Mint

Mentha spp.

Lamiaceae

Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum

Solanaceae

Can you plant mint and tomatoes together?

Yes. Mint and tomatoes grow well together. A shared bed gave about 72% 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 mint and tomatoes work together

More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 72% more harvest than the same space split into a mint bed and a tomato bed.
Produtividade do tomateiro em cultivo solteiro e consorciado com espécies aromáticas e medicinais X1 - Yield of tomato in monocrop and intercropping with aromatics plants (Carvalho · 2009)
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)

What to plant with mint and tomatoes

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

CabbageWith mint: Draws in pest-eating insectsWith tomatoes: 34% more harvest
EggplantWith mint: Fewer pestsWith tomatoes: 12% more harvest

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from mint and tomatoes

RosemaryWith tomatoes: 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

No papers found on this pair.

Yield trial

Good

0.69

1.03

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

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.

Mint TomatoMedian land equivalent ratio 1.72 over 1 trial: growing them together gave 1.72 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Mint 0.69 + Tomato 1.03. Range across treatments 1.72 to 1.72. 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

Produtividade do tomateiro em cultivo solteiro e consorciado com espécies aromáticas e medicinais X1 - Yield of tomato in monocrop and intercropping with aromatics plants (Carvalho · 2009)

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 mint and tomatoes

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

Plant	With mint	With tomatoes
Cabbage	Draws in pest-eating insectsField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for mint and cabbage	34% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 4 studies. Charts: not listed.Evidence for tomatoes and cabbage
Eggplant	Fewer pestsField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for mint and eggplant	12% more harvest from the same spaceSame family (Solanaceae): shares pests and diseasesField trial, 2 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for tomatoes 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 1.72field trial

Brazil, 2006; Additive design; median LER 1.72 over 1 treatment(s) · partial LER Mint 0.69, Tomato 1.03
Produtividade do tomateiro em cultivo solteiro e consorciado com espécies aromáticas e medicinais X1 - Yield of tomato in monocrop and intercropping with aromatics plants (Carvalho · 2009)

TraditionGood2 entries

GoodMint helps Tomato
Peppermint: helps tomatoes
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
GoodMint helps Tomato
Spearmint: helps tomatoes
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)

Plan a bed with mint and tomatoes

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

Have you grown mint and tomatoes 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.