Cilantro

Coriandrum sativum

Apiaceae

Eggplant

Solanum melongena

Solanaceae

Can you plant cilantro and eggplant together?

Yes. Cilantro and eggplant grow well together. A shared bed gave about 67% more harvest than separate beds in one field trial, and cilantro kept pests off eggplant in a field trial. That rests on two studies, so treat it as a lead, not a rule.

Why cilantro and eggplant work together

More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 67% more harvest than the same space split into a cilantro bed and a eggplant bed.
The prospects of intercropping of brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.) with other vegetables on sorjan system in vulnerable southern coastal saline and non-saline areas of Bangladesh (Rahman · 2024)
Fewer pests. In a field trial, cilantro kept pests off eggplant.
Crop Diversification for Sustainable Insect Pest Management in Eggplant (Solanales: Solanaceae) (Sujayanand GK · 2015 · Florida Entomologist)

What to plant with cilantro and eggplant

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

CabbageWith cilantro: 70% more harvestWith eggplant: 54% more harvest
LettuceWith cilantro: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith eggplant: 16% more harvest
BeanWith cilantro: Recommended by garden chartsWith eggplant: 13% more harvest
TomatoWith cilantro: Less diseaseWith eggplant: 12% more harvest
PepperWith cilantro: Fewer pestsWith eggplant: Recommended by garden charts, not tested

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from cilantro and eggplant

Nothing in our data is a bad neighbour of cilantro or eggplant.

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

Good

avoidgood

1 paper found: 1 positive, 0 negative.

pest suppression

auto-classified not reviewed by a person

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 (2)

Pick a card to spotlight its animation in the scene.

Cilantro EggplantCilantro helps keep pests off Eggplant: its scent and plant chemistry confuse or repel the insects that would attack it.

Researchfield trial x1

Crop Diversification for Sustainable Insect Pest Management in Eggplant (Solanales: Solanaceae) (Sujayanand GK · 2015 · Florida Entomologist)

Cilantro EggplantMedian land equivalent ratio 1.67 over 1 trial: growing them together gave 1.67 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Cilantro 0.80 + Eggplant 0.87. Range across treatments 1.66 to 1.67. 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

The prospects of intercropping of brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.) with other vegetables on sorjan system in vulnerable southern coastal saline and non-saline areas of Bangladesh (Rahman · 2024)

Companion plants for both cilantro and eggplant

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

Plant	With cilantro	With eggplant
Cabbage	Draws in pest-eating insects70% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 7 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for cilantro and cabbage	54% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for eggplant and cabbage
Lettuce	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for cilantro and lettuce	16% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for eggplant and lettuce
Bean	No effect on pest-eating insectsField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for cilantro and beans	13% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for eggplant and beans
Tomato	Less disease and fewer pestsField trial, 3 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for cilantro and tomatoes	12% more harvest from the same spaceSame family (Solanaceae): shares pests and diseasesField trial, 2 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for eggplant and tomatoes
Pepper	Fewer pests and draws in pest-eating insectsField trial, 2 studies. Charts: not listed.Evidence for cilantro and peppers	No trial foundSame family (Solanaceae): shares pests and diseasesNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for eggplant and peppers

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

ResearchGood1 entry

Goodpest suppressionfield trialauto-classified

Cilantro helps Eggplant
Crop Diversification for Sustainable Insect Pest Management in Eggplant (Solanales: Solanaceae)
Crop Diversification for Sustainable Insect Pest Management in Eggplant (Solanales: Solanaceae) (Sujayanand GK · 2015 · Florida Entomologist)

Relevance 89% · effect confidence 93%

Yield trialGood1 entry

GoodLER 1.67field trial

Bangladesh, 2021-2022; Additive design; median LER 1.67 over 2 treatment(s) · partial LER Eggplant 0.87
The prospects of intercropping of brinjal ( Solanum melongena L.) with other vegetables on sorjan system in vulnerable southern coastal saline and non-saline areas of Bangladesh (Rahman · 2024)

Plan a bed with cilantro and eggplant

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

Have you grown cilantro and eggplant 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.