Allotments 4 All

Hi Folks,
I ve been reading up on this subject only to end up totally confused.

"As for crop rotation have a read through this:

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/smf/index.php?topic=14631.0 (http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/joomla/smf/index.php?topic=14631.0)"

Ours is following this :-


Crop rotation               
Bed / Year      2008         2009         2010         2011      2012
1                   Brassicas   Legumes   Potatoes   Roots    Other
2                   Other     Brassicas   Legumes   Potatoes   Roots
3                   Roots     Other   Brassicas   Legumes   Potatoes
4                   Potatoes    Roots   Other   Brassicas   Legumes
5                   Legumes    Potatoes   Roots    Other   Brassicas


Some people are saying put Brassicas after legumes others are saying before.  ???

"Crop rotations are designed to balance nutrient demands.   
The table below shows the relative fertilizer need for specific vegetables.   
   
Highest   Potato, tomato, pepper
High   Onion, carrot, lettuce
Medium   Beets, spinach, cucumber, squash, broccoli, cauliflower
Low   Peas & beans"

Definitely   ???  ???  ???

Don't worry too much. As long as you don't keep growing the same or related crops in the same place, with a few exceptions, you'll be fine. Exceptions are things like runner beans which can safely be put in the same place year after year. In particular, don't keep growing alliums in the same place all the time since it's asking for white rot, or potatoes, because it's important to get all the accidentals you've left behind out the following year. Otherwise you're asking for blight.

Brassica's always follow legumes. When the legumes have finished for the season cut them down to the ground - don't dig the roots out. Then the following spring when you turn the soil turn the roots in - this way the nitrogen they're fixed remains in the soil for the brassicas which follow.

Quote"Crop rotations are designed to balance nutrient demands. 

and to do this the pH has got to be right.

My rule of thumb, as I have mentioned somewhere before is;

Lime is often needed to adjust the pH which in turn assists nutrient take up.

Then as we all know  ::) there are plants that like lime (e.g. brassicas) and some that don't (e.g. Potatoes)

So I make the liming year (brassicas)  year one.

Most everything else as year two.

And Potatoes year three, when most of the lime will have been leeched out of the soil.

It has worked quite well for me, and now that I am getting a bit forgetful and having more aging moments that I once did!... a rule like this is very useful to me plus it is much simpler to remember than all those tables that the experts kick out every year..

I'm with Robert here, try to plant something different in the soil once you have dug up a crop and generally it works ok. I've found plans work well on paper but just don't happen in practice!

This works for me;

Yr 1 Spuds
Yr 2 peas and beans
Yr 3 cabbage etc (Lime here)
Yr 4 onions leeks etc

Then I have a bed that is for things that dont quite fit in such as sweetcorn etc.  and crops get moved around within that bed.

BUT dont stress and good old Mother Nature is forgiving of us fools (most times) things do work out ok whatever you end up doing!  ;)

Thanks for all those replies.  They are much appreciated as always and very helpful.  I think the panic could be over.

MP

I thought I was doing my crop rotation well until i realised that I'd planted my Broad Beans in the same place after only one thing in between. Which wouldn't have been too bad except they got bad chocolate spot there the first time. However they were almost finished producing before it came back again this year.

I do potatoes,                      roots,                      brassica,                          legumes and onions
       legumes and onions      potatoes                  roots                               brassica

and so on....

As others have said, it doesn't really matter as long as certain things aren't grown in the same soil for a few years, i.e potatoes, brassica that are in the ground for a long time and the onion family.

I have permanent and semi-permanent beds for asparagus, fruit bushes, rhubarb, globe artichokes and strawberries.
Sweet corn and courgettes go in where there is space.

Much more flexibility can be achieved if you base the rotation on vegetable families. There are 7 major families, and as long as you follow a crop with one from a different family, you will avoid most problems. I follow a rule of thumb of not using any crop from a family more than once in two years on the same bed.

I have done a little article describing it: http://www.thevga.co.uk/the_shed/howto/article2.cgi

Here's the list of veg and their families:
http://www.thevga.co.uk/the_shed/howto/getfamilies.cgi

So when a crop has been harvested and cleared, there is always something to sow/plant in its place.

I found it helpful to make a list of everything I wanted to grow, put them into groups like brassicas, alliums etc, then work out how long they are in the soil for; eg, Nov - June for overwintering onions. This helped me work out what could follow on from what, so make best use of the limited space with minimum time any bed was left empty.

I use a five group rotation, worked out from what I like to grow a lot of (alliums), and less of (Brassicas & Roots)...so mine goes:

Alliums- Pototoes- Legumes- Brassicas & Roots- Others (outdoor bush tomatoes, sweetcorn, squash, courgettes, salad)

I also use some of the 'Other' group such as squash to follow on from early potatoes. Works for me, but I found it helps to concentrate on what you really like to eat and grow, then work out how to fit it all in!!