Cabbage

Brassica oleracea var. capitata

Brassicaceae

Pea

Pisum sativum

Fabaceae

Can you plant cabbage and peas together?

Yes. Cabbage and peas grow well together. A shared bed gave about 11% more harvest than separate beds in 3 field trials.

Why cabbage and peas work together

More harvest from the same bed. In 3 field trials, a bed with both crops gave about 11% more harvest than the same space split into a cabbage bed and a pea bed.
Assessment of advantages of pea and non-legume winter vegetable intercropping systems through competition and economic indices (Anjum · 2015)
and 2 more sources

What to plant with cabbage and peas

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

CilantroWith cabbage: 70% more harvestWith peas: Recommended by garden charts, not tested
SpinachWith cabbage: 46% more harvestWith peas: Recommended by garden charts, not tested
MintWith cabbage: Draws in pest-eating insectsWith peas: Recommended by garden charts, not tested
CauliflowerRecommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from cabbage and peas

CarrotWith peas: Smaller combined harvest
OnionWith peas: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
ChivesWith peas: 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

No chart mentions this pair.

Research

No papers found on this pair.

Yield trial

Good

0.79

0.36

Cabbage gains more. Partial LER is each crop's share of the yield it would give alone.

3 field trials. 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.

Cabbage PeaMedian land equivalent ratio 1.11 over 3 trials: growing them together gave 1.11 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Cabbage 0.72 + Pea 0.39. Range across treatments 1.11 to 1.11. 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 x3

Assessment of advantages of pea and non-legume winter vegetable intercropping systems through competition and economic indices (Anjum · 2015)

A Study on Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) Based Intercropping System (Kabiraj · 2017)

1 more source

Effect of pea intercropping on biological efficiencies and economics of some non-legume winter vegetables (Ali Qasim · 2013)

Companion plants for both cabbage and peas

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

Plant	With cabbage	With peas
Cilantro	Draws in pest-eating insects70% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 7 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for cabbage and cilantro	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for peas and cilantro
Spinach	46% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 3 studies. Charts: not listed.Evidence for cabbage and spinach	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for peas and spinach
Mint	Draws in pest-eating insectsField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for cabbage and mint	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for peas and mint

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).

Recommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet

Cauliflower

The evidence, with sources

Yield trialGood3 entries

GoodLER 1.11field trial

Pakistan, 2010–2012; Additive design; median LER 1.11 over 1 treatment(s) · partial LER Cabbage 0.72, Pea 0.39
Assessment of advantages of pea and non-legume winter vegetable intercropping systems through competition and economic indices (Anjum · 2015)
GoodLER 1.21field trial

India, 2013-2015; NA design; median LER 1.21 over 1 treatment(s) · partial LER Cabbage 0.92, Pea 0.29
A Study on Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis) Based Intercropping System (Kabiraj · 2017)
GoodLER 1.11field trial

Pakistan, 2010-2012; Replacement design; median LER 1.11 over 1 treatment(s) · partial LER Cabbage 0.72, Pea 0.39
Effect of pea intercropping on biological efficiencies and economics of some non-legume winter vegetables (Ali Qasim · 2013)

Plan a bed with cabbage and peas

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

Have you grown cabbage and peas 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.