Crop Rotation - what to plant after what in same space?

[applestar]

I was going to put the following in a "crop rotation" thread but searching turned up scattered mentions but not a comprehensive thread. So I'll start this one and I hope everyone will join in with your experiences and plans

...

I received an email notice that the "seed" garlic I ordered is being shipped so it's time to finalize plans for where to plant them. This is also when I formulate crop rotation plans for next year.

A while back when I looked into crop rotation and succession, someone who gardens year-round in Ecuador shared her basic core rotation schedule. I drew a diagram of it framed in black with black font, then drew up a large complex diagram, surrounding the core schedule with my garden beds and color coding the crops according to planting/growing seasons -- current year fall/winter (blue), next year spring (yellow green), then summer (yellow orange). The diagrams are so huge I can't see the whole thing unless I look at the PDF file, but here are a couple of screen shots.

2010-2011


2013-2014


I don't follow these strictly, I'm still working on succession schemes within the growing season that intersperses with the main season block rotations of tomatoes --> cucurbits --> corn and back to tomatoes. These include the previous fall to next summer garlic, early spring peas and onions, greens and brassicas, summer beans and edamame, and fall brassicas, greens, and peas.

I'll try to describe more individual examples and details later.

[applestar]

Ah -- as is typical, the "similar topics" feature at the bottom of the page has uncovered mostly much older archived threads. They will be great for referencing, but let's start/continue the discussion in this new thread.

[jal_ut]

Follow beans with corn. The legumes leave the soil richer in nitrogen, and corn needs lots of nitrogen.
Rotation may help with disease or pest prevention.

For the most part, it doesn't really matter. The thing to do is take care of your soil. Amend it and add organic matter and compost. Then plant and enjoy.

[Taiji]

I have to admit that my crop rotation schedule isn't too complex, kinda like, ok, I planted that there last year, so this year I'll put it over there!

That's good to know about beans and corn though.

[imafan26]

I only rotate by seasons and admit that some things only grow well in a particular spot.

Cool season Late July- February
Tomatoes year round in pots, After the tomatoes plants are removed, old potting soil is put in the yard and the pots are bleached and then filled with new potting soil. if the tomatoes had a problem like yellow leaf curl virus. I will plant beans, peas, or jicama in the pot as a rotation.
eggplant year round in pots
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts (started from seed in late July) for harvest around November- March or April.
Lettuce in full sun romaine, butterhead, manoa, grand rapids and mesclun
Asian greens pak choy, mei quing choy, hon tsai tai, won bok, mustard cabbage. Mizuna planted in September for New Year.
cilantro
Kale, spinach
root crops: beets, carrots, daikon,
Gobo (burdock) seeds must be started in September
Herbs year round- Italian parsley, green onions, chives, cutting celery, fennel (attracts beneficial insects but needs to be planted in a corner by itself. Most herbs are in pots but a few are in a permanent herb section of the garden since they live more than one year. Cool season herbs fenugreek, calendula, caraway, flax seed, safflower, nasturtiums
cover crops marigolds and sunhemp for nematode control in rotated beds.
Other crops interplanted in the yard and sometimes in the garden nasturtiums, alyssum, fennel, and basil to attract bees and beneficial insects. Nasturtiums, marigolds, and fennel are also trap crops.
March- July
Warm season crops

Corn first planting March, Second around June, Last around September in two different beds.
Tomatoes (in pots), eggplants (year round in pots)
Peppers, pole beans, bush beans, okra, cucumber (year round),squash and gourds, ice box watermelon
Peas and jicama planted in March. Peas to be followed by corn or beans. Jicama requires 120 days to mature.
Basil (if there is no downy mildew),
lettuce in summer is planted under the citrus trees butterhead, mesclun, manoa, and red lettuce. Romaine can only be planted in cool weather.
spinach substitutes: NZ hot weather spinach, spinach taro (year round)
roselle, perilla (shiso), fennel, dill, sunflowers, borage

July and August- After plantings are removed, renew beds, add compost and solarize or plant cover crop to control nematodes (sunhemp or marigolds)

[sweetiepie]

I try to do a 3 year rotation and mostley with just these 3 crops and stuff everything else in around it. Mostly because of diseases that might still be in the soil if there was any, hopefully are gone in that spot. Peas, beans, are followed by Corn, are followed by potatoes and maybe tomatoes but I usually don't have enough of the others to rotate behind them, which then are rotated with the peas and beans.


I also planted my garlic I got in the mail yesterday and did exactly what they said in their little flyer. If it doesn't work out next year, I will be done trying to grow garlic. I have tried for years and most people say it is easy but I don't have much luck.

[jal_ut]

It could be variety related. I know I tried a large number of varieties before I found one that would produce in this harsh zone 5 environment. The one that did work was a hardneck type. Something ought to work if you get the right kind.

[imafan26]

That is right. You have to have the right variety and plant it at the right time for your area. You need a northern variety where you are. and in the fall the leaves will grow and die back but will respout again in the spring or you can actually plant sets in the Spring.

Where I am, I can only grow softneck varieties. I tried to grow elephant garlic once and while it grew the garlic was smaller than I started with because I don't have a long enough day for it to form a bulb. Before I knew better, I would replant some of the garlic I harvested right away in the middle of summer, that doesn't work either since it is the lengthening days that cause the bulbs to form.

I cannot get most roots shipped to Hawaii and teh ones the big box stores bring in are not always the right ones. Thankfully the store garlic is actually the right kind. I do have to chill them for about 6 weeks to condition them first. I will plant them usually in October or November and they will be ready in May or June. I am getting better, but I think I need to tweak the fertilizer and I think I am not giving them enough water since the tops don't grow that big. I think I need to treat them more like green onions and not worry so much about over watering and rotting the bulbs.

I did find out that they do like a lot of organic matter and did better in the alkaline plots than the acidic plots. Actually most of my bulbs did better in the alkaline plots but I think that was because I have too much nitrogen in the soil when they need to form bulbs since my acidic plot also has the highest levels of nitrogen.

[sweetiepie]

Thank you imafan, well I just added fertilizer like they recommended to the soil, so it will probably be to much nitrogen then. When I get a chance I will test the soil there, it has been a year or so since I have done that. Last time it came out exactly 7, so who knows.

I have tried kinds supposedly for this area but this year I ordered from the Potato Lady the Red German, so we will see, it was the best looking garlic I have had sent for seed yet. Kind of sad to plant it. I sort of just wanted to eat it because I know it will just rot in the ground.

[Taiji]

I know this is off the topic of crop rotation, but I wonder which type of garlic would be best for my locale? I think I'm at about 34 degrees latitude. (north of course) Maybe hardneck or soft would both work, sort of a middle latitude.

I planted some garlic cloves the other day that I just bought in the grocery store, have no idea what kind they are! But, they came up beautifully and are growing. Guess I'll see what happens!

[applestar]

Do you think onions and garlic would be OK to grow in a bed that are currently finishing the last of the carrots? -- hoping to see some harvest after the soil cools down a bit. Sections of the bed is also growing Pole lima beans and runner beans, and sweet potatoes. ...or should I avoid root crops/any kind of soil level pest type crops in the next rotation?

I tend to have problems with carrot flies and wireworms, some possible root knot nematodes or other cause for stubby divided roots -- maybe just hard clay-pan subsoil.

This bed will also be used to grow tomatoes next summer.

---

I had some onion fly maggot issues in this year's main onion bed. Now there are tomatoes, a couple of okra plants, one or two pepper plants and eggplants. Wild strawberries have also invaded the bed, but I think I'm going to get rid of them all. I'm planning to grow winter squash in that bed next year, so probably peas in early spring to start with -- probably compost and mulch the bed for the winter after frost kills the warm weather crops so it will be ready to plant first thing.

[applestar]

bumping this thread to think about for next season

…I’ll start by reviewing —

I want to combine this topic with a bit if companion planting (which sort of disrupts some of the rotation theory and can be confusing)

…more recently, common practices in Japan includes planting garlic chives or green bunching or single stalk green onions WITH cucurbita STARTS in same planting hole as root borne disease protective companions — in these cases onions are not target crop

… garlic and onion root exudates kill or weaken the beneficial pea and bean rhizobia and NOT good companions anywhere near, nor in previous rotation. HOWEVER, they do provide same root borne disease protection without detrimental effects for FAVA/Broad beans.

[imafan26]

Brassicas will be moving over to the other side of the main garden, mainly because the neighbor's tree blocks the light. The other side will be for peppers, and maybe some tomatoes and bush beans. Two broccoli will go on the shadier side of the garden from Oct-May.

The containers that had beans have okra now. They will be replaced with bush beans, bok choy, beets, daikon, and carrots.

I have nematodes in the garden. Marigolds rotate with plants that are nematode resistant like contender bush beans.

I have a lot of long lived plants so they don't rotate. They just get harvested and renewed like ginger, turmeric, eggplant, and many of the peppers. They are in containers so I only have to move the containers.
I do need to find a better location for the green onions, they are not happy. I haven't figured out where they will go. They like the nursery bench but they cannot stay there indefinitely.

Tower garden rotates lettuce, cilantro, and spinach in the cool season with chard, perpetual spinach, Tokyo Bekana and peppers. I might put strawberries on a couple of tiers.

I plant cucumbers and tomatoes year round. I have too many of those containers. Two will be beans and one will be snow peas. Carrots , daikon, and lettuce will be under planted with peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Eggplant can be under planted once with either cabbages or radish. After it fills the container it will be there for a couple of years. It is still too early to plant lettuce otherwise it could be under planted with lettuce.

I inter plant now, so the main thing I do is not plant the same thing in a row. The cucumbers are spaced apart. Tomatoes are together but some of them are on opposite ends of the garden.

Zucchini is in the side yard so it won't make trouble for cucumbers.

The some of the new tomatoes will go in the same location. They will probably be under planted with lettuce and daikon.