Topic: Two totally unrelated questions

[redimp]

1.  Why, when you water a seed tray that has sat totally idle since plating for four weeks, will you suddenly see an onrush of seedlings that you were waiting for all along?  Happens to me all the time.

2. How do you avoid bed congestion with potatoes (inc tomatoes), alliums, squashes etc all occupying the same place in the rotation.  Next year I am planning on planting my aliums where I am going to have space and therefore putting them in a different part of the rotation.  Am I right to do this? or are the any other suggestions?

[Clayhithe]

The classic 3part rotation is based on sound principles.

Potatoes come first because you manure them well.
Brassicas should be moved each year or they build up club root in the soil.

The really important thing is that you move things around,  not that 3 parts are important.

I use (or try to use!) a 6 part rotation:
Potatoes,  then roots,  then alliums,  then legumes,  then brassicas,  then squashes.
So I tend not to get crop congestion!

[Moggle]

How do you avoid bed congestion with potatoes (inc tomatoes), alliums, squashes etc all occupying the same place in the rotation.

I'd never cope with a rotation like that  :)

My rotation is 4 beds - potatoes; alliums; peas, beans, and roots; Sweetcorn and squashes, with a few brassicas.

I love sweetcorn and pumpkins, so they get a bed to their own on my rotation, I'm sure others would put them lower. Next year might add an extra bed to this and do a whole bed of brassicas  :)

[gavin]

How do you avoid bed congestion with potatoes (inc tomatoes), alliums, squashes etc all occupying the same place in the rotation.

Make soup? ;D 

I'm with the longer period rotations - I'm now using potatoes - legumes - brassicas - alliums - roots (and spinach/beetroot/sweetcorn/lettuce/squashes go anywhere there's an odd corner -- probably in the beans or the roots bed, simply cos there's a bit more space there).

All best - Gavin

[Clayhithe]

Moggie,

You're nearly there!

With a separate bed for brassicas you've got 5 parts.
Now separate the roots from the alliums and you're there!

The longer the rotation the less  often the brassicas go into the same place.   That's the important bit.  The next imp. bit is to manure the potatoes,  but not the roots.   Then the legumes replenish the nitrogen.

I cheat by using broad beans as a green manure in every spare bit of ground,  if only for a couple of weeks with no crop.

[Svea]

i have essentially a three part rotation, but over 6 beds.
now, am i right in thinking that it does make a difference what kind of crop you have for what length of time? i.e. overwintering brassicas being more important/whatever than summer/autumn ones? as they are in the soil for a much shorter period?

in any case, i will make a note of what crop was where, move everything on by two beds, but in three years time have the o/w brassicas in the other bed to this year (does this make sense?). this way, my pots, long term brassicas and alliums will not use the same beds for 6 years. the legumes, short term brassicas, sqaushes etc will use the other spaces.

hmm, does this mean i am kind of doing a six year rotation, of sorts?

anyways, sounds like a good idea to me.
i dont want to grow equal amounts of every type of crop so there will have to be some flexibility for the miscelleneous crops like lettuces etc etc

svea

[Clayhithe]

Sounds good to me,  Svea