Talkback: How to practise crop rotation
knittynana
Posts: 1
in Talkback
this is my first summer growing veg and i have one veggie-bed at the moment with sprouts in. planning to have 3 more beds next year so this has explained crop rotation very well
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I will start a new garden this year and wonder where to put herbs, rhubarb and the different families of veg (roots, flowers and fruit ) in this plot rotation. Can you help please?
Firstly I don't grow potatoes, because it hasn't an advantage over the ones you can buy in a shop. Partly as well because staple food takes up too much space or is eaten too fast compared to the effort (so no onions for me either)
So I grow fruit bearing instead in the first space with the most manure, like tomatoes, pumpkins, courgette, etc. Also cabbages need manure, unlike Monty said, according to me. A last group that needs fertile soil is celery/iac.
The second group that doesn't need fertile soil are pea/bean and root vegetables they come after the first group. The effect of beans fixing nitrogen in the ground is negligable because they use it themselves WHEN they produce their own fruit.
Hello crop rotators,
Crop rotation isn't just about the nutrients the plants take up. It's also very helpful in the fight against pests and diseases, it keeps your soil in good condition and helps with weed control. Because some pests and diseases remain in the soil for years after their hosts have departed, the only option is to grow another crop in the same place.
However, on the subject of plant nutrients, beans love fertile ground, that is why cottage gardeners have made bean trenches for centuries. It's true that beans fix nitrogen into the soil but they still need other nutrition.
There are fewer and fewer chemicals available on the market for amateur gardeners so good husbandry, including crop rotation will become even more important in years to come.
Emma
gardenersworld.com team
I thought beans and the onion family where incompatible? I am confused. .
I am always confused when I have a crop like brassicas that grow all year round, such as winter, spring and summer cabbages and cauliflowers, or winter sown broad beans and then summer French and runner beans. How do these fit in the crop rotation? I now have a 16 raised bed system at the allotment and try to make sure that nothing is sown in the same bed more often than 3 years but it is quite difficult to keep track of. Any ideas will be appreciated.