Have you had a cantaloupe patch in your backyard? It was before I discovered companion planting. Some people think melons and other vining plants should be grown alone so they won't climb on everything, but you'd be amazed what you can put near your melon patch.
1. Basil
Basil grows thick and tall, but if pruned and harvested often, it won't bother cantaloupe neighbors. Its weak roots shouldn't compete with cantaloupe. If you're unsure, it grows well in containers near melon patches.
2. Beans
Beans fix nitrogen in their roots from the air. When you chop off older bean plants at the soil, their roots decompose and release nitrogen for your cantaloupe plants. Bush and pole beans work. Bean and cantaloupe rows alternate.
3. Borage
To add organic material and preserve nutrients for other plants, chop and drop borage. Plant scientists recommend low-nitrogen, high-potassium fertilizers after blooms. Borage attracts beneficial insects, another reason to grow it.
4. Carrots
Carrot buddies loosen soil well. Grow this cool-season crop in your melon patch to loosen up the soil and help sensitive cantaloupe seedlings anchor. You can consume carrots at any stage, so leave some in the ground when planting cantaloupe seeds. Carrots should be pulled when seedlings require additional space.
5. Cilantro
Many helpful insects will visit your garden with cilantro. Butterfly, hoverfly, and bee pollinators and ladybug, lacewing, and parasitic wasp predators are common. While attracting predators, cilantro also repels beetles, aphids, and spider mites.
6. Corn
Corn offers a natural trellis for pole beans, and squash protects corn roots as a living mulch. Cantaloupe can replace squash and be grown with corn and beans to maximize gardening area.
7. Dill
I usually advocate planting dill in your yard since it tastes and smells great! However, ladybugs on it consume aphids that seek to attack your cantaloupes, making it a good plant to keep nearby.
8. Garlic
If bugs are always after your watermelon, add this garlic to your collection to help keep them away. It has a strong smell that bugs hate, so put some near your fruit to keep them away.
9. Lettuce
Lettuce grows quickly and goes with virtually anything. Plant seeds with melons and harvest young greens when cantaloupe seedlings reach a few inches tall and need more space.
10. Marigold
I love marigolds in my garden since they're colorful and useful. Due of their high water needs, cantaloupes may attract mosquitoes, but marigolds will repel them, reduce soil nematodes, and trap aphids to keep them off your melons.
11. Mint
Mint grows quickly, so keep it in a container, but it's nice near cantaloupes. Mint repels aphids, squash bugs, whiteflies, ants, and flea beetles. Use a mint you like around your cantaloupe patch for maximum effects.
12. Nasturtium
Nasturtium's bushy growth looks great around bed corners and row ends. You can intercrop them with melons if you keep the vines from wrapping around the plant. It only needs a foot or two to spread out.