Companion Plants for Beets

Traditional companions for beets include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bush beans, cabbage, cauliflower, chives and 11 more in the table below.

Keep pole beans away from them.

These are garden traditions, collected from 13 US extension guides. Few have been tested in trials, so treat them as a starting point: spacing, sun and rotation matter more.

Good companions for beets

Spacing is per square foot, for a raised bed planted square by square. Cool-season companions can share the bed before or after a warm-season crop, or grow in its shade.

Traditional companions for beets
Plant	Kind	Spacing	Season
Broccoli	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Brussels Sprouts	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Bush Beans	Vegetable	9 per sq ft	Warm season
Cabbage	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Cauliflower	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Collard Greens	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Garlic	Vegetable	4 per sq ft	Cool season
Green Onions	Vegetable	16 per sq ft	Cool season
Head Lettuce	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Kale	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Kohlrabi	Vegetable	4 per sq ft	Cool season
Leaf Lettuce	Vegetable	4 per sq ft	Cool season
Leeks	Vegetable	4 per sq ft	Cool season
Onions	Vegetable	9 per sq ft	Cool season
Romaine Lettuce	Vegetable	1 per sq ft	Cool season
Shallots	Vegetable	4 per sq ft	Cool season
Chives	Herb	4 per sq ft	Cool season

What not to plant with beets

Pole Beans: usually planted in a different bed.

What the evidence says

Companion planting charts come from long garden experience, and most pairs have never been tried in a replicated trial. Several extension services say so directly; one review gives traditional charts more entertainment than scientific value.

What reliably helps beets: the right planting dates, enough space, and moving crops to a new bed each year (crop rotation).

Plant them side by side

Draw your beds, tap squares to plant beets next to their companions, and get every crop's planting dates for your ZIP code. Free, in your browser.

Open the garden planner When to plant beets

Questions

What can I plant with beets?

The traditional companions are broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bush beans, cabbage, cauliflower, chives, collard greens, garlic and 9 more listed above. Plant companions in neighbouring rows or squares rather than in the same hole.

What should not be planted with beets?

The guides keep pole beans apart from beets. Give it a different bed.

Does companion planting with beets work?

Most pairings are tradition rather than tested results: extension services call companion planting promising but largely unproven. None of the pairs for this crop has been tested in a trial we could find. Good spacing, sun, water and rotation do more for a harvest than any single pairing.

How close can chives grow to beets?

In a raised bed planted by the square foot, give beets 9 per sq ft and chives 4 per sq ft, in neighbouring squares. In rows, beets need 3 in between plants.