Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: rem858 on April 20, 2009, 08:41

Title: crop rotation help needed
Post by: rem858 on April 20, 2009, 08:41

i understand the basic principals of rotataion i think
i have spuds/brassicas/roots/legumes so 4 groups what is the best way to start off the system
i have the plot divided into 4 sections with spuds at one end does it mater what comes next ??
many thanks

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: Kristen on April 20, 2009, 08:55

I have organised mine so that they move one bed each season - easy for me to remember where something was last year, and therefore this year it will be in the next bed along!

I do:

1. Leeks / Onions
2. Peas / Beans
3. Sprouts / Cabbages
4. Carrots / Parsnips (No manure)
5. Spuds

(There is a picture on My Blog (http://kgarden.wordpress.com/projects/vegetable-patch/2/) in case it helps - you'll need to click to enlarge it - its a bit big!)

and now having typed that I'm wondering if it should include:

6. Sweetcorn

I've got some "crops" of Strawberry and Sweet peas / Gladioli as well, which could lengthen the rotation, but some of the beds are shaded so I'm not really planning to grow veg in them, so I don't think they will become part of my rotation/

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: Lynne on April 20, 2009, 10:32

Quite a lot of veg, (including I think, sweetcorn) are classed as 'others'. This means they can go anywhere. As rotation never works neatly ( I use up more ground for potatoes than anything else) I put 'others' in where it suits to use up the space.

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: rem858 on April 20, 2009, 10:38

so it makes no difference what goes next to the spuds out of the other 3 groups

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: Kristen on April 20, 2009, 11:02

Sprouts follow Beans because, supposedly, of the Nitrogen fixing ability of the beans.

Other than that I don't think it matters.

Roots and Spuds are normally considered together for a 3 crop rotation. They don't share the same bugs, and Spuds need muck but Roots not, and spuds take up loads of space, so I've never quite understood that advice! So I follow Roots with Spuds.

Have you not got any Leeks / Onions ?

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: Lynne on April 20, 2009, 12:13

This is my rotation system:

Year 1: Alliums         Roots         Brassicas    Legumes

Year 2: Legumes      Alliums       Roots         Brassicas

Year 3: Brassicas     Legumes    Alliums        Roots

Year 4: Roots           Brassicas   Legumes     Alliums

If you read down the columns, this is what I follow with for each area. So, legumes follow alliums, Brassicas follow legumes etc.

'Others' can go anywhere. These include Lettuce, sweetcorn, courgettes, aubergines, cucumbers, fewnnel, spinach, chard and celeriac although I am sure there are lots more.

Hope that helps

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: Yorkie on April 20, 2009, 18:21

This website (http://www.keirg.freeserve.co.uk/diary/tech/rotation.htm) is linked from our Information section of the site, and contains some useful info on rotation

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: mumofstig on April 20, 2009, 19:12

http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/crop-rotation/index.php (http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/crop-rotation/index.php)

more rotation info

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: Yorkie on April 20, 2009, 19:23

Well done, MoS - I spent ages looking for that, thinking there was bound to be something on here, but couldn't find it  :D

Title: Re: crop rotation help needed
Post by: strangerachael on April 20, 2009, 19:50

I think I remember something about not putting in potatoes after brassicas or legumes if you added lime because it might cause scab on potatoes??