Customer Reviews

Secrets of Companion Planting: Plants That Help, Plants That Hurt

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The book offers a "good companion" list and a "bad companion" list. Good companions are those plants that grow well together. Bad companions are plants that a gardener would not want to plant together. Simple enough to understand, yeah? Yeah, well, hummm... I'm not kidding with what I am about to write here... Reader, you may have noticed that there is another book titled Carrots Love Tomatoes. Okay so, the first thing I did in the book Secrets of Companion Planting was to look up carrots and tomatoes on the good and bad companion lists. Here's what I found...

Good Companion
Carrots---Tomatoes not listed, page 104.
Tomatoes---Carrots listed, page 107.

Bad Companion
Carrots---Tomatoes Listed (!) page 108.
Tomatoes---Carrots not listed, page 109.

I don't understand how tomatoes and carrots could be listed as both good companions and bad companions.

Now, I have to explain why I gave the book two stars instead of one... There seems to be some helpful information such as when the author said as a "by the way" that potatoes should be planted in the same place because they come up twice as thick the summer after their first harvest. I have no idea what the author is talking about with the potato sentence, but it was enough to make me want to do research about it. I thought that once the potatoes were dug up, i.e. harvested, the plant was no more. Maybe some potatoes get left in the ground and that's why they come up twice as thick the summer after the first harvest? Maybe potatoes leave some nutrient in the soil that causes the second round of planting to be better than the first? I don't know. I am going to research it though. I'm curious.

I have the book Carrots Love Tomatoes next to me, but I haven't read it yet. I hurried up to write this review to potentially save someone from buying the book Secrets of Companion Planting.

Sometimes I wonder if the authors are knowledgeable, but the editor made some mistakes?


Update: January 24, 2011

I'm back here to update this review. I have been studying and growing potatoes for a couple of years. I am quite fascinated by the potato. I wrote an article about the potato [...]. I disagree with the author of this book that potatoes should be grown in the same location, in fact, the organic growing sources that I have discuss how potatoes should not be planted in the same location for five years. Potato blight is a concern not just for the potatoes, but the tomatoes too, so it's best to get all the potatoes dug up at harvest time and not to leave any piled up outside. There is much more to learn about how to avoid getting potato blight, but this is a review and not a book.

I should probably lower my rating to one star now, but dang, that's so harsh...

I onwn this book, (120 pages long) As well as Carrots LOve tomatoes by Louise Riotte (207 pages long), Each book contains helpfull hints, & information that isn't in the other ones. For example if one says to plant Beans, & carrots togather, Chanches are pretty good that it you peruse the other book it will not only tell you the same thing but why to do it. Very usefull information for someone like me. I like to know why I am being told to do something, & not just be doing it because a book said it is good to do so. Brendas book has some interesting claims that are not in Louises's book, however If I could only affors to purchases one of the books I would buy CARROTS LOVE TOMATOES by LOUUISE RIOTTE, as if you pay reccomended publisher price found on the back covers, Riotte's book is $00.45 U.S.D. Cheaper, & is a lot bigger book.

I also purchased Secrets of Companion Planting at the same time as Carrots Love Tomatoes. Purchased through ebates dot com to get a 4% rebate then though overstock dot com. This is a small book but what is GREAT about it is the back which has a list of good companions and bad companion foods to grow together. Go to let's say carrots and the book will show which foods NOT to grow next to carrots and and which foods to grow next to carrots. This one stop shopping list is worth the cost of this little book alone.

Seriously buy Carrots Love Tomatoes with Secrets of Companion Planting as they compliment each other.

good information to know about companion planting and how to make your garden a better one.

Do I like it? At $976.98 I will never know. I do own Carrots love tomatoes and am very happy with it. Not to mention that it is reasonably priced. Companion planting is an interest of mine and the book looks like something that would be of interest to me. That is why I gave it 2 stars.

this book is a must for those like me who are learning the tricks of a successful garden.
There is so much more to it than sticking a living plant or a seed into dirt to make it grow.