Sweet corn

Zea mays

Poaceae

Squash & pumpkin

Cucurbita spp.

Cucurbitaceae

Can you plant corn and squash together?

Yes. Corn and squash grow well together. A shared bed gave about 13% more harvest than separate beds in 2 field trials.

Why corn and squash work together

More harvest from the same bed. In 2 field trials, a bed with both crops gave about 13% more harvest than the same space split into a sweet corn bed and a squash & pumpkin bed.
The effect of planting combinations and weeding on the growth and yield of component crops of maize/bean and maize/pumpkin intercrops (Tembakazi Silwana · 2002)
and 1 more source
Garden charts recommend it. 2 garden chart entries recommend growing them together. None of them cites a source. Charts pass on gardening tradition; they are not tests.
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
No clear effect on pest-eating insects. In a field trial, growing them together made no clear difference to pest-eating insects.
The Mesoamerican milpa agroecosystem fosters greater arthropod diversity compared to monocultures (Grof-Tisza P · 2024 · Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.)

What to plant with corn and squash

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

BeanWith corn: 43% more harvestWith squash: 17% more harvest
RadishWith corn: 40% more harvestWith squash: Recommended by garden charts, not tested

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from corn and squash

CeleryWith corn: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
PotatoWith squash: 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

2 chart entries: 2 recommend, 0 advise against.

0 cited, 2 uncited.

Research

Good

avoidgood

2 papers found: 1 positive, 0 negative, 1 no effect.

natural enemiesyield / land use

auto-classified not reviewed by a person

Yield trial

Good

0.70

0.38

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

2 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 (3)

Pick a card to spotlight its animation in the scene.

Sweet corn Squash & pumpkin No clear effectStudies looked for natural enemies from Sweet corn to Squash & pumpkin and found no clear effect.

Squash & pumpkin Sweet corn No clear effectStudies looked for natural enemies from Squash & pumpkin to Sweet corn and found no clear effect.

Researchfield trial x1

The Mesoamerican milpa agroecosystem fosters greater arthropod diversity compared to monocultures (Grof-Tisza P · 2024 · Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.)

Sweet corn Squash & pumpkinGrown together, Sweet corn and Squash & pumpkin gave more food from the same ground than apart.

Researchfield trial x1

Milpa polyculture enhances productivity through crop complementarity and potential carry over effects (Bustos-Segura C · 2026 · bioRxiv)

Sweet corn Squash & pumpkinMedian land equivalent ratio 1.13 over 2 trials: growing them together gave 1.13 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Sweet corn 0.71 + Squash & pumpkin 0.38. Range across treatments 0.94 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 x2

The effect of planting combinations and weeding on the growth and yield of component crops of maize/bean and maize/pumpkin intercrops (Tembakazi Silwana · 2002)

Productivity of intercropping maize (Zea mays L.) and pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima Duch.) under conventional vs. conservation farming system. (Momirović · 2015)

Tradition saysGood

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

None of the 2 tradition entries cite a specific source.

Companion plants for both corn and squash

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

Plant	With corn	With squash
Bean	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 corn and beans	Fewer pests and better soil and nutrient uptake17% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 7 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for squash and beans
Radish	40% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 2 studies. Charts: not listed.Evidence for corn and radishes	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for squash and radishes

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

ResearchGood2 entries

No effectnatural enemiesfield trialauto-classified

The Mesoamerican milpa agroecosystem fosters greater arthropod diversity compared to monocultures
The Mesoamerican milpa agroecosystem fosters greater arthropod diversity compared to monocultures (Grof-Tisza P · 2024 · Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment.)

Relevance 85% · effect confidence 49%
Goodyield / land usefield trialauto-classified

Milpa polyculture enhances productivity through crop complementarity and potential carry over effects
Milpa polyculture enhances productivity through crop complementarity and potential carry over effects (Bustos-Segura C · 2026 · bioRxiv)

Relevance 89% · effect confidence 93%

Yield trialGood2 entries

GoodLER 1.38field trial

South Africa, 1998; Replacement design; median LER 1.38 over 6 treatment(s) · partial LER Sweet corn 0.835, Squash & pumpkin 0.48
The effect of planting combinations and weeding on the growth and yield of component crops of maize/bean and maize/pumpkin intercrops (Tembakazi Silwana · 2002)
BadLER 0.88field trial

Serbia, 2010-2011; Replacement design; median LER 0.88 over 12 treatment(s) · partial LER Sweet corn 0.575, Squash & pumpkin 0.275
Productivity of intercropping maize (Zea mays L.) and pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima Duch.) under conventional vs. conservation farming system. (Momirović · 2015)

TraditionGood2 entries

GoodSquash & pumpkin helps Sweet corn
Pumpkin: helps Corn
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
GoodSquash & pumpkin helps Sweet corn
Squash: helps corn
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)

Plan a bed with corn and squash

All neighbours of sweet corn and of squash & pumpkin, or every pair at once in the companion planting chart.

Have you grown corn and squash 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.