.
No less important is the fact that Fennels are tall plants with their branches spread out. Jalapenos, on the other hand, are generally compact and upright. So, as a result, fennels would overshadow the jalapenos, depriving them of adequate sunlight and potentially stunting their growth.
What Are Jalapeno’s Growing Requirements?
Understanding the growing requirements of Jalapenos would help to have a bountiful harvest.
Here are some of the requirements for successfully growing jalapenos:
1. Sun
Jalapenos thrive in full sunlight, requiring at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily. So it’s important that you choose a location that receives sunlight throughout the day.
The importance of sunlight can’t be stressed enough. Sunlight is the key source of energy for all plants. The plants rely on energy to produce their food and the nutrients they need. It’s no different in the case of jalapenos.
2. Water
Irrigation is necessary for plants to absorb water to reach full growth. It helps in seed germination and maintains the required amount of moisture in the soil.
In the case of jalapenos, regular and consistent watering is needed. They require an average amount of water, but it’s important to keep the soil evenly moist, especially during dry spells.
Avoid waterlogging, which decreases the circulation of oxygen the plant requires at the root level. Further, excessive watering can cause root rot and other fungal diseases.
3. Soil
Soil is an essential factor for plant growth. The microorganisms present in the soil enhance the fertility of plants. They provide all the necessary nutrients, water, and minerals the plants need for healthy growth.
Jalapeno needs moist, loamy, and well-drained soil for robust growth. It works best in acidic to neutral soil of pH value between 6 to 7.
Taking proper care of soil can help avoid root nematodes and other harmful diseases that may cause damage to the plant.
4. Fertilizer
Fertilizer allows the soil to stay healthy. It ensures healthy produce with balanced nutrients, holding the soil fertile. In the absence of necessary fertilizer, the soil can deplete, thereby competing for growth.
Jalapenos are heavy feeders; they belong to a member of the nightshade family. Improve the soil by adding rich compost and balanced fertilizer for more productivity. Provide mature compost during productive months.
To enjoy the potential growth of Jalapenos, supplement the soil with an all-purpose fertilizer containing 3-5-5, 2-3-1,5-5-5, or 5-10-10. The fertilizer grade represents three essential nutritional elements for healthy produce. The primary nutrients are nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, whereas secondary nutrients comprise calcium and magnesium.
5. Growing Season
Jalapenos are short perennial plants that usually survive for 2 to 3 years. Sow the seeds before the arrival of spring, as they need ten weeks to germinate.
You may seed them indoors between January to March. Once the frost gets over, you may soil them outdoors around May.
Grass Diseases And Pests
Here, I’m sharing some Jalapeno Diseases and Pests and ways to deal with them. Using the methods mentioned in this section, you can prevent diseases and pests from taking hold.
1. The List of Diseases Includes
- Blight Leaf Spot
- Taphrina
- Powdery Mildew
- Chlorosis
- Verticillium Wilt
- Anthracnose
- Phytophthora End Rot
2. The List of Pests Includes
- Aphids
- Mites
- Leaf Miners
- Cutworms
- Wireworms
- Fruitworms
- Armyworms
Here Are Some Easy Tips That Will Help Limit The Spread of Diseases And Pests in Jalapenos. Let’s Take a Look at Them
- Herbal treatments such as neem oil can help treat garden pests.
- Apply fungicide sprays if you come across leaf spots.
- If you detect the stems or leaves to be affected by pests and or diseases, remove them immediately.
- Proper drainage, mulching, and composting are necessary for healthy growth; avoid too much water as it may damage the plant.
- As mentioned earlier, companion plants can support in many ways. They allow beneficial insects to control pests and pollinate the garden.
Conclusion
Apart from adding flavor to your meals, Jalapanos are plants that can easily be taken care of. They can drive away insects which can be beneficial for your garden.
That said, you can have jalapenos grow to their full potential and reap all their benefits only when you know which plants to grow alongside and which to avoid. The six companion plants that we have mentioned in this article are the best in this regard.
With careful planning and attention, you can create a thriving garden that will yield abundant jalapeno harvests and provide a visually appealing and ecologically balanced space for your garden.
I hope you have enjoyed reading this article as much as I did writing it for you!
Are there other companion plants you think should be added to the list? Do let me know in the comments.