Plant Rotation in a Year Round Garden

11 years ago

Here in north central Florida I am fortunate in that I can grow veggies year round, albeit with a change of crops by season:
tomatoes, peppers, corn, beans, squash, etc., in the fall and spring; cool season crops like lettuce, spinach, broccoli, carrots, etc., in the winter; and heat lovers like southern peas, lima beans, sweet potatoes, peanuts & okra during the summer. I garden in 4 foot wide raised beds varying from 8 to 24 feet long, use lots of compost, and irrigate as needed in the drier fall and spring months. My problem is that I find it difficult to set up much of a crop rotation given limited planting space that is intensively used -- it is not unusual for me to rotate through 4 different crop families in the same bed over the course of a single year. At best I can keep a bed free of a particular crop family for no more than 2 years and usually only 18 months, thus I am concerned about the possible buildup of pests and diseases in the soil given my inability to do a several years long crop rotation. I'm curious as to how much of a problem this is for others in similar climates and how you deal with a limited ability to rotate crops.

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Comments (7)

Donna
11 years ago
I live in east central Mississippi and I have similar challenges. First, do you know your plant families? Brassicas are cabbage, collards, kale, broccoli etc. Nightshades are tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, etc. Curcubits are squash, cucumbers, and melons. Legumes are sweet peas, snap beans, long beans, edamame, crowders, limas, etc. It's the families you must rotate, not the specific plants.

I have 9 raised beds in my garden. I use all 9 beds in the summer, but only 3 in the winter. So each summer (April to October), I devote 3 beds each to legumes, curcubits, and nightshades. I plant twice, sometimes 3 times, in my summer growing season in those beds, but I keep the same family in the bed. For instance, I plant snap beans in spring, follow them with crowders or long beans when it gets hot in mid summer and then more snap peas for a late summer/fall crop. I plant tomatoes in spring, then pull them out in July and follow them with peppers that produce until fall. Here's the thing. I don't have room to grow every crop every year, so I make choices. I rejoice in what I have, and next year rejoice in something different.

During the winter (November to March), I grow a bed of brassicas, a bed of roots, and a bed of onions. All the others get a cover crop sown in them.

I don't need or want three beds of curcubits most years, so I usually plant a bed of cucumbers, a bed of squash, and then a bed of okra or sweet potatoes in those designated beds. I rotate the okra or SPs around from year to year.

So...I rotate the three basic families every three years, giving each family three beds each year. Winter is easier, but again, I only plant three beds so they are easy to rotate. I do try to be sure that the brassicas never follow the nightshades to avoid infestations of flea beetles.

Confused? It's not that bad as long as you keep excellent records from year to year and discipline yourself to stick with the plan. And, you can always use pots to supplement. I almost always grow eggplants in pots. It saves more space for tomatoes and peppers and honestly, I think the eggplants do as well as or even better in pots.

All that being said, I have found that as long as I take truly excellent care of my soil, I can get away with cheating occasionally.
digdirt2
11 years ago
All that being said, I have found that as long as I take truly excellent care of my soil, I can get away with cheating occasionally.

Excellent point! You might even go so far as to forget about crop rotation.

Seriously, crop rotation is primarily a commercial grower issue. Millions of gardeners lack the space to do any rotation except maybe move over 1 row and many can't even do that. Yet they continue to have successful gardens.

Raised beds are especially easy to maintain good soil in and it sounds as if you are doing that. Semi-annual additions of large amounts of quality compost can eliminate the majority of problems.

And it doesn't require the bed be empty to do it. Just regularly side dress around the crops as they grow with more compost. As plants are removed then you can spot dress that area before planting anything new. When you can rotate spots or ends of the beds do it but otherwise just keep building the soil.

Dave
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veggiecanner
11 years ago
I don't grow year round but I do rotate the garlic and that has a lot to do with what is planted where.
I try not to grow the same family in a row. And I re-amend before greens, beans, tomatoes beets, squash famiy, and peppers. then follow those with root crops.so no manure is used on the roots.
Raw_Nature
11 years ago
All that being said, I have found that as long as I take truly excellent care of my soil, I can get away with cheating occasionally.
Excellent point! You might even go so far as to forget about crop rotation.

I agree with them... Our gardens are so minute compared to the whole of nature... We have tons of diversity for the size of our garden... Only time i would be concerned about crop rotation is if you monocrop acres of land... If you have the room, which you don't, more power to you! I plant a cover crop of rye throughout winter and would like to think that would help some... But in reality, our gardens are so small compared to nature, we shouldn't be to concerned. Now that deals with insects/disease..

When people think of crop rotation they only think it is for insects,disease,depletion,etc... But in reality it could be for several things.. Do you fertilizer one crop with harsh fertilizers and don't want it accumulations in the soil? Pesticides? Herbicides? Soil nutrition, depletion? Water? Etc,etc,etc...

If you are a small scale gardener that doesn't use tons of harsh chemicals,and take care of your soil; remineralize your soil(compost,leaves,kelp,woodash,rockdust,etc, I would not worry about crop rotation...

Joe

This post was edited by Raw_Nature on Thu, Mar 21, 13 at 20:24
nelsoncastro
11 years ago
There are tons and tons of benefits we can get from plant rotation as it helps improves the fertility of the soil as well as helps in saving on nitrogenous fertilizers it also helps weed control and pest control. This is because weeds and pests are very choosy about the host crop plant, which they attack.
Raw_Nature
11 years ago
It makes you wonder how much crop rotation truly happens in a natural environment... Dandelion pollen of course disperses the seeds in the wind to far away from the parent plant.. But let's say, tomatoes for example - they will ripen, fall on the ground and rot, next year there will be a dozens of plants all in a matter of a few yards... This cycle would continue until something terminates the parent plants... Same thing with the majority of things, other than what is dispersed by wind, animals, etc... How much crop rotation do you really see in nature? I think the key here is diversity not necessarily rotation.. Logically it sounds great, just like tilling but does it really happen in nature? Earth is the biggest laboratory,we are the rats, nature is the control... Nature has the golden key...

Joe

Joe
planatus
11 years ago
Yes, indeed, plants are colonial beings that want to claim space using the only means they have, which is often close-range seed dispersal.

Here-here to the point that gardens are way different from farm fields, where crop debris is turned under. When you pull up plants, roots and all, you have achieved half of the objective of crop rotation by removing rotting root tissues.

I run a three-season garden and manage to get three-year rotations of most of the major plant families. The only one that worries me is the cabbage clan because I grow a lot of plants, spring and fall. I use extra compost when prepping planting sites, and keep my fingers crossed that soil pathogens don't get too excited.

Plant Rotation in a Year Round Garden

Comments (7)

Donna

digdirt2

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