Ingredient
Nasturtium
Tropaeolum majus
Also known as: Tropaeolum majus, garden nasturtium
Annual edible flowering plant from the Andes — the right ingredient as a *trap crop* for aphids in vegetable gardens. Aphid populations preferentially colonize nasturtium over cucurbits, brassicas, and beans, concentrating the infestation where it can be managed manually (squish, prune, hose-blast). Also: the entire plant is edible (peppery leaves, flowers, and seed pods that pickle as 'poor man's capers'); the flowers attract hummingbirds and pollinators; trailing varieties make excellent living ground-cover under taller vegetables. Easy from seed, frost-tender, prefers poor soil (rich soil produces leaves at the expense of flowers).
Inputs / outputs
- Seeding: direct-sow after last frost; seeds large, easy to handle
- Soil: prefers poor, well-drained — too rich = leaves not flowers
- Sun: full sun preferred; tolerates partial shade
- Habit: bush types stay 12 inches; trailing types reach 6+ feet
- Bloom: May/June through frost; continuous if deadheaded
Solves / unlocks
- Aphid trap-crop function (concentrates aphids; manage by pruning or releasing predators)
- Edible-flower garnish (peppery, watercress-like — leaves, flowers, immature seed pods)
- Pickled seed-pod ‘capers’ (preserve immature green seeds in vinegar)
- Hummingbird and pollinator attractor
- Living ground-cover under taller crops
- Squash-vine-borer mild deterrence (under-planted with squash)
Constraints
- Frost-tender — first frost ends the season cleanly.
- Aphids are an outcome, not a problem — accept the heavy aphid load on nasturtium as the trap-crop function working; if it becomes excessive, prune affected stems and add to compost.
- Self-seeds — drops seed and returns mildly the next year; not aggressively invasive in most climates.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Member of: [[ingredient]]
- Combines with: [[companion-planting]] · [[ladybug]] · [[lacewing]]
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Practical
contains
- Ecosystem toolkit companion / aphid trap crop, edible flower
parallels
- Marigold (Tagetes) both edible-flower companions; marigold suppresses below-ground pests, nasturtium traps above-ground aphids
combines
- Recipe: pollinator-and-predator companion strip aphid trap crop; concentrates pest populations where predators can find them
3 inbound links · 4 outbound