As I was digging through my garden getting the beds ready for the summer, I was constantly digging up roots from the bushes that were recently removed and wondered what kind of compost roots make. I usually leave them in the ground, but I don't know what good it does, if any.

As for planting in the same spot every year, as long as you have no bad stuff in your soil and you can replinish the nutrients, you should be fine. The recommendation is based on soil-born diseases and pests that can still be in the soil from last year. As long as you don't have any of those, you should be fine. The only other reason I can think of is if local wildlife has a good memory and can remember to return to that spot where good tomatoes were last year. Although, I don't think moving a plant over 5 feet would foil the birds in my neighborhood.

What may be a good example is what I found the other day. As I was preparing the beds, I dug up what looked like an albino horn worm. Horn worms were all over the daturas (angel trumpets) I had in my bed last year and wouldn't be surprised if some larvae, eggs or whatever was in the soil close to where those were planted. Hopefully, they are a variety that is limits itself to the daturas and will leave my tomatoes alone as they did last year. I'll have the BT on standby just in case.

Daturas are in the nightshade family, so the hornworms feeding on them are likely those of the Carolina Sphinx or Five-spotted Hawkmoth (both sphinx moths, known in their larval stages as the tobacco and tomato hornworms). If you have overwintering pupae in the ground, they can emerge in the spring and lay eggs on your tomatoes (also nightshade family), unless there is a more favorable hostplant in the area (possibly the daturas are preferred and are the reason the worms didn't bother your toms last year).

Bump.

No other opinions on rotating tomatoes?

Depends on if you have space to rotate. If you do, it's advisable to rotate. In fact, it's advisable to rotate so you don't grow tomatoes behind peppers or eggplants, too.

But many gardeners don't have the luxury of space to rotate. Then it's advisable to thoroughly clean your beds of all tomato (pepper and eggplant) plant debris and strip all plant residue off your cages and stakes and let them solarize over the winter. Spraying your cages and stakes with a 10% Clorox/Purex to 90% water solution would give some additional protection.

Other precautions when you're not able to rotate might include deep tilling so that the top surface of your 2008 garden is completely turned over and becomes covered by 1 foot of formerly deep garden soil to bury pathogens. And a nice cap of freshly composted organic matter would give you even more protection ... so long as the compost doesn't contain tomato, pepper or eggplant debris (or tobacco for that matter).

These are just my thoughts after not rotating in the past four years and continuing to grow tomatoes in the same two beds. I started getting some EB and Septoria at one end of the bed in 2008. Not pretty.

I know from lurking here that there have been past discussions on the advantages and disadvantages of rotating or not rotating. You could search and read them. From what I have read of them I don't think most who post here do it. I don't and never have. Not because of any supposed advantages for the plants but just because gardening room is at a premium.

My vote it to rotate. Both bacterial wilt and fusarium wilt are both soil-borne, so if you had issues with those, you would definitely want to rotate. Crop rotation is recommended to avoid anthracnose as well.

If you have the room to do so, I would rotate the location of all your nightshades. If you have the space, you have nothing to lose!

I don't have the space for rotating.
What if I plant tomatoes where I grew Basil last year?
We had that viral disease on some tomatoes in 2009, but not all!

Thanks.

if it is beneficial to plant tomatoes in the same bed (The bio intensive folks say three years is ok) is it ok to plant my peppers in the same bed as last years tomatoes? Tomatoes are semi perennial in their native tropic zones so I guess that's why they like tomato mulch for a few years. Last year I was pressed for time and noticed aphids on the stems and leaves of some of the plants but couldn't get to treating with neem. I had a couple of plants that wilted and died. Now in reflection I think the two could be related because aphids spread disease. Is this true and if so could that disease persist in the soil from last year? It seemed to only affect the german greens.