Best Companion Plants for Growing Marijuana

When you’re growing cannabis, it’s also recommended that you add a range of cannabis companion plants to your garden. The reason why is that they can protect your cannabis plants from diseases and pests. What happens is that predators who prey on pests are enticed to enter your garden because of these companion plants. 

Another reason to have companion plants for cannabis in your garden is that they can reduce the amount of mold and slow the speed of its spread. The same goes for fungi. It doesn’t like many of the companion plants we’ll discuss in this guide.

Some positive benefits of marijuana companion plants include:

• Increasing biodiversity in your garden 
• Boosting the soil structure and balancing nitrogen levels
• Being available for purposes like herbal tea-making and meal preparation 

This guide will discuss 16 marijuana companion plants we think make a great addition to any garden where marijuana is being grown. We’ll share all the details you need to know about each plant. 

16 of the Best Companion Plants for Cannabis 

The 16 plants we’ll be discussing have been carefully chosen to ensure that they all provide significant benefits to cannabis growers. You can pick from as many as you like. If you haven’t got much space in your garden, you may want to consider fewer cannabis companion plants. If you’ve got more space, you can add more. Here are the 16 plants we’re going to feature:

• Coriander 
• Chervil 
• Marigold
• Yarrow 
• Cerastium 
• Lavender 
• Sunflower 
• Peppermint 
• Sweet basil
• Lemon balm 
• Borage 
• Chamomile 
• Dill 
• Alfalfa
• White Clover 
• Red Clover 

Coriander 

Coriander grows fast and can be used for many purposes. It can add flavor to your garden, and the scent is potent enough to ward off pests. It’s hazardous for aphids, spider mites, and potato beetles. None of them will linger in your garden if it contains coriander. 

On the other hand, parasitic wasps will be attracted by the smell of coriander and will stay in your garden to hunt down pests. 

Coriander itself is quite fragile and does not like being moved. That means once you’ve planted it, you should leave it where it is. If you’re not sure where to place your coriander, you should think carefully before you do. Seeds should be placed 1cm deep, and you should do so between April and July while the sun is shining. 

They will take around 12-21 days to emerge, and you should keep them 25cm apart. Flowers can be harvested after a maximum of 75 days, and they’re good when added to soups. 

When combining coriander with cannabis, you should place them in the same area if the growing area is large or in separate containers if your containers are small. 

Chervil 

Chervil works well with a wide variety of dishes and helps repel insects in your garden. That makes it one of the best plants to grow with cannabis. It’s particularly good at repelling aphids, who would otherwise be attracted to your weed plants. 

It’s best to place chervil seeds in the ground during March. They’ll take a week to germinate and then turn into seedlings not long after. At this stage, you can thin out the chervil to distances of 30cm between each plant. Chervil grows best wherever there is a lot of moisture but can also be grown in full sunlight or partially shaded. 

Chervil has to be treated carefully because it’s a self-seeding plant. That means it will spread across your garden very quickly. To avoid this, you should remove the heads of flowers regularly. You can make use of them in meals featuring salad or fish. 

Plant the chervil in pots next to your cannabis, or mix it with cannabis plants inside a greenhouse to have the most beneficial effect for your weed growing endeavors. 

Marigold 

Marigold stands out as one of the better cannabis companion plants. One reason for that is it’s convenient. The bright and colorful flowers are easy to spot and look pleasant in your garden. But these colors also draw in insects and bugs, taking them away from the cannabis. 

It also grows very quickly and flowers either annually or biennially. They’ll thrive until it gets very frosty at the start of winter. If your soil conditions are not excellent, this won’t affect your marigold too much, but the better the soil, the healthier your marigold will be. Soil that’s chalky, sandy, or loamy works well. 

You should plant marigold seeds alongside your cannabis and keep them 20-30cm apart. They can grow as tall as 50cm, prefer to be partly in the sun, and don’t typically grow above a plant canopy. 

Deadheading the flowers will increase the number of flowers over time, so this is good practice. Marigold flowers are great for making cosmetics too. But their most important effect is repelling flies and moths. They do this with their strong scent. 

When planting marigolds alongside your cannabis, you should put 1-2 plants near it in large pots. This gives the marigold enough space to grow to its full potential and ensures they’re close enough to ward off pests. 

Yarrow 

If your favorite color is white, then yarrow makes a stylish choice for your garden. It’s one of the best companion plants for cannabis because of this and because of what it does to plants nearby. 

Yarrow incentivizes plants that are near it to produce more essential oils. That means it can encourage cannabis plants to reach their full potential even if other growth factors aren’t quite perfect. 

It also helps to protect your cannabis plants by drawing in lots of insects that hunt aphids. Examples include aphid lions and ladybugs. When planting yarrow seeds, you should make sure the soil drains well and the place you’re growing them in is quite dry. Yarrow does not like excess water. 

When spacing out the yarrow seeds, you should keep them at a distance of 60cm and wait for 21 days, when the seedlings will emerge. Once you’ve finished growing lots of cannabis, you can use the leftover yarrow to make tea.

Because yarrow and cannabis are highly compatible, there is no reason not to plant them right alongside cannabis plants. They have a symbiotic relationship, and neither will be adversely affected by the presence of the other. 

Cerastium 

Cerastium is an exciting plant that has the alternate name ‘dusty miller.’ It grows much like a mat, and it does so very quickly. It stays low and spreads out across the top of the soil. The result is a cover that locks in moisture and deflects some harmful UV rays from the sun. 

You should plant seeds in the spring and leave them uncovered while scattering them far and wide. The area you do this in should be in the sunlight and have good drainage. You should aim to plant the seeds so that the plants grow facing the south or the west. 

The pH range that cerastium tolerates is considerably wide, although cannabis has a narrow preference between 6-7. Seeds of cerastium will complete the germination phase after a maximum of 3 weeks. You should ensure they’re 20cm apart at this point. It takes 40 days for maturation to complete, and you’ll be left with plants no higher than 25cm. 

Cerastium has small flowers, and they have a pleasant scent. Once the flowering has finished, you can cut down the plants and add them to the soil. The roots will remain in place until the following year and then grow back. You can use cerastium to cover the earth wherever you’re growing cannabis. 

Lavender 

One of the most well-known plants to grow with cannabis, lavender makes an excellent choice for any cannabis grower. It has a powerful scent that will be familiar to most, and the purple colors make it stand out. Lavender is also an excellent way to add some style to your garden. 

As well as all this, lavender will also deflect pests, ensuring your cannabis stays safe. Not only that, it will attract pollinators to your garden. It’s best to grow lavender in a Mediterranean-style climate, but it will still grow where temperatures are lower. The best locations to plant it are in the borders of gardens and adjacent to cannabis pots. 

When planting lavender, a few extra steps are worth taking. You should use compost and coat it with vermiculite. Ideally, the temperature should remain between 21-25 degrees Celsius. Seedlings will take 21 days to emerge. After this, you can move them to soil and leave them in the sun, with a 30cm space between each plant. 

Once you’re at the end of your cannabis growing season, you can trim the lavender and collect the heads of the flowers. Once dried out, they make great tea. 

Sunflower 

Sunflowers make unique cannabis companion plants because of how pleasant they look once they’ve grown. They can reach heights of up to 3m too. In terms of how they help ensure the safety of your cannabis crops, they’ll repel slugs, whiteflies, aphids, and snails. 

When planting these seeds, you should put them straight into the soil or into containers. Soil that’s moist and drains well is the best soil to plant them in. You should also ensure that the location you’re growing the sunflower seeds in is shielded from high winds. 

Sunflowers also release a specific chemical into the soil that acts as a growth inhibitor for nearby plants. So you should think for a while before choosing where to plant it. The best locations are typically garden borders. 

Once planted, you should keep them 60cm apart. You’ll need to wait for up to 95 days for the flowering to begin. Once the heads of the flowers are filled with seeds, you can harvest them, or you can leave them to attract birds. These birds will also eat any nearby insects. 

Peppermint

Peppermint is one of the companion plants for cannabis that might surprise you. If you’ve heard of it, you probably associate it with mints or peppermint tea. But it can also be helpful for cannabis crops as well. The smell of it is loathsome for a range of pests, including mice and ants. It’s also good at hiding the skunky scent that often occurs when weed is grown. 

Because of the aroma, peppermint is a valuable companion plant to keep in mind if you’re growing weed close to other people. Peppermint could be precisely what you need if you have neighbors who you wouldn’t want to smell weed. 

It also grows extremely fast, and for that reason, you should only grow it in isolated containers. That way, it won’t take over your entire garden. Once the seeds have been sown and the plants have grown, you can harvest from them several times during the growing season. The soil should be well-drained, but you can pick a sunny or shady location. 

Germination takes a maximum of 16 days, and once the plants have matured, they’ll keep flowering annually. You can use the leaves to make your own peppermint tea and compare it to the tea you can get in local shops. 

Sweet Basil 

Unsurprisingly, given its name, sweet basil is a popular herb used in a range of dishes, like pizza and pasta meals. It’s also one of the best companion plants for cannabis. It’s something that you’ll always smell first before seeing it. 

The aroma of this plant is strong enough for humans, but for pests, it’s even worse. Asparagus beetles and aphids can’t stand it. On the other hand, it will encourage beneficial bugs to enter your garden. That will be great for its biodiversity. 

When planting sweet basil seeds, you should spread them out in containers filled with soil that drains well. They need to be positioned where the sun is shining and then left for almost three weeks. The soil should also be slightly more acidic if possible, with dry weather preferred to wet conditions. 

If you top the sweet basil plants and conduct leaf harvesting often, then you’ll find that their growth is accelerated. Sweet basil also has another potential benefit that all cannabis growers should know. There is speculation by some growers that if you combine sweet basil with dill, the terpene production of your plants will increase. Therefore, you should plant it near your cannabis and see what happens. 

Lemon Balm  

Lemon balm is an annual plant that will become a regular feature of your garden. It survives throughout the winter beneath the soil and returns the following spring. It’s a great herb, and it belongs to the same family as the mint plant. 

What makes it one of the best marijuana companion plants is that it attracts pollinators while repelling mosquitoes. That makes your garden better for both you and your cannabis. However, lemon balm can overtake your entire garden if left unchecked. Therefore, you should grow them in pots as often as you can. That stops them from growing in inconvenient places.

You should also scatter the seeds onto potting soil and then cover them with compost. Once they’ve emerged as seedlings, you can spread them out at a distance of 30cm. Then you should place them in the sun or an area that’s partly shaded. You can put them adjacent to cannabis plants if you want to get the best effects. 

You can harvest the leaves of lemon balm plants as the cannabis grows and use them to make lemon tea which can be refreshing when you need a pick-me-up. If you’d like to encourage more growth, take away the dead flowers. 

Borage 

Borage is one of the best companion plants for cannabis because it contains a rich mixture of nutrients for both cannabis and human beings. It’s also got colorful blue blossoms filled with nectar. 

That makes borage a great choice if you’d like to attract bees to your garden. Bees are difficult to attract to gardens these days because their populations are declining, so you’ll have an advantage if you can get some. 

Once the growing season has finished, you can chop up the borage and use it as mulch. Alternatively, you can add it to compost. This is a good idea because it contains both potassium and calcium, which encourage plant health. 

The best location for borage is wherever the sun is shining brightly. You can place them into pots, but they should be large because borage prefers lots of space. 30cm is a rough guideline of the room to leave between each plant. 

Borage also needs regular watering. You can harvest its leaves to use in drinks during the summer, as it has a refreshing cucumber flavor. Placing them next to cannabis plants is the best way to attract suitable insects. 

Chamomile 

Chamomile is another well-known companion plant that also gets used in the production of chamomile tea. It can also be used as one of the plants to grow with cannabis. It looks beautiful and doesn’t take much effort to grow. That means it’s a good choice if you’re a beginner. 

It also returns annually, so you don’t have to worry about replanting it. It works best when it’s planted in pots adjacent to your cannabis or the borders of your garden but can also help protect greenhouse entrances. It helps to increase the production of essential oils, as yarrow does. But it also boosts turgidity and diverts mosquitoes and flies. 

The soil you plant chamomile in should be well-drained and exposed to the sun. Once a maximum of 30 days has elapsed, it’s worth spreading out the plants to a distance of 15cm. Once you’ve finished harvesting your cannabis, you should use the leftover chamomile to make chamomile tea. If tea isn’t to your liking, you can also consider making it into skin wash. 

Dill

Dill is a tasty herb that you won’t regret featuring inside your garden. It tastes much like aniseed, and if you’ve ever had a chicken or soup recipe, you’ll probably recognize it. It’s worth placing in your garden for several reasons. 

Dill repels caterpillars and spider mites that would otherwise eat away at the leaves of your cannabis plants. It also complements the colors of cannabis plants, meaning it looks nice when planted in between them. 

Once the final frost of winter is over, you should plant dill seeds into the soil. Ensure they are at least 1cm deep and 30cm separated from each other if the climate is cold. If it’s warm, then you can sow the seeds straight onto the compost. 

Ideally, your dill will be in the sun, and the soil will be relatively moist. If the soil is too dry, then the dill will instantly flower due to excess stress. It will be ready to harvest seven weeks after you’ve planted it, and you can use the leftovers in soups and salads. When it comes to positioning, it can be put next to your cannabis plants. 

Alfalfa

Alfalfa is another one of the companion plants for cannabis that you should take a look at. It’s simple to grow and helps to improve the quality of the soil. The reason why is because it cooperates with bacteria to pull in nitrogen. This is an ingredient that’s essential for plant growth. 

If you’d like to guarantee the benefits derived from nitrogen, you should inoculate your seeds with particular rhizobia bacteria that fix the nitrogen. Another benefit that alfalfa provides to cannabis growers is that it heightens the amount of water taken up by cannabis roots. That helps your plants remain hydrated and turgid. It also structures the soil so that it’s more stable. 

Alfalfa spreads its roots very rapidly, so you’ll only need to place the seeds on top of the soil. You should do this in parts of your garden that are cooler during the spring or warmer during the fall. Make sure they’re not too close together. Otherwise, they’ll become overcrowded. 

Alfalfa prefers warmer climates, and alongside that, it can resist drought. That means placing it in direct sunlight will be no problem. Alfalfa also benefits from soil that’s a little acidic. Retaining the sprouts is a great choice to boost your vitamin and mineral intake, as they can be added to salads. 

White Clover 

White clover is a plant that suits cannabis growers nicely because it’s resistant to pests and helps improve the soil. Specifically, it boosts moisture and levels of nitrogen in the ground. It doesn’t need any guidance or training to grow, so you can leave it to grow as it wishes.

Another significant benefit of white clover is that it stops weeds from taking over your garden, meaning you can spend more time focusing on cannabis. Using rhizobia bacteria for the nitrogen benefits is also recommended. The spring is the best time to plant the soil, and the soil should be somewhat acidic. Soil with minerals like potassium and phosphorus is the best. 

The soil needs to be moist, and if you irrigate it, that should solve any issues you might have with it. The white clover itself will make pink and white flowers that smell sweet. These will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. You can also use the flowers and leaves for chicken recipes once the growing season is complete. 

Planting white clover along the bottom of cannabis plants is the most appropriate way to grow it, and if your pots are made of fabric, the white clover will grow nicely. 

Red Clover 

Red clover is unsurprisingly quite similar to white clover. It has similar effects on soil health, boosting nitrogen levels, which means your cannabis plants will be healthier too. You should also add the rhizobia bacteria to maximize the benefits derived from nitrogen. 

Red clover plants provide beautiful reddish flowers that will bring in pollinators to your garden. You should plant the seeds in the same way as you would for white clover, but with a slight difference. 

The seeds should be planted 1cm deep, and if you can, 5cm apart. Red clover also benefits from direct sunlight and is better when planted adjacent to cannabis or around the borders of gardens. When planting those seeds, they should be sown straight into pots and flowerbeds.  

Besides the color differences and how to plant the seeds, red clover and white clover are similar. You might even like to grow both of them in your garden at the same time. 

Conclusion

Now that you know all about the best companion plants for growing marijuana, you might like to get a hold of some popular marijuana strains. There is a wide range to choose from, and it depends on what your tastes are. Examples include: 

White Widow Feminized

Plant Type	60% Indica 40% Sativa
THC	Up to 19%
CBD	Insignificant amounts
Grow Difficulty	Easy
Climate	Indoors | Temperate | Mediterranean | Steppe
Plant Size	Average
Flowering Time	9 weeks
Yields	18 oz per 3x3ft

Super Skunk Feminized 

Plant Type	80% Indica 20% Sativa
THC	Up to 20%
CBD	Insignificant amounts
Grow Difficulty	Easy
Climate	Indoors | Mediterranean
Plant Size	Average
Flowering Time	8 weeks
Yields	18 to 21 oz per 3x3ft

Super Silver Haze Feminized 

Plant Type	10% Indica 90% Sativa
THC	Up to 18%
CBD	Insignificant amounts
Grow Difficulty	Moderate
Climate	Indoors | Temperate | Mold Resistant
Plant Size	Tall
Flowering Time	9 weeks
Yields	19 oz per 3x3ft

Banana Kush Autoflower 

Plant Type	60% Indica 40% Sativa
THC	Up to 24%
CBD	Insignificant amounts
Grow Difficulty	Easy
Climate	Indoors | Steppe
Plant Size	Average
Flowering Time	8 weeks
Yields	4 to 6 oz per 3x3ft

Gold Leaf Autoflower 

Plant Type	60% Indica 40% Sativa
THC	Up to 21%
CBD	Insignificant amounts
Grow Difficulty	Easy
Climate	Indoors | Steppe | Mediterranean | Continental
Plant Size	Compact
Flowering Time	8 weeks
Yields	4 to 6 oz per 3x3ft

If you’d like to buy any of these marijuana strains or find out about others you might like, there’s one thing you can do. 

Click here to visit ILGM, the best cannabis seed bank on the Internet.