Borage & Tomatoes? Rue & Grapes - yes!

by L Jones
(Indiana)

I read several places that borage would repel tomato worms so I planted it with more than half my tomato plants this year (that would be about 15). The horn tomato worms have nearly dessimated all of the tomatoes that had borage around them. The tomatoes with basil have fared better. This is the first crop of red raspberries I've had in 20 years that wasn't covered with Japanese beetles. I placed 2 pots with rue in them (2 gal. pots size so rue had room to grow) at mid-points in my 20 ft. raspberry bed. Not one Japanese beetle! We have grapes nearby and they have had a few that I've been able to keep under control by hand picking them off the plants. I've planted marigolds everywhere and I really haven't noticed that they've repelled the things I'd hoped - cabbage moths, tomato worms, or bean beetles - no luck on any of those.


jim says sounds like some experiments are taking place in Indiana. What I have noticed, over years, companion plants work for several years and then all of a sudden they don't do their job. Maybe too heavy of infestation.