companion planting - what are marigolds FOR?

[lucyellensmum]

I know i have read that marigolds are good from tempting beasties away from plants, i just cant remember how and what. Also where and with what should i plant them with. Do i plant them with things that slugs and snails like cos then they will eat those instead or do i plant them away from those things to tempt the snails away. Have i got that completely wrong and is it their smell, cos they smell rank, that puts off certain insect pestS?

Also, when can i plant out my tomato's and corgettes, i did plant the seeds a bit late though so plants a bit small. Will corgettes manage in a large pot, only have small garden. PHEW

Stop showing off, my tomatoes are just germinating!! Dwarf French Beans a misnomer as they pushed top off propagator!!
BBC website is good for basic stuff.

Companion planting

That seemed abrupt sorry! I'm off to bed but think companion planting is a brilliant idea, I am fond of nastursiums (sp) as they seem to attract every beastie and bug.
Hope all goes well in the Garden.

Marigolds deter whitefly.

There's also that whole carrot fly/onion fly thing going on.

Marigolds good to plant with fruiting veg - like your tomatoes.

A friend grew courgettes in a huge pot last year - the plant did OK but they only got about 6 courgettes from it.

thanks for that, everyone . I'm showing off eh? That makes me feel good actually, must be doing something right my first lot of dwarf beans didn't germinate, not sure why, i think i over watered but seond lot have come though and they look like monsters and only a few days past popping their heads out. Do i need to put strings up for them? I'm quite excited cos i have put up strings for my runner beans but not actually planted any yet .

Are there any other seeds etc that i can start now? im quite excited by the garden really, never thought i would be, but our dog died and this is the first time i have had the garden sorted for it (sad about the dog of course).

I think i might plant a few courgettes in pots and some in the ground see which do the best.

Thanks

bump

anymore thoughts?

marigolds attract ladybirds, which eat greenfly (this is what I was told- not checked my facts at all!)

lucyellensmum - have you put any salad in? You could try a variety of lettuce and radish does really well from seed too. I've never had much success with onions - wrong soil perhaps - but you could have a go at those from seed. Or the garden centre might have some onion or garlic 'sets' (they are just baby onions or garlic cloves that you plant).

And squash is great. Plant a handful of seeds quite close to each other and then thin out the weedy ones leaving just one or two at most. The plant takes up quite a lot of space but you will get heaps of veg. And they store really well, I had several on my window sill for months last year! You can even plant them straight into a compost heap (as long as you're not using the compost heap).

Phew. That was a long post.