One of the biggest lessons we learnt this year was on "Inter-planting". I don't believe we did inter-planting the right way to begin with.
We planned our vegetable planting plan based on the plants that work well together, the friends versus the foes that should be kept separate.
This is the bed where we had onions and the Broccoli/ Cauliflower planted together. After this initial stage, the Broccoli/ Cauliflower's took off and completely snuffed out the light to the Onions that never made it big.
We planted the Squash (Sugar Pumpkins) with Beans in the back. I ended up having to remove the Squash leaves that went towards the back of the bed and kind of moved everything to grow towards the front. I am not sure if it caused any stress to the plant. But looking at the production, it does not look like they were affected.
The Pole Beans were able to pick up from there on and seem to be doing well now.
The Zucchinis were planted in the front with the Bitter Gourds in the back of the bed. I trimmed out the Zucchini leaves the same way I trimmed out the leaves of the Sugar Pumpkin. The Zucchini's were not affected but because of the way they grow (not spreading as much as the Pumpkins) they kept interfering with the growth of the Bitter Gourds. Till date, we haven't harvested even one Bitter Gourd.
The Zucchini leaves I trimmed early on....and kept trimming the entire season.
The Bitter Gourds languishing behind the Zucchini's
We also planted the Okras (Ladies Finger) and the Bell Peppers near the Tomatoes. They have also been dwarfed and stunted by the massive Tomato plants.
The only ones that seems to be co-existing in harmony are the Bell Peppers and the Eggplants that are together in one of the planter beds.
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