Crop rotation is a farming technique that helps farmers prevent the depletion of specific soil nutrients and disrupt the life cycles of pests and diseases associated with a particular crop. By rotating crops, the soil becomes less hospitable to pests, making it less hospitable to their appetites. The goal of crop rotation is to reduce the pest population present in the soil, as some pathogens that cause diseases survive in the soil from year to year in one form.
Crop rotation contributes to pest control by disrupting the life cycles of pests by altering the crops planted, reducing the need for chemical pesticides, and promoting a healthier crop environment. This approach keeps the soil healthy, minimizes erosion, and helps control pests by breaking their life cycles. Many pests and diseases are host-specific, meaning they can only survive and reproduce on particular hosts. From an agronomic perspective, crop rotation can increase nutrient cycling and nutrient use efficiency, decrease plant diseases and insect pests, assist in managing weeds, and improve soil fertility.
In addition to improving soil fertility, crop rotation helps fight pests, reduce costs, and increase yields. It also enhances biodiversity on the farm. Crop rotation works because pests and diseases that attack certain types of vegetables often do not attack others. By moving the crop each year, farmers can stop soil-borne pests that are fairly specific to that crop attacking the next that they plant. Crop rotation is useful to prevent plants succumbing to pests and diseases, as pests and diseases can live in the soil.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Management of Insect Pests with Crop Rotation | Crop rotation is most effective against insect pests with a limited host range, long life cycle (one or fewer generations a year), and limited ability to move … | organic-crop-production.com |
| Crop rotation as a method of disease control | The goal of crop rotation is to reduce the amount of the pest population present in the soil. Some pathogens that cause diseases survive in the soil from year … | farmprogress.com |
| How Does Crop Rotation Control Pests | Crop rotation helps control pests by breaking their life cycles. Many pests and diseases are host-specific, meaning they can only survive and … | gardenersbasics.com |
📹 Crop Rotation and Pest Management
Crop Rotation and Pest Management with Erich Shultz of Steadfast Farm. Follow them on IG: @steadfastfarm Buy my book here: …
What Happens If You Don'T Rotate Crops?
If crops are not rotated, the soil will begin to lose vital nutrients necessary for plant growth. To mitigate this, farmers can plant crops that enhance organic matter and nitrogen in the soil. Yields, which refer to the amount of usable produce from plants, can be negatively affected by poor soil health. Although much research on crop rotation focuses on large-scale farming, the underlying principles apply universally, as illustrated by a Pennsylvania State University study.
When crop rotation isn't feasible, it is crucial to implement practices such as mulching crops and watering effectively. Farmers might also choose blight-resistant varieties or avoid vulnerable plants for a season or two. Cover crops can also significantly improve soil condition if rotation isn’t possible; they should be planted once the main crops are harvested.
The necessity of crop rotation is highlighted by the consequences of consistently growing the same crop, leading to nutrient depletion, increased pest populations, and diminished yields. Diverse crop rotations contribute to soil health, pest management, and enhanced productivity, fostering sustainable agricultural practices. Without rotation, pests can proliferate year after year, causing long-lasting issues.
For instance, consistently planting potatoes can deplete specific soil nutrients, creating a "nutrient wasteland." Crop rotation not only aids in nutrient replenishment but also interrupts pest and disease cycles while promoting biodiversity.
Therefore, even organic farms benefit from crop rotation, maintaining soil health without harming its ecological balance. In summary, consistent crop rotation is essential for maintaining nutrient-rich soil and overall agricultural vitality, and if rotation isn’t possible, incorporating cover crops remains a valuable alternative.
What Problems Does Crop Rotation Solve?
Crop rotation is a critical agricultural practice that enhances soil health and resilience by cultivating different crops sequentially on the same land. This method helps replenish nutrients naturally, interrupts pest and disease cycles, and boosts biodiversity, ultimately leading to improved yields. Key benefits of crop rotation include increased soil fertility, reduced incidence of pests and diseases, effective weed control, enhanced soil structure, optimized nutrient utilization, and decreased soil erosion.
Despite its many advantages, implementing crop rotation poses challenges for farmers, such as the need for comprehensive knowledge of various crops and their specific requirements, as well as potential market limitations.
The study of crop rotation seeks to address these challenges through Multi-objective Mixed-Integer Linear Programming models designed for Crop Rotation Planning. Key findings highlight that properly planned crop rotations can significantly mitigate adverse climate effects, reduce dependency on synthetic inputs, and enhance the nutritional availability for crops. Additionally, diversifying crop types can effectively combat the prevalent issues associated with monoculture, such as soil degradation and reduced resilience.
The practice not only prevents soil depletion but also improves organic matter, ultimately contributing to sustainable agriculture and increased food security. By "tilling" the soil at varying root levels, crop rotation effectively minimizes the likelihood of erosion, ensuring healthier and more productive farming systems for the future.
What Are 5 Disadvantages Of Crop Rotation?
Les inconvénients de la rotation des cultures incluent plusieurs défis significatifs. La topographie du sol limite souvent la possibilité de cultiver plusieurs cultures dans une même zone, rendant la rotation difficile. De plus, les conditions climatiques variables et les événements imprévus peuvent interférer avec les pratiques de rotation. Un problème majeur est l’impossibilité de maintenir un équilibre des nutriments; différentes cultures ont des besoins variés, ce qui peut entraîner une déplétion de certains nutriments spécifiques dans le sol. La rotation nécessite également des compétences et une connaissance approfondies, ce qui constitue un obstacle pour de nombreux agriculteurs non formés.
Les aspects négatifs de la rotation comprennent la complexité de la planification, l'augmentation des besoins en gestion et des coûts initiaux élevés. De plus, la rotation peut entraîner une réduction de la rentabilité à court terme, et les cultures peuvent devenir vulnérables face aux ravageurs et maladies qui s’adaptent aux changements. Le processus impose également des risques financiers, particulièrement pour les agriculteurs mal informés. Chaque saison, un autre type de culture doit être semé, ce qui nécessite un équipement spécialisé.
Enfin, la dépendance à un seul type de culture peut compromettre la diversité et la résilience des récoltes. Les agriculteurs doivent donc peser les avantages et les inconvénients avant de s'engager dans cette pratique.
How Does Crop Rotation Help With Pests?
Crop rotation is an agricultural practice that involves growing different crops sequentially in the same area over various seasons. This method effectively controls insect pests, particularly those with limited host ranges, long life cycles, and restricted mobility. The primary goal of crop rotation in pest management is to disrupt the lifecycle of pests by changing the crops planted, thereby starving them of their preferred food source and habitat.
By alternating crops, farmers can minimize the reliance on chemical pesticides while promoting healthier crop conditions. This practice helps prevent soil nutrient depletion and limits the buildup of soil-borne pests and pathogens that thrive under specific cropping conditions. Furthermore, certain crops, particularly deep-rooted ones like turnips, contribute to improving soil structure via decompaction.
Crop rotation not only reduces pest and disease populations in the soil but also maintains soil health. It establishes a favorable environment for upcoming crops while creating unfavorable conditions for pests and diseases. Essentially, pests and diseases that target particular crops often do not affect others, making crop rotation an effective strategy to thwart their spread.
The effectiveness of this method is contingent on the life cycles of the targeted pests. As farmers change the types of crops they grow, they disrupt the lifecycle of pests that depend on constant access to specific crops. Consequently, crop rotation offers multiple benefits, including reducing populations of soil-dwelling pests like squash vine borers, limiting plant disease spread, and fostering overall soil health and fertility. Thus, crop rotation serves both agronomic and economic functions for farm management, effectively balancing agricultural sustainability with market demands.
Does Crop Rotation Protect Against Pests?
Crop rotation is a vital agricultural practice that enhances soil health and serves as a natural defense against pests and diseases. By alternating the types of crops grown, growers disrupt pest life cycles, which diminishes pest populations and reduces the reliance on chemical pesticides. This method not only fosters a healthier environment for crops but also supports beneficial insects and microorganisms essential for a balanced ecosystem.
While crop rotation can effectively mitigate the build-up of pests and pathogens, some are adaptable and can survive dormant periods or transition to alternative hosts. Nonetheless, rotating crops can improve soil structure and fertility, preventing nutrient depletion and promoting diverse microbial populations. It is essential to consider a systematic approach, such as a four-year crop rotation plan that categorizes crops by their nutritional needs and their effects on soil health.
Effective pest management through crop rotation may reduce pathogen loads, as introducing crops that are not susceptible to certain pathogens can lower the risk of disease outbreaks. Additionally, this practice can lead to decreased chemical use, as managing pest populations naturally contributes to enhanced soil fertility and reduced reliance on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Despite its many advantages, crop rotation is not an all-encompassing solution, as many pests are highly mobile and can still thrive. The objective remains to lessen pest populations and limit their opportunities for survival by rotating crops, thereby providing farmers with a practical strategy to manage pests efficiently while maintaining productive agricultural practices. Ultimately, these systematic rotations can significantly improve crop yield and sustainability.
Does Crop Rotation Improve Soil Health?
Crop rotation is a fundamental practice in sustainable agriculture, known for its numerous benefits, including enhanced soil fertility and pest management. This article explores the science behind crop rotation, its positive effects on soil health, and practical implementation strategies. By planting different crops in succession, farmers can enhance soil nutrient levels, break pest cycles, and reduce production risks through diversification. Historically, crop rotation has improved grain yields by regenerating soil and disrupting cycles of weeds, diseases, and pests.
Research conducted in eastern Nebraska demonstrates that increasing crop diversity markedly improves soil physical health. Legumes in cereal-based rotations significantly bolster these properties. Crop rotation fosters a diverse soil microbiome, crucial for nutrient cycling, disease suppression, and enhancing soil resilience. Incorporating legumes can stimulate microbial activity, boost carbon sequestration, and improve nutrient cycles.
This practice not only replenishes essential soil nutrients but also interrupts the life cycles of pests and diseases, preventing soil erosion and maintaining soil structure. It lessens dependency on synthetic inputs, reduces resistance issues with pests and weeds, and promotes biodiversity.
Incorporating small grains such as wheat, barley, and oats is vital in crop rotations as these crops enhance soil fertility by increasing organic matter, reducing erosion, and controlling weeds. Overall, crop rotation provides vital benefits through improved soil health, increased organic matter, and better nutrient management, making it an essential strategy for sustainable farming. By enhancing soil biological health and promoting diverse crop residues, crop rotation emerges as a critical tool for maintaining productive and resilient agricultural ecosystems.
What Is Integrated Pest Management In Agriculture?
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an environmentally sensitive and effective approach to pest management integrating various common-sense practices. It utilizes comprehensive current information on pest life cycles and their environmental interactions. In agriculture, IPM serves as a solution, harmonizing human innovation with natural ecosystems. By promoting sustainable pest control methods, IPM leverages ecosystem services, such as pest predation, while safeguarding beneficial processes like pollination.
Its application spans agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and urban pest management, including structural and ornamental pest control. Moreover, IPM practices help manage resistance development, critical for maintaining pest control efficacy.
IPM incorporates biological, cultural, and chemical strategies to manage pests, utilizing natural predators alongside selective pesticides. Growing concerns about conventional agriculture's long-term viability have driven the adoption of IPM, ensuring sufficient and secure agricultural outputs while promoting ecological balance. IPM serves as a holistic pest control approach, tailored to various settings—urban, agricultural, or natural areas—through a combination of management techniques that maximize effectiveness while minimizing environmental impact.
This science-based decision-making process emphasizes the selected use of pest control actions that yield favorable economic, ecological, and social outcomes. As a sustainable methodology, IPM is applicable to all farmers, growers, and land managers, effectively addressing pests, weeds, and diseases through informed strategies and practices to promote crop health and land stewardship. Overall, Integrated Pest Management represents a proactive, responsible solution to pest challenges in diverse environments.
How Does Crop Rotation Protect The Environment?
Crop rotation is essential in sustainable agriculture as it addresses the varied nutritional needs of different crops, mitigates soil depletion, and reduces pesticide and fertilizer reliance. By alternating crops, farmers can enhance soil structure through deep-rooted plants, while cover crops protect against erosion. This method improves soil fertility, manages insect pests, and lowers greenhouse gas emissions. Legume incorporation further enriches soil nutrient levels.
Crop rotation also diminishes the risks linked to environmental stressors such as drought and wet springs, demonstrating a positive ecological impact by reducing synthetic input usage and promoting biodiversity.
Empirical evidence suggests that increased crop diversity maintains yields with fewer external inputs, achieving average yield increases of 1 t/ha under varying climatic conditions. The US excels in crop rotation adoption, though it lags in biocontrol and biofertilizer practices. By interrupting pest and disease cycles and enhancing soil health through varied root structures, crop rotation not only prevents nutrient leaching into water sources but also fosters biodiversity.
Adding small grains and forages requires less fertilizer, reducing pollution outputs and improving water use efficiency by increasing organic matter, ultimately enhancing soil structure and water absorption. Collectively, these conservation practices fortify agricultural sustainability and resilience to climatic changes, demonstrating the critical role of crop rotation in modern farming systems.
📹 Is Crop Rotation Necessary?
In todays video we get into the nitty gritty details on crop rotations and if they are worth it. 5% off Neptune’s Harvest Fish Fertilizers …
9:18 This was a tremendous aside. I think a lot of people look at science as giving definitive answers all the time but, being in the field myself I am acutely aware that, often Science is just looking for an answer to a single question. Anytime you bring in complex systems a whole list of caveats and conditions need to be expressed in order to communicate “this is what we found, its neat, but be careful drawing any inferences from it”.
It should be remembered that historically rotations were used in combination with a return to fallowed perennial pasture to maintain productivity of fields. This was in a time that we didn’t have fossil fuels and other cheap energy to truck tons compost and mulch materials around. We also didn’t have the many other fertility sources from products of industry and extraction (also available because of fossil energy). Primarily rotations would be applied to large plots growing staple crops; in small home gardens one would still be able to apply more of these techniques of mulching and large compost applications.
I enjoy these types of articles. Having grown up on a farm we had the standard 4 crop rotation…corn…soybeans…winter wheat…alfalfa. So it doesn’t surprise me most of the literature revolves around some variant of this cycle. But what I feel is important…these are the yearly produced crops. So there is a winter between each harvest. And we tilled. Not what gardeners deal with. Basically I am saying I am not sure I would put too much emphasis on the scientific results involving biodiversity health. I will say…it makes sense diseases and pests can only be controlled by rotation …so for that reason yea…do it. But to say fungal diversity is better? I am not yet convinced that is the case. Just too many variables…many confounding…playing a role
This is amazing. I’m an official super nerd (personally and professionally lol); we expand our urban garden every year. I’ve been frustrated with finding clear information on crop rotation- literally every article gives a different pattern! I’ve always wanted to distill down the science but you did it for me! Great job!
Interesting, we try to do some sort of crop rotation every year with the exception of the tomatoes. We also scratch our head a bit because things travel. Airborne or simply flying or crawling. Our garden only being a few thousand square feet is there any real value to crop rotating? Another thing is that we are getting more and more into plant succession and rotation gardening. We feel that is also a positive benefit to the soil and then the future plants. We believe the key is good soil management and doing the best that we can while also being VERY watchful of the garden. And the reason we do not rotate the tomatoes is because they are planted in mineral tubs and under a shade protection because of our hot summers. As always Thank You for another fun and informative article!
Yay! I did celery in the high tunnels where the tomatoes were last year. What I did, since you asked, is I transplanted the celery up the center of the beds between the tomato rows. BTW, celery doesn’t take as long to germinate in late summer as it does in the late winder/early spring and in Japan celery is primarily considered a winter crop.
I have grown tomatoes in the same hoop houses for 18 years without ever running into problems, but I also grow other plants along with them, for example green beans, or lettuce before I put the tomatoes in, also radishes. Outside I rotate the crops, but also do not plant all of the same at one place, for example my potatoes are 6 to 8 ft. apart and in between I grow different things. The reason being to make it harder for pests top from one row to the other.
there are some people that think crop rotation is bogus because nature doesn’t grow a different thing in that spot every year, but if we don’t mess with it, the vegetation in a spot will change over multiple years or even decades. And like you said every farm is different, every farm is in a different stage of life depending on where they started from and how long they’ve been growing and what kind of management they practice. I think we always need to look at the research and see what resonates with us, that we might be excited to experiment with in our own environments. In all farm things one size never fits all
I gave up years ago on crop rotation. I generally plant a diverse winter kill cover crop. I do some companion & interplanting. Will relay crop if timing permits. I have had a steady decline in pest issues. Blight is hard as it often comes on the wind & is exacerbated by weather conditions. I am endeavoring to grow more crops vertically to counter-act that & save my back & legs. Overall, better soil health due to the winter kill cover crops has been the best factor…plus pollinator interplanting support plants.
One of the things they say is don’t plant nightshades after nightshades. Considering most of my garden crops are nightshades: tomatoes, tomatillos, peppers, potatoes, it is simply not possible. Plus I have some infrastructure for tomatoes not easily movable. Spores of things like blight spread and can be ubiquitous anyway. I found a tomato blight problem I had 2 years in a row was related to a certain type, so I just quit growing it. Potato scab is because of inherent soil alkalinity, it is always there, but solved with a few inches of compost and Ruth Stout methods. Compost, including worm castings, seem to solve most problems, and healthy plants are the best defense. There may be certain issues where I might consider rotation, but thank god I do not have them…yet.
Tough one to nail down. Most of those papers are for tillage systems and might not apply to no till. Nearly all of those papers assume that annual is the appropriate time for….reasons? I’ve pinned my hopes on making my plants harder targets. Brix readings, Haney soil testing and the occasional sap analysis should help make my plants immune systems robust.
It’s quite a quandary! On the home scale it’s even worse. My suggestion is keep your soil healthy, watch your plants, diversify whenever you can and basically hope that works. In the home garden (or allotment) it is very very difficult to NOT cross-contaminate between different parts of the garden. On the other hand, to truly do crop rotation is a true pain in the a%$e 🙄. Great article Jesse, like them it it really makes you think!
I have had my share of successes & failures to know that planning, researching & prepairing the soil is essential to good outcomes. I will be leaning toward rotating more combined with working in more quality compost. Last fall I worked in kelp & I have a nice pile overwintering which I will be using. Thanks for you valued suggestions.
Jesse, for the cucumber powdery mildew problem .. look up Lofthouse Landrace Gardening articles. He talks about huge PM problems in his operation for years until he crossed enough cucumbers and kept survivors until PM became a non-issue for him. I got a little of his group’s cucumber seed last year and had no PM problems where I couldn’t get barely anything through PM prior. The commercial seed growers are using lots of inputs to ward off disease and essentially adapting their survivors to relying on heavy chemical inputs.
A historical perspective on crop rotation: J.I. Rodale and Mokichi Okada were contemporaries a century ago. Rodale is credited with popularizing organic gardening/farming in the US and Okada started Natural Farming (Shinzi Shumeika) in Japan. A big difference is Rodale promoted crop rotation and Okada promoted growing the same crop in the same place every year. In the 90s, Rodale hosted interns and study groups from Natural Farming, in part to learn about crop rotation because they were experiencing plant health issues posssibly due to planting the same crop in the same place every year.
Thanks for the article, this was interesting. I have a waist high, dedicated huglekultur for my tomatoes, with a permanent net for trellising. I plant carrots, a few other vegetables, basil, lettuce, marigolds and other herbs around them in the bed and have had pretty good luck. I do add egg shells and compost. I’ve also grown mushrooms at the edges of the bed and that seemed to help too.
In the Korean Natural Farming Methods it seems that rotation is a non-issue. In other words they just don’t recommend it. I would recommend anyone interested to look into it. Just fascinating. It’s estimated to be a system over five thousand years old. Seems to have endured the test of time. I’m going full tilt with it this season. Oh, and it’s super cost efficient. Producing your own inputs for pennies on the dollar. Thanks Jesse for all your hard work and excellent articles.
In our area of Saskatchewan, clubroot is a problem, so farmers really do have to rotate between canola and another crop (usually wheat, and no most do not spray that with Roundup) to break that cycle. Fusarium cycles with wheat are also controlled the same way. I imagine ergot in rye is no different.
I like the no dogma approach, Jesse. It makes crazy good sense to say that for a backyard gardener rotating to minimize pest or disease is probably not going to be effective. A big take away from this for me is that the idea of crop rotation is probably more benefiacail to large growers of staple crops.
I like the jadam methodology that plant knows what plant needs so reincorporating into the soil feeds next years crop of the same type. One could argue perennials like strawberries do fine in one spot. I’ve been planting corn on the north side of my garden in the same spot for as long as I can remember and don’t recall any issues. Everything else just gets shoved in the ground where there is room. Like the article says, do what works for you🤷♂️
In texas, my plans to rotate some crop plots will be because of Squash bugs mainly. They are quite destructive down here for curcubids and my favorite mellons. I like to grow under garden cloth, and they tend to over winter under that stuff if you leave it in place.. rotating is going to be the first method to address those at our new 40 acre land.
Just to muddy the water, Elephant Garlic. It is a biennial plant, I have been growing in the same spots for years, one place maybe 15years, maybe more. I have heard of old abandon house where it just grows wild in the spots for decades. Like abandon homesteads in Kentucky that still grow daffodils each spring. My own plants I can trace back to a house where it has been growing for 50+ years. I have heard sometimes it can get diseased and dies out, so I have them planted in several different place in my yard and at friends houses. All this to say I don’t rotate my Elephant Garlic, (leek ). Oh yeah, good article,
Are we thinking we are getting benefit A from rotations when we are really getting benefit B? Rotation may benefit a weaker follow up plant from the beneficial colonies left behind by the prior stronger plants. … Pull up a clump of Crab or Quack Grass (Jesse, you may need to check the road side to find some!) and look at the rhyzosheaths. Weeds can be impressive like that. Wouldn’t you like to have that performance under your tomatoes? Perhaps the cover crop benefits are what colonies they encouraged and leave behind? … Might be interesting to select seed from plants after pulling them up to look at which ones have the best root structure and not just nicely shaped top branches. … I’ve experimented with washing soil from invasive grass roots into a tea to inoculate new plantings going in around the garden, not enough science with replications of diverse plant types and different soils in the test to prove anything, but the theory is creating “Beneficial Crop Rotation in a Bucket”.
This is really interesting! And it reminded me of a article from Youngsang Cho (JADAM), where he specifically say not to rotate if you want healthy crops. (He says it’s applies for all crops, but his living example were mostly pepper plants). The basics were as follows: Plants are capable of triaging the nutrients specific to their needs, if the microbiology exists in the soil. Over time, as you put back the plants back to the soil (as mulch at the end of the season), you will concentrate the correct nutrients for that plant, as well as foster the optimum soil biology. This is sort of ties with the research that you mentioned, which says the non-rotation has higher soil life. Of course, you also pointed out that it had more specific pathogens as well… I guess balance is key? I did this for 3 years, with all my beds: 1st year, crops were struggling (we have very challenging compacted clay on limestone, in a semi-arid climate!) and got a few diseases. 2nd year, the plants were bigger and we got different diseases. 3rd year, plants were huge and we got a mite infestation, which was mostly due to the weather condition that year, and no disease. 3 years isn’t enough for hard data, but I thought it was encouraging. It also made a lot of sense to me, to not have to overthink the whole rotation business, which always gave me headaches!
When you say “Steaming” are you referring to a solarizing method? And any concerns from anyones point on what i refer to as flash solarizing? I use clear plastic over fresh crimped winter rye for 2-3 days and then remove. This gives me a nice dried down a d lay flat mulch. I started this method 2 years ago for peppers and tomatoes so far and just curious how much of the biome I am destroying? Thanks in advance. Ashley
I’m new and getting into farming more and more, and what I’ve miss or haven’t seen yet, is why you need to from seed every year? Is there a reason why you can’t just use the same plant year after year? I understand after awhile the plant won’t yield as much or produce a satisfying product, but is this the only reason?
I messed up my rotation this year and had to replant a quarter acre of broccoli in the same spot. I’m getting insect pressure like crazy toward one end of the field, but everything else honestly looks amazing. I went ahead and busted out the real chemical pesticides, just because I don’t want it spreading down field. First time in a few years I’ve had to spray broccoli with anything other than spinosad or BT, but this is why I don’t want to be organically certified. I’m in a part of South Carolina that has not seen temps below 30 degrees in over a year. This is insect heaven down here in the marshy area of SC.
Very nice timing… finally getting my head round completely biological gardening/farming. found Dr Elane Inghams vids and work, (found your reference to her in your book)… .downloaded Albert Howards original booklet which led me to REALLY get my head around compost teas and so on.. and I came the conclusion that…. I don’t know… I’ve just been quereying rotation.
great article. I’m big on intercropping. Monocultures don’t occur in nature. Garlic, onions or shallots are planted between everything. As long as my soil is covered I’m happy. Mulch, mulch, mulch. I’ve had some problems with seed saving due to intercropping. Take for example brassicas. Some vegetables are stable seed producers and others are not. Next year I’ll be buying fresh broccoli, cabbage and takana seed. I had to dump many vegetables because people didn’t want to buy mutant vegies that I couldn’t identify. Any advice on that problem? didn
If you polycrop, then crop rotation becomes mute as well. Soil science says the more plant diversity the better for building quality, fertile soil, period. This includes adding trees, vines, shrubs in alley cropped rows, as well as grazing with various livestock to manage fertility, culls, crop residues, pests, weeds, etc. While the soil may adapt to growing a monoculture, it fails to increase soil health, and it decreases soil depth. Better to avoid “monocropping” unless you are confined to a small space with minimal destruction to land. Large scale monocropping is still a soil destroyer.
2:02 … I’ve had this theory that supermarkets and malls hire the equivalent of drunken toddlers to lay out their parking lots. They spend all their efforts designing impulse item displays at the checkout lane forgetting that if they focused on that parking lot design their whole store could be an impulse aisle where shoppers could pop in and out getting their snacks. “I’d like to get a bag of chips but it’s ten minutes inside that parking lot and three door dings! I’m staying home and just popping that corn I grew last summer”.
To me it is about workload. I think a lot of things cancel themselves out. As you said, plants create the soil that they prefer, but at the same time, they also drain specific micronutrients more than others. I rotate almost everything except for things where i save work by having permanent infrastructure.. Tomatoes, pole beans and Cucumbers each need a different type of trellis setup… so yeah, maybe I lose 5% of yield (maybe), but at the same time I save hours of work each rotation by not having to switch around the infrastructure.
SIDE PLANT Beans, Cabbage, or Celery with Non-Rotated Tomatoes. Celery was the most successful for creating less fungal issues with non-rotating tomatoes. Swapping location of tomatoes with cucumbers is the least successful rotation 🙁 HIGH ROTATION CROPS:: Lettuce – Carrots – Beets – Green Onions – Squash. SLOW ROTATION CROPS: Tomatoes – Potatoes – Sweet Potatoes – Winter Squash – Garlic – Popcorn
Totally off topic, but no one seems to have a straight answer, since you’re certified, maybe you’ve had this experience. Baker creek seeds, good to go for organic? Or not ? We were certified with NOFA, but are currently uncertified. We still want to practice standards as we are seeking a new certified. Wondering if you’ve ever tried to get baker creek seeds cleared for your plan. Love your work!
What works well at “field scale” is going to be hard to shrink down to typical home garden size. EXAMPLE: A common rotation in NM is several years in Alfalfa, cutting the hay and grazing sheep or cows on stubble in the winter, then a couple of years of chili peppers with grazing on the stubble (sometimes barley before the peppers go in), and back to alfalfa. You can’t do that in a veggie patch. As long as your plants are healthy you can skip the rotating, cover cropping and other large-scale practices.
Crop rotation for large-scale farmers is important. Many of the backyard gardeners we know are very zealous rotators of their vegetables. We don’t do it. I’ve searched and searched, and have been unable to find compelling scientific evidence that it matters. Of course, when I mention this to our friends they’re shocked! We don’t rotate? Are we crazy? Calamity is about to befall us! But after years and years of doing things our way we have had zero problems. I think crop rotation for gardeners is simply a myth that won’t die.
Kinda off topic. Yet it was mentioned, and a photo representation was shown. The sprawl of suburbs popping up like weeds on land that was either vacant or farm land. I too wish it was not the case. However humans have this overwhelming urge to multiply. Those humans want what they consider a nicer and newer place to raise their offspring. Hence, the suburbs. To my recollection few if any seek old, congested locations to rear their young. It’s a quandary! There are folks that say build up! Tear that old thing down and build something twice as tall! Well that does happen. Yet the prices are as tall as the buildings. So what does one do? They buy that brand spanking new tract house where a farm once was.
I’m not surprised that the six-year Chinese study of tomato rotations that included cabbage resulted in less fungal populations than just growing tomatoes year-over-year. Cabbage is a Brassica and Brassica do not form fungal relationships, they are part of the 5% of plant species that seem to only form bacterial relationships in the soil. So that study is flawed in a sense because they were measuring the fungal growth over time, comparing crop rotation with no crop rotation, but they didn’t take into account the effect that each individual crop in the rotation would have on the fungal populations that they were measuring.
i dont believe this is going to make things simplier, it seemingly illuminates some things and poses more questions to others but ive recently heard that brassicas dont form mycorhizal relationships and they partner with actino bacteria to maintain soil conditions to their liking which on the sucession scale is right next to the beach pretty much where weeds prefer as well with high nitrates and low/none fungal dominance so apprently with most crops prefering more the middle of the road on the sucession, rotating brassicas with other crops that prefer more mature more reduced soils will cuase some problems because the braasicas are partnering with actino bacteria to maintain less mature, more oxidized soils while your other crops partner with mycorrhizals to do the opposite. Matt powers has been collabing with other educators and has in depth article on the newer understanding of the rhizophagy cycle (James F White), oxidation vs reduced soils etc heres a article of him talking about the brassica phenomenon i mentioned. youtube.com/watch?v=t21OKT0Tfl8&t=237s
Why would I rotate a wild crop? If anything I would burn it. I have a natural food forest. It was logged 100 years ago. Have 15 kinds of berries growing wild. I planted asparagus and domestic strawberries with the wild strawberries. Been planting domestic blueberries in the blueberry patches that grow the best. I use the same lettuce beds every year and let it seed. I should go look for lettuce today. I guess they are thinking more of a tradition field style organic grow. Not a living eco system. Where things are left to grow wild.
#1 reason to rotate crops. It gives you something entertaining and fun to do in January when you plan it all out. It is like a game of tetris #2 reason to rotate crops. It helps keep graph paper business profitable #3 reason to rotate crops. It is a great way to mess with your alcoholic wife, when she has been trained to remember ‘ ok, the front door is to the left of the sunflower’…and the next year you plant them to the right of the pond.