By Luke Sumpter

Companion planting will transform your garden and help your weed plants thrive.

For the most part, cannabis plants do well when grown as a monocrop (meaning it’s the only plant in a given area). As it goes in nature, though, they grow much better when surrounded by certain species of other plants. These helpers, known as companion plants, fulfil a variety of critical roles in the garden and grow room, from keeping insect pests away to driving vital nutrients into the soil.

Read on to discover the fascinating world of companion planting, and see why you should be partaking in this ancient practice.


What is Companion Planting?

As we’ve implied, companion planting involves growing beneficial plant species in close proximity to—or even among—your cannabis plants. These species offer myriad benefits to your growing operation, hence why they’re referred to as “companions”.

Some plants attract useful pollinators and predatory insects, others keep your cannabis hidden away, while different kinds pull in nitrogen from the atmosphere. As they take root with your crop, the resulting polyculture resists disease far better than a conventional monoculture. The cannabis you harvest will be higher-quality, too!

An Ancient Practice: the History of Companion Planting

The practice of companion planting is almost as old as agriculture itself, dating back thousands of years. As farmers tried growing new crops, they realised the benefits of growing symbiotic plants together. They saw their yields increasing and the health of their plants remaining stable, all while saving space.

Around 6,000 years ago, Native Americans began practising a companion method known as the Three Sisters. This trio—consisting of corn, squash, and beans—was found to bring the best out of each other.

The corn grows tall and pole-like, providing ample shade for the squash and a climbing frame for the beans. The squash then develops large leaves that block sunlight from directly hitting the soil, preserving microbial life. In turn, the beans, being legumes, work with said soil-dwelling microbes (rhizobia) to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere—a vital nutrient.

Companions

The Benefits of Companion Planting: a Permaculture Principle

As you can see, companion planting can transform your garden into a complex web of life that sustains and benefits itself. Given that, the practice is consistent with the idea of permaculture, which suggests agricultural systems should be sustainable and self-sufficient.

Permaculture also places a huge emphasis on closed-loop systems. These systems aim to keep the flow of resources within the boundaries of a farm or garden. With that in mind, companion planting helps achieve a closed-loop system by providing food, herbs, compost, and atmospheric nitrogen.

Let’s dive in a bit deeper to see how these benefits pan out.

🏞️ Biodiversity

Of course, growing different species of plants in close proximity will greatly enhance the biodiversity of your garden. This biodiversity creates a superb environment for soil microbes to thrive—one of the keys to developing healthy cannabis plants.

Increased biodiversity in the form of flowers, shrubs, and vegetables also provides a safe haven for beneficial wildlife and pollinators. In turn, this variety helps reduce instances of disease transmission. In contrast, large, densely packed monocultures are notorious for catching fast-spreading pathogens. Since the plants are all the same, they’ll autumn victim to the same illness. Companion plants fix this by creating a buffer between the main crop and disease.

💚 Protection

Companion plants do attract wildlife, but not all kinds. In fact, they also help deter animals and pests that can do real damage to your cannabis plants.

Many species of companion plants release pungent aromas into the air and act as natural insect repellents. Other species take an opposite approach, looking far more attractive in the eyes of insects. Instead of driving pests out of the garden, they steal their attention and divert them away from your weed plants.

Larger species—especially those grown as barriers—can also protect your cannabis from harsh weather. Tall sunflowers and tomatoes, for instance, can act as windbreaks to prevent any stems from snapping during storms.

🌱 Soil Health and Nutrients

Healthy soil sets great cannabis growing operations apart from good ones. Just below the surface of the soil is the rhizosphere, a community of micro-organisms that attach themselves to the root systems of plants, helping them to absorb nutrients from the soil necessary for their growth. The roots then release sugary exudates and attract all manner of bacteria and fungi.

These species help plants access nutrients in various ways. Mycorrhizal fungi, for one, fuse with plant roots and help them obtain nutrients in return for sugars. Bacteria love the taste of these sugars, too. As a result, when they eventually die, they release many nutrients in close proximity to the roots.

Polycultures are particularly great at sustaining these microbial colonies. Cover crops guard them from the sun, and other companions add exudates into the soil, creating a thriving food web. Nitrogen-fixing plants also ramp up soil health and accelerate growth. Specifically, they work with bacteria in the soil to pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and into the soil.

🍃 Food and Natural Remedies

Perhaps one of the best benefits of this growing strategy is that some companion plants even produce food! To us, nothing beats the satisfaction of cooking up food from your own garden, especially when you have the munchies.

Other plants can be used in soothing teas, tonics, or cosmetics such as lotions, balms, and tinctures.

There are hundreds of companion plants to choose from, and thousands of combinations. When planning your polyculture, be sure to check which plants are compatible and which are not. Some plants thrive together, whereas others simply don’t get along.

With that being said, these are some of the most effective companion plants out there, categorised by type.

 Cover Crops 

Cover crops improve the structure of the soil, manage nutrients, and help protect microbial populations.

Nasturtiums:


  • Extremely easy to grow
  • Drought-tolerant
  • Thrives in, and replenishes, poor soil
  • Effective weed barrier

Comfrey:


  • Pulls up nutrients from deep within the soil
  • Excellent for mulch and nutrient teas
  • Helps prevent diseases such as powdery mildew

Alfalfa:


  • Increases water penetration and retention
  • Traps moisture and reduces evaporation
  • Stalks provide a nutrient-rich fertiliser tea

Sweet peas:


  • Suppress weeds
  • Chop and drop to form an instant mulch
  • Attracts atmospheric nitrogen

 Nitrogen Fixers 

These species pull large amounts of nitrogen—a macronutrient required for photosynthesis and protein building—into the soil. However, they don’t do this all on their own, teaming up with specialised soil-dwelling bacteria to get the job done.

Yarrow:


  • Roots release substances that attract nitrogen-fixing bacteria
  • Releases bacteria into the soil when used in the compost pile
  • Makes for a delicious herbal tea

Dandelion:


  • Captures lots of nitrogen from the soil
  • Shops high levels of nitrogen in the leaves
  • Leaves make a strong nitrogen tea for plants
  • Edible leaves and flowers

Beans:


  • Fix nitrogen from the air and introduce it to the soil
  • Many different species to choose from, adding variety to the garden
  • Climbing beans take up little horizontal space

Clovers:


  • Capture nitrogen from the air
  • Convert nitrogen to nitrates, which are stored in the roots
  • Nitrogen is released to nearby plants as the clover roots decay

 Deterrents 

Deterrents produce cocktails of terpenes with pungent aromas that make pests think twice before munching on your cannabis plants.

Lemon balm:


  • Powerful citrusy terpenes turn away pests
  • Disguises the smell of cannabis
  • Great for refreshing teas and cool summer drinks
  • Returns every year

Lavender:


  • Fills the garden with a protective cloud of strong aromas
  • Relaxing scent (thanks to myrcene)
  • Makes a soothing tea
  • Adds impressive colour to the garden
  • Feeds pollinators

Coriander:


  • Sharp and earthy scent
  • Doesn’t take up much space
  • Little time between sowing and harvest
  • Pleasant in soups and salads

Mugwort:


  • Repels garden-destroying slugs
  • Keeps mice and birds from eating newly planted seeds

Catnip:


  • Produces a strong oil that repels aphids, ants, cabbage loopers, flea beetles, and weevils
  • Can be made into a soothing tea
  • Your cat will love it

 Attractors 

Attractor companion plants, as we’ve explained, draw pollinators and other beneficial insects into your garden. These critters will help bring down pest populations, fertilise your fruits and vegetables, and increase overall yield.

Thyme:


  • Low-maintenance and highly aromatic
  • Attracts butterflies and bees
  • Produces antibacterial and antifungal compounds that may protect beneficial insects
  • Tasty culinary herb

Fennel:


  • Attracts ladybugs, which are known to eat around 50 aphids each day
  • Draws in parasitic wasps that target cabbage worms, caterpillars, and whiteflies
  • Good in soups and salads

Dill:


  • Attracts a range of insects, including ladybugs, praying mantises, and parasitic wasps, that prey on pest species
  • Brings in pollinators such as bees and butterflies
  • Delicious in savoury dishes

 Food and Herbs 

Besides increasing biodiversity and attracting beneficial insects, these plants will be among the tastiest in your garden.

Onion:


  • General insect repellent
  • Grows well next to dill
  • Great in almost any dish

Rosemary:


  • Pleasant taste and smell
  • Attracts pollinators
  • Makes a soothing tea

Borage:


  • Flowers add an aesthetic edge to the garden
  • Leaves and flowers make a nourishing tea
  • Great forage for bees

Sage:


  • Supports bumblebees
  • Thrives among tomatoes and rosemary
  • Prefers sandy soil and performs better along the border of cannabis beds
  • Tasty culinary herb

Get Started With the RQS Guardians Pack

Now that you know all the benefits of companion plants, it’s time to spruce up your cannabis garden! The Royal Queen Seeds Guardian Pack contains a range of species that will form a defence fortress around your cannabis plants. They’ll do wonder for your garden’s biodiversity, too!

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

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Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

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Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

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To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: