Allotments 4 All

help! am very confused by crop rotation - I want to go for a 4 bed system but most of my gardening books only seperate the crops into 3 groups (which lump potatoes, roots and onions together) - I want to grow loads of potatoes so want these as a seperate group - but is it ok for potatoes to follow on from carrots and other roots? if not then how do you do a 4 plot rotation. What I was going to do was

bed 1 - Roots and onions
bed 2 - brassicas
bed 3 - peas and beans
bed 4 - potatoes

and then next year move them all forward one place - which would mean the potatoes following the roots - is this ok?

thanks DF

Potatoes after roots is fine, they are two different groups.

Roots do not like manure where as spuds love it.

Jerry

However you divide the groups, you will find you need to compromise. I grow lots of onions and leeks, so these get their own group. I also tend to grow the carrots in the same group for complementary reasons. Therefore I would suggest you determine your general groups, but don't be afraid to move the odd vegetable around if you think it better somewhere else. It is an experiment for all of us. That is part of the appeal ...

Derekthefox :D

Hi Dirtyfingernails,

In most books onions are grouped with peas and beans,

The sequence is normally as follows,

Bed 1    potatoes
Bed 2    Onions, peas and beans
Bed 3    Brassicas
Bed 4    Roots

Potatoes follow roots, onions and beans follow potatoes etc.

But as Derekthefox has said these are guidelines not rigid rules, the idea is just don't grow the same crop in the same bed two years running and leave it for four if you can.  It s not only disease that you are trying to prevent but the rotation helps the following crop i.e. the nitrogen left in the ground by the peas and beans helps the brassicas to develop their leaves the following year.

MikeB

But other books on companion gardening say don't grow onions, peas and beans together.

I've found my own way of crop rotation as I don't grow many brassicas, I need seperate beds for tomatoes and potatoes and I don't grow many roots (not my choice - the clay and the slugs decided for me!)

I use five beds and try to leave as long as possible between tomatoes and potatoes, overwintering garlic and summer spring onions. Never follow brassicas with potatoes. etc. And trying to have something to plant as soon as I've harvested.

Last year (I mean summer 2005) I had:
bed 1 - roots and alliums (ended up as beetroot only as slugs ate the others)
bed 2 - potatoes
bed 3 - squash and beans
bed 4 - tomatoes and sweetcorn
bed 5 - overwintering alliums

Next year:
bed 1 - potatoes
bed 2 - over wintering garlic
bed 3 - tomatoes
bed 4 - squash and sweetcorn
bed 5 - beans and courgettes

(my priorities have changed a bit too so I've had to change rotation)

Be flexible!

Mine goes a bit like this:

Bed 1: Solanums
Bed 2: Alliums & Roots
Bed 3: Legumes
Bed 4: Brassicas

Next year:

Bed 1: Alliums & Roots
Bed 2: Legumes
Bed 3: Brassicas
Bed 4: Solanums

And so on.

Brassicas follow legumes because the legumes are nitrogen fixers.

Quote from: aquilegia on November 18, 2005, 10:58:47
But other books on companion gardening say don't grow onions, peas and beans together.

True, I should have said they go together as a rotation 'group' but don't plant them in the same bed.

MikeB

Hi Aqualiega

Have you tried beer traps? This worked for me - I have clay soil and managed some decent carrots. I plan to try planting using making holes beforehand and using sand and fine compost to sow into nest year and use all year round carrots.

lottie 3

Aqui, I just noticed that you have said

QuoteNever follow brassicas with potatoes. etc.

Why? 

thanks for all the advice! am going to stick to what I had planned and see what happens - have just been up the lottie and manured and composted where my cabbages are going next year. I've also got clay soil so I'm going to have a go at double digging the roots bed and mix in some sand to see if that'll help the carrots, but the soils way to wet at the moment so I think I'll leave this to Feb/march - the slugs got my carrots too but left the ones in raised bed my garden alone (maybe they're too lazy to climb?  >:( ;D

btw - also now confused about whether to add manure to the bed for carrots/parsnips - the books say no but Monty (who is a pin up in our shed) says yes in today's paper!

I have come across a book that suggests a 4 crop rotation (Allotment Gardening - An organic guide for begineers by Susan Berger).

It splits it up into the following;
1. Potato Family - Potatoes, tomatoes, aubergines and pepers
2. Legumes - Peas, beans
3. Brassicas - boccoli, cabbages, sprouts, radishes, other oriental greens
4. Onions and Roots - onions, chives, garlic, leeks, shallots, carrots, parsnips

I have adapted this for the back garden as follows;

1 Potato family
2 Legumes and Roots
3 Brassicas
4 Onions

The reasons for this is because I dont plant much from the Legume family but more of the Onions.

This year I have manured three of the sections, except 2 Legumes and Roots which I used spent compost from pots (just make sure you dont use any compost from pots used to plant any veg from the Legumes and Roots famlies)
I also added some blood, fish and bone to the  Legumes and Roots area.

Happy planning  :)

i have a three year rota of sorts, 6 beds which are used as follows:

1 overwintering brassicas
2 summer brassicas (plus celeriac) (almost cleared now)
3 potatoes and parsnips
4 squashes
5 alliums, lettuce, general non-specific crops
6 legumes

my tomatoes and cucumbers are outside of this at the moment, in their own bed which i will move next year.

next year looks like this:
1) potatoes and root
2) squashes
3) alliums (leeks, garlic and onions already in), followed by lettuce et al
4) legumes
5) summer brassicas
6) o/w brassicas

so my beds jump by two, which in effect should give me a 6 year rotation of sorts (the potatoes wont be in the same bed for 6 years, and in the same area for 3).

the reason the toms and cucs are somewhere esle, is that they are heat lovers so i have reserved the warmest spots in the garden for them. still maintaining rotation though, so there wont be any soil sickness. some might also be grown in tubs (though regular watering required in that case) on an area of hard standing i have.

as has been said: it's a learning curve, be flexible and experiment a bit