Planting tomatoes in the same area every year

[gardengrl3]

Is it true or a urban myth that it is not good to plant tomatoes in the same area every year?? My tomato season is almost done here-just thinking about next year

[gumbo2176]

gardengirl, I plant tomatoes twice a year and a few days ago I put in my fall tomato plants. My garden is not large by any means with only five 45' rows and a couple smaller ones on each end. However, I do plant the new plants in a different row than the previous season. Matter of fact, the only things that go in the same place are the pole beans and cucumbers because I have permanent trellises in place and I've never had much of a problem with these crops.

There is a discussion today in the Compost Section of the forum about composting diseased tomato plants and you will see there are varying opinions and conflicting information given out by many websites. Specifically, the discussion is about Septoria, a fungal disease that affects tomato plants. Different sites offer some of the same advice but in some areas they differ greatly---------and these are the so-called experts.

[Kisal]

It's a good idea not to plant any member of the Solanaceae family in the same place where a member of that family has grown the previous year.

The reason is that these plants are all subject to certain diseases, which can overwinter in the soil. If the soil happens to become infected by one plant, then the disease will spread to any other member of the Solanaceae family that is planted in that soil the following year. The disease organisms don't usually survive in the soil for longer than 2 years, and in alternate years, the soil is safe for any plants that aren't members of Solanaceae.

That's my understanding, anyway.

I garden in containers, and I have found that my tomato plants do much better if I don't plant them in the same soil year after year. In fact, I lost every last one of my tomato plants this year, because I wasn't able to change the soil in the containers. I don't grow any veggies besides tomatoes, so normally, I just plant the containers with flowers in alternate years. I was sad to watch my tomato plants all slowly die.

[lakngulf]

I will only plant tomatoes in soil that has not had tomatoes for a few years. The area where I have my garden was not rich in soil when I began it there in about 2001. I hauled in good top soil from some pasture land, and had great tomatoes and other vegetables. This was ok for a few years, but two years ago the soil "hit the wall". I tried to simply dig a big hole about the size of a wash tub, put in new soil and plant the tomatoes, but eventually the roots get into the affected soil and gone.

Last year was a major disaster. I tried to remove front end loaders loads of dirt and replace with good soil. The tomatoes grew, were beautiful, and put on excellent fruit. Then, withour warning, from plant to plant, the leaves began to curl, and the plants died.

It is well documented that the tomatoes I made this year were from some new boxes that I placed alongside a small pier, and filled with new topsoil from the pasture land. Now my question is "can I get another year out of that soil before I replace it?"

Some crops (okra, squash, cucumbers, peppers) do great in the regular garden area. Still, my plan for it is to transfer the whole garden into box areas similar to the ones that did so well. I plan to build some boxes and fill with new topsoil.

What material can I put down on the current soil (infected) that will keep the roots from getting to the disease?

[vermontkingdom]

I just do not rotate my crops. I live in a residential neighborhood and have a reasonbly small garden, 50 x 30 so I plant the same crops each year. The geography dictates where certain things should go and I've been doing this for more than 30 years. Some years, when the weather is ideal for blights, mildews, etc., it's both disappointing and a little frustrating. However, when we have the kind of year we just experienced, I rejoice.

I use an enormous amount of compost each year and everything gets well blanketed with it. I'm sure this helps. Also, I do not use any pesticides/insecticides but do spray many of my plants with compost tea.

If I lived in the country, I'm sure I would rotate my crops.

[rainbowgardener]

Agree that rotating crops, especially the ones like tomatoes that are disease prone, is preferable. But I only have one spot that's sunny enough for tomatoes and isn't filled up with perennials. So that's where they stay. I do pull the tomatoes when they are done and mulch and add compost frequently. It isn't ideal, but it works.

[garden5]

Many tomato diseases are contracted by infected soil splashing up on the leaves from watering or harsh rains. Many of these diseases can survive in the soil for long periods of time.......septoria, for example, can remain in the soil for up to three years.

By rotating the plants, you move them to new areas that are not infected by certain diseases.

[KTamata]

My 15 tomato plants didn't do well at all last summer. They were in 5 gallon buckets with drilled 1/2" holes in the bottoms, with drip irrigation. They flowered but rarely did they produce fruit and when they did, some were black or deformed. A mystery tomato (Goliath?) and a Big Yellow finally ripened their fruit during a hot period in the fall and they both tasted good. When I pulled all of them out of their buckets to throw them away--finally--I noticed that some plants had developed strange looking copper colored clumps of soil in their buckets and most didn't develop deep roots at all, even though I spread them out when I put them in the buckets. There were many chubby little earthworms still in the roots.

I don't want to use the same soil for tomatoes. Given the information above, is there any food crop that I can plant in this soil that would be resistant to mold/fungus or should all of the dirt get thrown out in the yard waste container?

I intend to put four tomato plants (only) in the ground this summer. No more 5-gallon buckets.

Thanks!