mr.greenjeans
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Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

Do any of you not rotate tomato crops?

I have 2, 4' x 8' raised bed gardens that run East and West. I usually plant 3 tomato plants on the North side of one the beds so they don't shade my smaller veggies and rotate beds every year. This year my wife wants me to plant 6 plants which will force me to plant 3 tomatoes in the same spot 2 years in a row. I plan on trying to transfer some of the soil in the planting area and replace it with soil from other areas of the bed as well as adding some compost. Just curious if any of you do this since raised beds have limited space. I really don't want to use containers for the tomatoes just yet.
Thanks,
Dan

PaulF
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Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:34 pm
Location: Brownville, Ne

My tomato garden is about 50' by 50'. That means I rotate areas but there is always an overlap from one year to the next by about half the plants (the last couple of years 20 plants). When it was a 32 plant garden the overlap was about 20 plants in the same area as last year's.

The usual problems of soil diseases were mitigated by an effective mulching program and year end garden clean-up and sanitation. Fifteen years and counting without major difficulties.

imafan26
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Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:32 am
Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

A lot of people can plant tomatoes in the same place year after year if they have no problems and can provide the nutrients in the soil to support the plants.

I plant my tomatoes mostly in pots and sometimes in the main garden. The distance between these spots are less than 10 ft so it is not much of a rotation. I do plant the tomatoes in the tomato pots in the same location almost every year. I usually do not reuse potting soil.

When I have had disease issues, I have had to rotate out of a crop or location for a while (1-3 years) or do succession cropping. I had problems with TYLCV in 2016 after planting momotaro. The disease can be transmitted by seed and is vectored by whiteflies. There are asymptomatic hosts (like pepper, eggplant, beans,squash.) I have not been successful planting non-resistant tomatoes even after rotating out of tomatoes for 3 years. I can only successfully grow TYLCV resistant varieties.

If you have the space and different garden beds you can rotate to. It is better for the plants and the soil to rotate your different plant families through the different beds. If you use the same planting bed, the crop will use up the nutrients unevenly, so you will need to replace the lost nutrients. Planting the same crop over and over again can build pest pressure over time. Rotating beds can help control some pest and diseases.

Soil borne pests require solarization or planting resistant or non host crops in that location for an extended time. I have to do this with black rot on the cabbage family and have nematode resistance for most plants grown in the ground.

I actually prefer to plant large plants like tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, pole beans, snow peas, and other vining and root crops in large 18-25 gallon containers. My garden space is very limited and large plants take up too much space. I can always move the pots carefully (the plastic is brittle in the sun) if I have to give the large plants more space. I save the garden space for short crops like Asian greens, lettuce, komatsuna, kale,herbs, bush beans, and sometimes a tomato. Corn would take up all of the my garden space.

Root crops take a long time and take up too much space. They are also a pain to dig out, so I would rather have ginger, sweet potato, taro, carrots, and gobo in pots. The roots have more room in the taller pots anyway. Gobo has to be planted in a trash can.

Some of the long lived herbs like the hot peppers, green onions, chives, basil, mint, thyme, oregano and others like strawberries, lemon grass, lavender, bay leaves, and figs can all grow well in the right containers. Some of these things need containment or they will go crazy and others can stay in pots for a long time and don't mind it. Long term crops are a pain to work around in the garden.

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TomatoNut95
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Joined: Sun May 26, 2019 11:11 am
Location: Texas Zone 8

I am very limited on space as well thanks to my nasty, concrete clay soil. I have four raised beds, two are big squares, two are long. (Sorry, I don't have them measured) So I cannot rotate crops either. I stick stuff in where it'll fit.

mr.greenjeans
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Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2018 3:56 pm
Location: Central Iowa -Zone 5a

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like it can be done with proper soil care so I'll give it a try.

greenstubbs
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Posts: 274
Joined: Thu Sep 09, 2010 6:41 pm
Location: Far Upper Alabama

I always rotate my crops to avoid the problems mentioned, why stick your neck out when you don't have to? Good Luck

Vanisle_BC
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Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:02 pm
Location: Port Alberni, B.C. Canada, Zone 7 (+?)

I've grown tomatoes in the same bed for 10+ years with no problems apart from blight one very wet year. That hasn't recurred since I provided them with cover from the rain. I only moved them to a new raised bed when the old one was collapsing. They've been in the new one for several years now. I wouldn't be preachy about it, but if a person can't rotate beds, my experience says 'don't let that stop you growing tomatoes'.



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