Interplanting Floral Resource Plants with Vegetable Plants Enhances Beneficial Arthropod Abundance in a Home Garden

Abstract

We examined whether interplanting vegetable and ornamental flowering plants reduces herbivory and enhances photosynthetic rate, plant growth, natural enemy abundance, and pollinator visitation relative to monoculture plantings. We found no evidence of physiological or growth costs due to growth in polyculture. Herbivore damage to plants did not differ with planting regime. Natural enemies occurred in greater abundance in polycultures compared to monocultures. Pollinator diversity was enhanced in some polyculture plots. We suggest that interplanting vegetable and flowering ornamental plants at small spatial scales may improve plant health and reproduction through natural pest control and a diversified pollinator pool.

Keywords

• cowpea
• herbivory
• native ornamentals
• natural enemies
• pollinators
• polyculture
• tomato