Companion Planting Matrix is Live

We’ve just launched a new tool we’ve been working on: the Companion Planting Matrix.

Open the Companion Planting Matrix

The idea is simple — help growers see which plants work well together, which ones don’t, and how to build healthier, more productive gardens naturally.

You can explore plant relationships through an interactive matrix that compares combinations across a wide range of edible plants. Hover over each square to learn more about that pairing and discover useful companion planting patterns.

Some combinations are well known:

• tomatoes + basil
• corn + beans + squash
• marigolds around vegetables

But once you see everything mapped visually, it opens up a new way of planning gardens.

This project grew from our work in food resilience, community growing, and making gardening knowledge more accessible and engaging.

We want growing kai to feel approachable — not complicated or gatekept. Just people learning, experimenting, sharing ideas, and helping each other grow better food.

So much knowledge in the growing scene is passed person to person: conversations, seed swaps, workshops, online groups, community gardens, and visits to each other’s patches. That community spirit is a big part of what inspired this tool.

We’d love to see more families gardening together, more children learning where food comes from, more neighbourhood growing projects, and more people connecting through shared growing experiences. Even a small raised bed can be a place to learn, connect, and build confidence.

This is only the beginning. We’ll keep adding plants, relationships, and features — and hope it becomes an even more useful resource over time.

Thank you to everyone growing food, sharing knowledge, and helping build stronger local food networks.

Have a play with the tool and tell us what you think.

Troppo · Kai resilience · Food Forest Layer Visualizer