🌿 Alfalfa Medicago sativa
🥬 Vegetable 🧬 Legumes (Pea & Bean family)
Companion plants for Alfalfa (Vegetable): good neighbours to grow together, plants it dislikes, and sowing tips. EkoHarita — Dünya varmış!
🌿 Open in the Interactive Chart
Good Companions — Plant Together
Bad Neighbours — Keep Them Apart
Conflicting Neighbours
Growing & Sowing Tips
📅 SowingSpring (soil at 10-15°C, March-May), or in Central Anatolia late August-early September (irrigated).
🌱 Depth0.5-2 cm (ideal 1-2 cm; small seed, don't bury deep)
📏 Spacing15-20 cm between rows; broadcast for cover/green manure (~1.5-2.2 g/m²)
🌞 SunFull sun
💧 WateringModerate; drought-tolerant once established, regular moisture during germination
🧺 HarvestFor green manure, cut at the start of flowering and work into the soil; for forage, at first flower, with several cuts a season
🪴 SoilDeep, well-draining, sandy loam, with adequate lime; pH 6.5-7.5 (neutral to slightly alkaline)
⭐ DifficultyEasy-Moderate
🗓️ SeasonPerennial; active growth Spring-Autumn
📅 Calendar is for the Northern Hemisphere; in the Southern Hemisphere shift sowing times by ~6 months.
💡 Key tip: Alfalfa is a soil-building plant: with its deep taproot it breaks up compaction, brings up minerals from the subsoil, and fixes nitrogen. Rather than as a direct neighbour among vegetables, use it in an empty bed as a preceding green manure, as a chop-and-drop mulch when in flower, or as a beneficial-insect/pollinator strip. IMPORTANT WARNING: Alfalfa is a primary carrier of Alfalfa Mosaic Virus (AMV); via aphids it infects tomato/pepper/eggplant/potato and cucumber/lettuce with the virus, so do NOT plant these susceptible crops near alfalfa. Also, don't re-sow alfalfa on an old alfalfa plot for 1-2 years (autotoxicity).
🤝 Companion logic: Its strongest positive use is as a living mulch beneath brassicas (cabbage/broccoli) to draw predatory insects and deter pests; among fruit trees/vines it carries nutrients with its deep roots and supplies nitrogen. Its benefit on strawberry and corn is conditional (mowing/management required). It isn't planted near nightshades like tomato-pepper and cucumber/lettuce due to the virus (AMV) risk; as a legume it is considered incompatible with onion-garlic.
🔬 Scientific References
- University of Minnesota Extension (t.y.) Alfalfa Establishment: Management Strategies. Erişim adresi: https://extension.umn.edu/planting-forages/alfalfa-establishment-management-strategies (Erişim: 15 Haziran 2026).
- Johnny's Selected Seeds (t.y.) How to Grow Clover & Alfalfa Cover Crop. Erişim adresi: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/growers-library/farm-seed-cover-crops/legumes/clovers-alfalfa-key-growing-information.html (Erişim: 15 Haziran 2026).
- Epic Gardening (t.y.) Growing an Alfalfa Cover Crop: The Complete Guide. Erişim adresi: https://www.epicgardening.com/alfalfa-cover-crop/ (Erişim: 15 Haziran 2026).
- Gardener's Path (t.y.) How to Plant and Grow Alfalfa Outdoors. Erişim adresi: https://gardenerspath.com/plants/vegetables/grow-alfalfa/ (Erişim: 15 Haziran 2026).
- Gardenia.net (t.y.) Nitrogen-Fixing Plants to Enrich Your Soil. Erişim adresi: https://www.gardenia.net/guide/nitrogen-fixing-plants-to-enrich-soil (Erişim: 15 Haziran 2026).
- EOS Data Analytics (t.y.) How To Grow Alfalfa: Productive Planting, Care, and Harvest. Erişim adresi: https://eos.com/blog/growing-alfalfa/ (Erişim: 15 Haziran 2026).