is it still neccessary to rotate crops if I use homemade compost that has scraps and leftover plants from my garden? The residues from all of my garden plants are going to be in my compost and my compost is going to fill the whole garden, therefor residues of all my plants will be all over the whole garden. Is this an issue for pests? I have already planned crop rotations for the next 2 years but, I'm building this compost pile and LOTS of garden wastes are going into it.
Do plant residues left over in compost make a difference?
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LindsayArthurRTR
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hit or miss
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rainbowgardener
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Your FINISHED compost is no longer plant residues, it is humus! So you are not spreading plant residues around when you use it, you are spreading humus. There should be no pests in it.
But yes you should still rotate your crops if possible, because that doesn't affect what might be still harboring in the soil.
But yes you should still rotate your crops if possible, because that doesn't affect what might be still harboring in the soil.
I have noticed, only after someone pointed it out, that nature does not rotate crops. Considering the kinds of crazy things plants have evolved, you would think they would figure out a way to rotate themselves if were it advantageous. Actually they have: stable and healthy natural systems are very heterogenous. Not just overall, either. Take a square yard of prairie and you will find many points of contact between different species of plant. Some are getting along, some aren't
I believe the problem leading to rotation is monoculture, which is a weird and freakish thing that has come to feel normal. Rotating is, if you think about it, a way to increase diversity. Only with traditional rotation, you only ever have one plant species at once.
Enter Polyculture, and not necessarily exeunt Rotation and Suppression of Pathogens. Get some diversity going, and monoculture specific problems should fade. Even if one species does get hammered one year, you grew some other stuff in the same spot, and enemies of the pest have a place to live. You also want to keep some of the pest around, to feed your good guys.
But IMO, if the diversity is there, you can grow the same stuff there all you want. Ever know a very messy gardener who flouts rotation, weeding, planning, etc... but somehow always has a good harvest and seems to know little about pests? Well that guy is rotating without rotating.
I believe the problem leading to rotation is monoculture, which is a weird and freakish thing that has come to feel normal. Rotating is, if you think about it, a way to increase diversity. Only with traditional rotation, you only ever have one plant species at once.
Enter Polyculture, and not necessarily exeunt Rotation and Suppression of Pathogens. Get some diversity going, and monoculture specific problems should fade. Even if one species does get hammered one year, you grew some other stuff in the same spot, and enemies of the pest have a place to live. You also want to keep some of the pest around, to feed your good guys.
But IMO, if the diversity is there, you can grow the same stuff there all you want. Ever know a very messy gardener who flouts rotation, weeding, planning, etc... but somehow always has a good harvest and seems to know little about pests? Well that guy is rotating without rotating.