Dill can help attract beneficial insects such as butterflies, praying mantis, honeybees, parasitic wasps, hoverflies, and ladybugs. It can also help keep unwanted guests from your gardens, such as spider mites, aphids, and cabbage loopers.
Let’s check out some dill companion plants that are excellent neighbors and some that can cause your vegetables to taste awful (avoid those).
Caution: Choose Companion Dill Plants Wisely
Dill is a fast-growing annual herb plant with a short life span- taking only 90 days to reach full maturity. It is often best to pair it with fast-growing vegetables and plants.
That doesn’t mean you can’t grow dill alongside your tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, etc. However, you must plant seeds every week or two to have dill growing throughout the season (also, if you let some of the plants flower and go to seed, you will have dill plants the following year).
A further reason you should carefully choose your dill companions is that dill itself can be susceptible to some diseases that can transmit to nearby plants. Leaf spot (PDF), for example, is caused by various microorganisms and fungi.
Therefore if you grow dill alongside susceptible plants, the fungal spores could be blown onto the nearby plants, causing the same leaf spot disease problem for them too.
Now that you know how to select companion plants for dill let’s look at some good options and some to avoid.
Excellent Companion Plants for Dill
Here is a quick list of some great companion plants for dill (more details below):
- Onions
- Celery
- Lettuce
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Kale
- Corn
- Beans
- Garlic
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Chervil
Brassicas – Health Improver
Dill is said to repel cabbage worms and loopers (the primary pests against brassicas). This group of plants includes kohlrabi, collards, cabbage, and broccoli.
Onions, Garlic Chives – Aphid Protection
All three of these plants will help keep aphids away (which can be a significant problem for dill). So, if you have aphids in your area, use these three companion crops for protection.
Lettuce – Dill Defends
Lettuce can have a range of pests attack it. Luckily dill will repel those pests, and lettuce can grow happily ever after.
Asparagus – Bring in the Ladybugs & Lacewings
The lacewings and ladybugs attracted by dill plants will help protect asparagus from pests like aphids.
Are you interested in asparagus? Click here to learn how to grow asparagus.
Cucumber – Beetles Be Gone
Dill helps attract insects that feast on pests common to cucumber, such as cucumber beetles.
Chervil – Ramp Up Protection
Chervil, like dill, is an aromatic herb plant that attracts parasitic wasps (PDF)— excellent pest predators. Therefore, planting chervil alongside your garden vegetables will attract even more protection from garden pests.
Plants to Avoid Growing With Dill
- Angelica
- Carraway
- Carrots
- Cilantro
- Eggplant
- Fennel
- Hot Peppers
- Bell Peppers
- Lavender
- Potatoes
Dill isn’t good for companion planting with every vegetable. Here are some additional details to help explain why:
Carrots
Dill is not recommended as a companion plant for carrot-family vegetables (such as parsnips) since it’s a close relative of umbellifers (PDF). If the two plants cross-pollinated, it would lead to an unpleasant taste.
Dill can also hinder the growth of your carrot plants- and attract carrot flies.
Cilantro
Many gardeners love the smell and taste of cilantro! Don’t ruin that by planting dill for a companion crop. Like carrots above, dill and cilantro are family members, and you don’t want to cross-pollinate them.
Tomatoes
When dill plants flower, they attract those beneficial wasps we talked about above. Fortunately, those wasps can prey on tomato hornworms. These guys chew on tomato leaves and holes in the fruits. So, you don’t want them around your tomato plants.
Check out this article for garden layout tips.
So, if dill helps keep away pests, why wouldn’t you want to plant them together?
The answer: some gardeners also feel like dill can stunt tomato plants when they mature (even though when young, dill can benefit tomato plants).
You could solve this problem by pruning or pulling dill before it matures- but remember that dill doesn’t do well when transplanted. So, you will most likely kill the plant.
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Davin is a jack-of-all-trades but has professional training and experience in various home and garden subjects. He leans on other experts when needed and edits and fact-checks all articles.