Do Some [Green] Vegetables Need to Be Planted in Pairs?

Question

Do some [green] vegetables need to be planted in pairs? A friend says I should plant at least two green plants in order for them to produce well. Is this true? I have a very small balcony off my apt and wanted to try one ‘bush-type’ green bean plant to see how well it turns out.

Answer 1

No, not normally. There are some kinds of fruits that need to cross pollinate or produce better if they can cross pollinate, especially fruit trees. But this does not happen too often with vegetables. Most vegetables do fine as long as they have pollinators (e.g. bees) to pollinate their flowers.