Fundamentals of Vegetable Rotation in an Organic Veggie Garden
An important aspect of the cultivation process that will enhance the quality of your crops each season is vegetable rotation. This involves planting different vegetables in your garden at the next planting.
Crop rotation generally follows a three year rotation cycle where your vegetable plot is divided into three areas and you devise a rotating planting plan featuring (leafy green vegetables, root vegetables, legumes) across that time.
With some vegetables, such as cabbage, this is very important, and most vegetables benefit from it. Even onions, which it is suggested are exception to this rule, are healthier, and do as well after another crop, as long as the soil is as finely pulverized and rich as the previous crop of onions would leave it.
The fundamentals of vegetable rotation include:
- Crops of the same vegetable, or vegetables of the same family (such as turnips and cabbage) should not follow each other.
- Vegetables that feed near the surface, like corn, should follow deep-rooting crops.
- Vines or leaf crops should follow root crops.
- Quick-growing crops should follow those occupying the land all season.
The benefits of following the fundamentals of crop rotation are:
Consistently fertile soil. As different vegetable crops draw different nutrients from the soil, these nutrients would soon be used up if the same crop is planted in the same place each season and crop yields would decline annually. When rotating crops are rotated the nutrient demands on the soil are balanced so that one group of nutrients set isn’t drained.
Increased soil fertility. Some crops provide benefits to the soil for other crops. The Peas and beans from the legume family add nitrogen to the soil. This is assists with leaf growth so leafy greens crops are often planted in the same place as the previous years peas and beans.
Control of pests and disease. Vegetable rotation helps reduce the pests and diseases that occur in a vegetable garden and diminish your crop yields. Vegetable rotation is an organic vegetable gardening practice as it can reduce the need for chemical pest and disease control. If you rotate the crops each year and plant-specific pests find it harder for them to sustain their presence in the soil without the same crop.
For more information about successful vegetable gardens read my other articles on this site or on my blog at mightydigitaldownloads.com
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