Companion Planting: Sweet Alyssum

Lobularia maritima

Spacing: 3 per square foot. Mature height: 3-10 in.

Plant these nearby

• Broccoli: Sweet alyssum intercropping is documented to attract aphid-eating hoverflies, but the published research behind this (Brennan 2013) specifically tested lettuce, not broccoli — treat the broccoli extension as plausible but unconfirmed by that study.
• Lettuce: A published field study (Brennan 2013, Biological Control) found strip-intercropping lettuce with sweet alyssum reduces aphid pressure via hoverflies, whose larvae can eat up to 150 aphids a day — real, measured pest control, not folklore. (source)

Keep these apart

No known antagonists recorded for Sweet Alyssum.

Common pairings, answered directly

Can I plant sweet alyssum next to broccoli?

Yes. Sweet alyssum intercropping is documented to attract aphid-eating hoverflies, but the published research behind this (Brennan 2013) specifically tested lettuce, not broccoli — treat the broccoli extension as plausible but unconfirmed by that study.

Can I plant sweet alyssum next to lettuce?

Yes. A published field study (Brennan 2013, Biological Control) found strip-intercropping lettuce with sweet alyssum reduces aphid pressure via hoverflies, whose larvae can eat up to 150 aphids a day — real, measured pest control, not folklore.

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Companion planting for Sweet Alyssum: which plants to grow next to it, which to keep apart, and the reason behind each pairing.

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