Tradition
Good
avoidgood
4 chart entries: 4 recommend, 0 advise against.
0 cited, 4 uncited.
Onion
Allium cepa
Amaryllidaceae
Beet
Beta vulgaris
AmaranthaceaeCan you plant onions and beets together?
Yes. Onions and beets grow well together. A shared bed gave about 64% more harvest than separate beds in one field trial. That rests on a single study, so treat it as a lead, not a rule.
Why onions and beets work together
More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 64% more harvest than the same space split into a beet bed and a onion bed.
Maximizing Productivity by Intercropping Onion on Sugar Beet (Motagally · 2014)Garden charts recommend it. 4 garden chart entries recommend growing them together. None of them cites a source. Charts pass on gardening tradition; they are not tests.
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
What to plant with onions and beets
Good neighbours of both, best tested first.
LettuceWith onions: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith beets: 58% more harvest
CabbageWith onions: 8% more harvestWith beets: 14% more harvest
CucumberWith onions: Helpful plant chemistryWith beets: Recommended by garden charts, not tested
BroccoliRecommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet
KohlrabiRecommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet
What to keep away from onions and beets
The evidence in detail
For readers who want to dig in: every chart entry, study and yield trial behind the answer above, with the numbers.
Tradition, research and yield trials
Research
No papers found on this pair.
Yield trial
Good
No per-crop split reported in these trials.
1 field trial. Published LERs lean high.
Good neighbours
What happens above and below ground
Each animation illustrates a mechanism a study reported for this pair. Pick a card to focus on it.
Everything at once.
Companion plants for both onions and beets
Plants that are good neighbours of each. Biggest harvest gain first; each cell links to the evidence for that pair.
| Plant | With onions | With beets |
|---|---|---|
| Lettuce | No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for onions and lettuce | 58% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beets and lettuce |
| Cabbage | Fewer pests and draws in pest-eating insects8% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 8 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for onions and cabbage | 14% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 5 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beets and cabbage |
| Cucumber | Helpful plant chemistry and bigger combined harvestField trial, 3 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for onions and cucumbers | No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beets and cucumbers |
Harvest from the same space compares a bed with both crops against the same area split into single-crop beds, counting the harvest of both crops (the land equivalent ratio in yield trials).
Recommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet
The evidence, with sources
- GoodLER 1.64field trialEgypt, 2011-2013; Replacement design; median LER 1.64 over 8 treatment(s) · partial LER Onion 0.96Maximizing Productivity by Intercropping Onion on Sugar Beet (Motagally · 2014)
- GoodBeet helps OnionBeets: helps onionsList of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
- GoodOnion helps BeetBeets: helped by onionsList of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
- GoodOnion helps BeetOnion: helps BeetsList of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
- GoodBeet helps OnionOnion: helped by beetsList of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
All neighbours of onion and of beet, or every pair at once in the companion planting chart.
Have you grown onions and beets together?
Tell other gardeners what happened: spacing, pests, harvest, or ask a question. Reader notes are not checked by us and do not change the verdicts on this page.