Taking care of the garden beds all summer long, each of us certainly wants to feel the result of our efforts, having collected a rich harvest in the fall. But as the old proverb says: “The clever cultivates the harvest, and the wise the land.” Therefore, in order to achieve the desired result and get a crop with fragrant and juicy fruits, when cultivating the beds, one should not forget about the crop rotation of vegetable crops. This efficient natural gardening system helps not only maintain soil fertility, but also significantly reduce the number of diseases and pests affecting vegetable crops.
For intensive development and growth, plants need the predominance of certain macronutrients, since vegetable crops have a different ability to assimilate these elements. For example: root crops (potatoes, carrots, beets) require a large amount of phosphorus, and leaf crops (cabbage, lettuce) need nitrogen. And if roots, thanks to a well-developed root system for nutrition, are able to use the lower soil layers rich in potassium and phosphorus, then the roots of leafy greenery are able to get the trace elements necessary for development only in the upper layers of the soil …
The main task that the crop rotation in the garden solves is the uniform distribution of nutrients in the soil.
Planting in a designated area from year to year of one type of vegetable crops leads to a significant depletion of the soil and a tangible deficiency of one or another element.
Only a well-organized crop rotation on a personal plot makes it possible to use all the advantages of fertile soil in a balanced way.
When vegetables belonging to the same family are grown, pathogens and pests begin to accumulate in the soil, which infect this particular family. In the case of planting the same crop that grows this summer in the allotted bed, there is always a chance of getting fruits affected by diseases. If the planting sites of crops alternate annually, then not finding suitable food, pathogens simply die. The best option is when representatives of the same family return to the old landing site no earlier than 3-4 seasons.
In addition, grouping plants in the garden according to their needs greatly facilitates planting maintenance. Thanks to a well-thought-out crop rotation in the country, you can even successfully control weeds. After all, experienced gardeners have long noticed that crops that grow a small vegetative mass (parsley, carrots) are not able to resist the growth of weeds as well as plants with a rapidly growing leaf surface (pumpkin, zucchini, potatoes).
Planting scheme, where horizontal rows indicate the year of planting (first, second …), and vertical columns – to areas where crops are placed
Due to the alternation of beds, you can create the most favorable conditions for the growth and development of vegetable beds
For many years of practice, many gardeners, taking into account the peculiarities of the development of the root system of plants, as well as their assimilation of nutrients from the soil, have learned how to optimally alternate vegetable crops in the garden. The simplest crop rotation scheme is based on the principle that no annual crop should grow in one place for two seasons in a row. More complex options for crop rotation schemes include the development of optimal plant replacement within one site for several years in advance.
When drawing up diagrams, specialists are mainly guided by two parameters: the alternation of families and a change in the crop group (root crop, fruit, leaf group)
It is successfully combined with large plants such as cabbage, zucchini and tomato, small vegetable crops: onions, carrots, radishes. Early ripening crops can be used as an intermediate planting between the main harvests: Chinese cabbage, radish, lettuce, spinach.
If, when drawing up a crop rotation scheme, we take the compatibility of plants as a basis, then the best options can be considered:
- precursors of cabbage – tomatoes, potatoes, peas, lettuce and onions;
- carrots, parsnips, parsley and celery – after potatoes, beets or cabbage;
- early potatoes and tomatoes – after onions, cucumbers, legumes and cabbage;
- squash, pumpkin and zucchini – after root vegetables, onions and cabbage;
- radish, turnip and radish – after potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers;
- cucumber – after cabbage, legumes, tomato and potatoes;
- lettuce, spinach and dill – after cucumber, tomato, potato and cabbage;
- onions – after potatoes, cabbage, cucumber.
In the fight against pests of vegetable crops (leaf beetles, mites, scoops), spicy herbs act. Get along well with vegetable crops:
- Broccoli with head lettuce and parsley;
- Tomatoes with savory, spinach and watercress;
- Dill cucumbers;
- Radishes and carrots with parsley and chives;
- Strawberries with parsley.
Properly selected vegetables can have a beneficial effect on each other. A successful combination of vegetable crops with herbs brings benefits and creates a harmony of beauty.
It is not recommended to plant “relatives” cultures nearby, which are often affected by common diseases. Tomatoes and potatoes planted nearby may suffer from late blight
When deciding to draw up a crop rotation scheme in a suburban area, you should first of all make a plan of the garden, where you indicate the location of vegetable and fruit crops.
When drawing up a plan, one should take into account not only the soil composition of the site, but also the degree of illumination of the garden beds at different times of the day
A feature of crops is that they have different requirements for nutrients. Depending on the degree of consumption of soil trace elements and nutrients, vegetable crops can be divided into 3 groups:
- Plants with low demand. Among the crops that are unpretentious to the soil composition are: onions, lettuce, herbs, radishes, peas, bush beans.
- Plants with a medium intensity in nutrients. These include: tomatoes and cucumbers, beets and radishes, melon, eggplant, as well as leeks, spinach, kohlrabi and curly beans.
- Plants with high demand. These include: squash, celery, potatoes, pumpkin, asparagus, rhubarb, cabbage, spinach.
When drawing up a crop rotation scheme, the drawn plan should be divided into 3 or 4 parts, following which it will be possible to ensure that each of the crops returns to its original planting site only in the third or fourth year.
The first most fertile part of the garden is allocated for planting “gluttonous” crops (cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini). The second part of the site is used for planting eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, which are less demanding on soil fertility, or radishes, onions or greens. The third part is allocated for crops that are capable of producing a good harvest on relatively poor soil. Here are planted: turnips, carrots, beets, parsley. In the last fourth part of the garden, potatoes are planted, locally applying organic fertilizer (rotted manure or compost with ash) to each hole.
After harvesting, it is advisable to plant the vacated beds with green manure plants, which, better than any fertilizers, will increase the fertility of the soil composition
The next season, the plants that grew in the first section, evenly shifting in a circle, “move” to the fourth, from the second to the first, from the third to the second, etc.
When drawing up a crop rotation scheme, one should also take into account the structural features of the root system of plants and the depth of their penetration into the soil. Thanks to this, nutrients will be evenly used from different soil layers. For example: cucumbers, onions and cabbage can be eaten from the topsoil, tomato roots grow to a depth of just under a meter, and corn – up to two meters.
Knowing the characteristics of each crop and taking into account the successful combination of them with each other, you can not only achieve a rich harvest, but also protect the plants from many diseases.
