Crop Rotation

Do you rotate what is in each square between fall and spring etc. For example, come fall I would plant something other than tomatoes in the squares I have tomatoes? Or would I plant tomatoes there again and then move them in the spring?

Personally, I'm planning to be pretty random this year. That way the rotation mostly takes care of itself. I will do lots of lettuces, radishes, and beans, though. Lots of frequent harvesters.

The basic idea of crop rotation is to plant something from another family.
The crop harvested has depleted all the energy from the soil that it needs for its growth.
You don't want to plant the same thing in the same place because its been depleted, yet a crop from a different family of plants can benefit because it uses other things from the soil.

Of course, adding a couple of scoops of compost to the space before you put in the new crop will probably deal with the problem adequately.

quiltbea wrote:The basic idea of crop rotation is to plant something from another family.
The crop harvested has depleted all the energy from the soil that it needs for its growth.
You don't want to plant the same thing in the same place because its been depleted, yet a crop from a different family of plants can benefit because it uses other things from the soil.

Of course, adding a couple of scoops of compost to the space before you put in the new crop will probably deal with the problem adequately.

+1
Additionally, crop rotation also reduces the contraction and spread of plant diseases through soil.

Great tips! Thanks yall. One other question. I have one large bed that is 54 square feet (54 squares). Is it sufficient to just rotate things around the large bed and just not plant the same things in the same square again? I am planning on building a 2x8 or 2x10 bed for my tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers (possibly alternating winter squash and melon in there too.) This will allow me to plant those somewhere completely different. I may also be constructing something just for lettuces. However, can I just rotate everything else around my large bed?

Some folks don't bother with worrying about rotation. They feel if they are good about replenishing each year with rich compost, they don't have to worry.
But if you are one that wants to give rotation a try:

You can put the peppers and tomatoes together in one of those beds and the cucumbers in the other bed.
Next year reverse them; put the cucumbers in the tomato/pepper bed and the toms/peps where the cucumbers grew the year before.

Eggplant, peppers,tomatoes and potatoes should not follow each other the next year.

As for the large bed, if you just plant different crops in different blocks the next year you should be ok, assuming you enrich the blocks with a scoop or two (scoop or trowel) of compost before planting.

Some think that adding a handful of limestone to the hole before planting a brassica helps prevent clubroot, a deadly disease that kills the plants and can infect the soil the following year. I do that myself for a little added insurance. If its good enough for Bob Thomsen of TV's Victory Garden fame, its good enough for me.

The brassicas are broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower. None of these should follow each other in the squares the next year because they are all the same family.

You can tuck leaf lettuce in beside other crops. By the time the main crop is big enough to need all the space, the leaf lettuce will have been harvested. Its a good way to save space.

You can try this: Use one square for lettuce. Scratch in a couple inches of potting soil. Sow seeds. When they start growing and need thinning, transplant them beneath the leaves of another crop. That way you only need one block for lettuce. Just keep reseeding the same block as you transplant the first lots elsewhere. Just scratch a couple of inches into the block each time you start more seeds.

I wish you great luck with your garden.

Thanks quiltbea for the great advice. I am planning away for my next planting and adjusting the current one. Very Helpful!

Okay, I understand the basics of crop rotation and why it's important. But if climbers like tomatoes, peppers and cukes (three MAJOR components of my garden) are always supposed to go on the north, how does that work? I have four boxes and was planning to put tomatoes in two, peppers in one and cukes in one, all on the north side, trellised. The following year I can't use those north side spots again at all for these trellised plants. I can put beans in some, maybe a melon...

But to do rotation properly, I'd need what, 9 boxes?

Mamachibi wrote:Okay, I understand the basics of crop rotation and why it's important. But if climbers like tomatoes, peppers and cukes (three MAJOR components of my garden) are always supposed to go on the north, how does that work? I have four boxes and was planning to put tomatoes in two, peppers in one and cukes in one, all on the north side, trellised. The following year I can't use those north side spots again at all for these trellised plants. I can put beans in some, maybe a melon...

But to do rotation properly, I'd need what, 9 boxes?

I don't rotate the crops, I rotate the soil. See this post here:
http://squarefoot.creatingforum.com/t7731-importance-of-crop-rotation#70171

pattipan

Rotating the soil sounds like more than my back will permit. But I'll sure consider that approach! Thanks!

Mamachibi wrote:Okay, I understand the basics of crop rotation and why it's important. But if climbers like tomatoes, peppers and cukes (three MAJOR components of my garden) are always supposed to go on the north, how does that work? I have four boxes and was planning to put tomatoes in two, peppers in one and cukes in one, all on the north side, trellised. The following year I can't use those north side spots again at all for these trellised plants. I can put beans in some, maybe a melon...

But to do rotation properly, I'd need what, 9 boxes?

I'm new but according to the ANSFG book, if you plant a fall crop/spring crop/summer crop that is rotation. So by time you are ready to plant your trellis veggies you have already rotated the crop twice.

Boffer: In your experiment.....does the 4x4 with a 1x4 on the north side of trellis... tomatos lean to the trellis (south)....the area ends up ...4x5? sounds really great....more for crop rotation...
Ruth...