Radish

Raphanus sativus

Brassicaceae

Bean

Phaseolus vulgaris

Fabaceae

Can you plant radishes and beans together?

Yes. Radishes and beans grow well together. A shared bed gave about 21% more harvest than separate beds in one field trial. That rests on a single study, so treat it as a lead, not a rule.

Why radishes and beans work together

More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 21% more harvest than the same space split into a bean bed and a radish bed.
Intercropped red beet and radish with green bean affected microbial communities and nodulation by indigenous rhizobia (Ugrinovic · 2014)
Garden charts recommend it. 3 garden chart entries recommend growing them together. 2 of them cite no source. Charts pass on gardening tradition; they are not tests.
Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)

What to plant with radishes and beans

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

Sweet cornWith radishes: 40% more harvestWith beans: 43% more harvest
Squash & pumpkinWith radishes: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith beans: 17% more harvest
CucumberWith radishes: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith beans: 14% more harvest
EggplantWith radishes: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith beans: 13% more harvest

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from radishes and beans

CarrotWith radishes: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
KohlrabiWith beans: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
ChivesWith beans: Garden charts advise against it, not tested

The evidence in detail

For readers who want to dig in: every chart entry, study and yield trial behind the answer above, with the numbers.

Tradition, research and yield trials

Tradition

Good

avoidgood

3 chart entries: 3 recommend, 0 advise against.

1 cited, 2 uncited.

Research

No papers found on this pair.

Yield trial

Good

No per-crop split reported in these trials.

1 field trial. Published LERs lean high.

Good neighbours

What happens above and below ground

Each animation illustrates a mechanism a study reported for this pair. Pick a card to focus on it.

Everything at once.

What is going on (1)

Pick a card to spotlight its animation in the scene.

Radish BeanMedian land equivalent ratio 1.21 over 1 trial: growing them together gave 1.21 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Radish 0.61 + Bean 0.61. Range across treatments 1.19 to 1.23. Medians are taken separately, so the parts need not add up to the median LER. LER above 1 is biased upward by publication bias.

Yield trialfield trial x1

Intercropped red beet and radish with green bean affected microbial communities and nodulation by indigenous rhizobia (Ugrinovic · 2014)

Tradition saysGood

3 gardening-lore entries, 2 without a specific citation. Lore is a starting point, not proof.

Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)

Companion plants for both radishes and beans

Plants that are good neighbours of each. Biggest harvest gain first; each cell links to the evidence for that pair.

Plant	With radishes	With beans
Sweet corn	40% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 2 studies. Charts: not listed.Evidence for radishes and corn	Draws in pest-eating insects, fewer pests and better soil and nutrient uptake43% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 22 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beans and corn
Squash & pumpkin	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for radishes and squash	Fewer pests and better soil and nutrient uptake17% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 7 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beans and squash
Cucumber	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for radishes and cucumbers	14% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beans and cucumbers
Eggplant	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for radishes and eggplant	13% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beans and eggplant

Harvest from the same space compares a bed with both crops against the same area split into single-crop beds, counting the harvest of both crops (the land equivalent ratio in yield trials).

The evidence, with sources

Yield trialGood1 entry

GoodLER 1.21field trial

Serbia, 2010; Replacement design; median LER 1.21 over 2 treatment(s)
Intercropped red beet and radish with green bean affected microbial communities and nodulation by indigenous rhizobia (Ugrinovic · 2014)

TraditionGood3 entries

GoodRadish helps Bean
Beans, pole: helped by Radishes
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
GoodRadish helps Bean
Radish: helps beans
Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)
GoodRadish helps Bean
Radish: helps pole beans
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)

Plan a bed with radishes and beans

All neighbours of radish and of bean, or every pair at once in the companion planting chart.

Have you grown radishes and beans together?

Tell other gardeners what happened: spacing, pests, harvest, or ask a question. Reader notes are not checked by us and do not change the verdicts on this page.