Crop rotation in the garden. What then can be planted in the garden

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Growing vegetables and herbs in your garden for many today is both a useful and a favorite pastime. Of course, it is very important to get a good harvest from your site. The best result is achieved when the crop rotation in the garden is properly adjusted.

The importance of crop rotation

If the same plants are constantly planted in one place, then their own enzymes (root secretions) poison the soil and the yield drops. So, for example, with long-term cultivation of celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, cabbage in the soil, pathogens of various diseases accumulate in the soil. Therefore, crop rotation is necessary in the garden, that is, an annual change of places for growing crops on the site.

The same crops and related crops are recommended to be planted in the same places after at least three seasons. It is important to comply with this condition, because different crops require different fertilizers. So, for example, cucumbers, cabbage, zucchini, leek, pumpkin need organic fertilizers; carrots, beets, parsley - in mineral; onions, garlic, herbs, tomatoes - both in minerals and in organic matter.

Benefits of crop rotation

Alternating crops in the garden allows:

• reduce the impact of pests and pathogens that have accumulated in the soil, especially dangerous for the past crop and less dangerous for the next one;
• improve the uptake of nutrients from the soil by plants;
• more rational use of mineral and organic fertilizers, given their effect and aftereffect on different crops;
• avoid the negative phenomena that are caused by the root secretions of this plant species;
• deep digging should be carried out gradually (only for crops that need deep loosening of the soil).

Organization of crop rotation

In order to organize a crop rotation of vegetable crops in the garden and not get confused in the planting sites, the following solution is often suggested. The entire garden is conditionally divided into four zones (although three are possible). We plant crops in groups. The first group is vegetables that need organic matter. The second group is vegetables that need mineral fertilizers. The third group is vegetables, for which both organics and minerals are important. And the fourth group is potatoes.

For the next season, you need to choose such places for planting so that they are suitable for previous crops:

• Beans - cabbage, potatoes, root vegetables, tomatoes.
• Potatoes - legumes and early cabbage.
• Cabbage - root vegetables, legumes, tomatoes, potatoes.
• Tomatoes, peppers - legumes,root vegetables, cabbage.
• Luku - potatoes, pumpkin, root vegetables, legumes.
• Root crops - potatoes, tomatoes, early cabbage.
• Greens - legumes, cabbage, potatoes, pumpkin.
• Cucumbers and pumpkin - root vegetables, early cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes.

You also need to know invalid predecessors. For example, do not fit:

• Cabbage - pumpkin, radish, swede, radish.
• Leaf beet - spinach.
• Onions - leeks, carrots, radish, celery.
• Carrots - zucchini, parsley, tomatoes, fennel, celery.
• Cucumbers, pumpkin - swede.
• Radishes - kohlrabi.
• Beetroot - tomatoes, spinach.
• Tomatoes and other nightshades - cucumbers, zucchini.

How to increase yields

Observing certain rules of crop rotation in the garden, you can get two crops a year on one piece of land. For example, before planting peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, you can grow radishes, spinach, lettuce. After cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, sow turnips and radishes. After early potatoes, plant kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli. After peas, radishes, lettuce, peppers, spinach grow well.

Between the rows of slow-growing vegetables, you can plant fast-growing ones. For example, between the rows of carrots, beets, celery, you can grow lettuce, radishes, spinach, green onions. Radish and lettuce can also be grown between rows of cabbage (early and late). Greenery grows well along the edges of the beds.

More thermophilic plants (cucumbers, peppers, eggplants)useful to grow among taller (tomatoes, peas, corn).

J. Seymour Rules

According to J. Seymour, it is recommended to consider the following rules, thanks to which it is easy to plan crop rotation in the garden:

1. If potatoes were planted on heavy wet soils, then other root crops can be grown there in the third, fourth year.
2. Beans love well-calcified soil, which potatoes don't. Therefore, it is better not to plant potatoes after legumes.
3. Cabbage lime is loved, but not fresh. They are best planted after legumes.
4. Rashes, lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini love rotted manure and compost. After them, it is good to grow root crops.
5. In some places you can constantly plant greens (lettuce, spinach, dill).

Crop rotation table

So, to make it easier to organize crop rotation in the garden, the crop rotation table will give information in a more visual form.

Crop rotation

Culture	Precursors
	Best	Eligible	Bad
Cabbage varieties of medium and late varieties	Beans, cucumber, carrots, early potatoes	-	Beets, cabbage
Beets	Cucumber, greens, green manure, potatoes	Tomatoes, onions, carrots, cauliflower and cabbages
Cauliflower and early varieties	Beans, onion, cucumber, green manure	Tomatoes, carrots	Root vegetables, cabbage
Cucumber, zucchini, squash, pumpkin, zucchini	Onions, early and medium varieties of cabbage, cauliflower, garlic, legumes	Potato, beetroot, cucumber, herbs	Tomatoes, carrots, late cabbage
Tomatoes	Turnip, cucumbers, greens, green manure, cauliflower	Medium and late cabbage, beets, onions	Potatoes, tomatoes
Onion, garlic	Cucumber, potatoes, legumes, cauliflower and head early cabbage	Tomatoes, beets, onions, late cabbage	Carrots, greens
Potatoes	Beans, cauliflower and cabbage, cucumbers, green manure	Greens, cabbage, carrots, beets	Potatoes, tomatoes
Beans	All varieties of cabbage, potatoes, onions, garlic, cucumbers	Tomatoes, greens, table root crops, green manure	Beans
Greens	Beans, cauliflower and cabbage, onions, cucumbers, green manures	Potatoes, tomatoes, herbs, beets	Late cabbage, carrots

Vegetable Conveyor

Very convenient for the constant supply of fresh herbs and vegetables on the table, the so-called vegetable conveyor. This conveyor begins when we plant greenery in the garden in the spring. Crop rotation in this case helps to achieve the best results.

The sequence of receipt of greens, vegetables, root crops on the table:

• Spring: perennial chives,onion, parsley, Jerusalem artichoke tubers left for the winter.
• A little later: sorrel, young nettle, rhubarb, onion feather planted in late April.
• Then: dill and radish.
• Late May to early June: mustard, spinach, seedling-grown kale, basil, coriander.
• Mid-June: early tomatoes and cucumbers, new potatoes, beets, bunch carrots.
• End of June: seedling-grown cauliflower and early cabbage.
• July: tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, beets, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, early potatoes.
• August: squash, legumes, corn, turnips, pumpkin, eggplant, bell peppers.
• Autumn and winter: celery (potted), chives, watercress, lettuce alfalfa, home-grown mustard.

Given all the advantages of this approach, it is worth remembering the creativity when organizing landings. Crop rotation in the garden will help with this, but you need to apply it according to your needs, capabilities and desires.