Gardeners not only have to pay attention to the correct crop rotation in agriculture, it is also worth making a plan for the vegetable garden in the hobby garden. Because if you cultivate properly, you will harvest more and have less to contend with diseases, pests and weeds. In the following we explain what crop rotation is all about, give you examples of good crop rotations, tables with the most important types of vegetables as well as helpful information and tips.

Clever combinations and rotations should be used in the vegetable garden

Table of Contents

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  1. Crop rotation definition
  2. Weak eaters & heavy eaters
  3. crop rotation annual cycle
  4. cultivation plan
  5. crop rotation agriculture
  6. frequently asked Questions

    7. What is crop rotation?

    Crop rotation, also known as field management, refers to the chronological sequence of cultivation of different types of crops over several years.

    The basic idea behind crop rotation is that different types of vegetables and grains require different nutrients and, above all, in different amounts. If the same vegetables are grown in the same place for years, they always withdraw the same nutrients from the soil. As a result, the soil becomes impoverished and the plant can no longer be adequately nourished. This leads to reduced crop yield, susceptibility to diseases and pests, and poor soil quality. However, if you grow different plants with different nutrient requirements in a bed every year, you can counteract this.

    Why pay attention to the correct crop rotation?

    Crop rotation has a positive effect on crop yield, but that's not all. A good crop rotation has even more advantages:

    • prevents pests and diseases
    • reduces weed growth
    • increases soil fertility
    • Root penetration and thus loosening of the soil
    • Legumes enrich the soil with nitrogen
    • Promotion of soil-supporting microorganisms
    • Control of nematodes
    • it reduces the use of expensive fertilizers
    • Prevention of erosion and leaching of nutrients

    background

    The history of crop rotation

    Crop rotation is as old as mankind's cultivation of grain. When people settled down and started growing grain, it quickly became apparent that the yields decreased significantly after several years of cultivation. As a result, they first developed the double farming system, in which grain and leafy vegetables and/or legumes were grown alternately. In the Middle Ages, three-field farming prevailed, in which initially only grain, leafy vegetables and green manure were grown. Beets and potatoes were added in the 18th century.

    Heavy feeders, weak feeders and green manure

    The nutrient requirement of the plants is decisive for the correct crop rotation. A distinction is made between heavy consumers, medium consumers and weak consumers.

    • weak feeder: Those plants, mostly leafy crops, that require little nutrition such as lettuce, spinach or herbs, or those that are self-sufficient in nutrients such as legumes such as beans or peas
    • medium eater: Plants with a medium nutrient requirement such as beets, onions or leeks
    • heavy feeder: Plants with a high nutrient requirement such as potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins or cabbages

    green manure

    Green manure is cultivated in order to replenish the soil with nutrients after a cultivation cycle of several years. Legumes that enrich the soil with nitrogen are particularly suitable for this, such as:

    • clover
    • phacelia
    • sweet peas
    • lupins
    • marigold
    • oil radish

    These fruits are not harvested, but mulched and incorporated into the soil where they rot and add additional nutrients to the soil.

    2 to 5 year cycles for crop rotation

    Depending on the model, crop rotation is divided into 2, 3, 4 or 5 years. In agriculture, shorter cycles are often used in order to avoid failures in the main crop. In the vegetable garden, on the other hand, three- or four-field cultivation is often favoured, which means that heavy feeders are only planted on a bed every three to four years.

    Crop rotation in a 4-year cycle

    In a 4-year cycle, heavy feeders are grown on a fresh, nutrient-rich bed in the first year, medium feeders in the second, weak feeders in the third and green manure in the fourth. This method is most common in private vegetable gardens.

    Table for crop rotation in the 4-year cycle

    1st year (heavy eaters) 2nd Year (Mean Eaters) 3rd year (weak eaters) 4th year (green manure)
    potatoes fennel bush beans buckwheat
    cabbage All kinds of beets peas clover
    cucumbers salads herbs phacelia
    pumpkin strawberries lettuce marigolds
    rhubarb garlic spinach spinach
    celery leek summer flowers sweet peas
    tomatoes pole beans Lamb's lettuce lupine
    savoy onions oil radish
    Corn tagetes
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    digression

    Mixed culture and crop rotation

    In addition to crop rotation, you should also pay attention to the compatibility of the plants with each other when planning your vegetable garden. Although both potatoes and tomatoes are heavy feeders and are therefore grown in the same year, they do not get along very well and should not be planted in one bed. The same goes for potatoes and squash. Other plants, on the other hand, have a positive effect on each other, such as tomatoes and nasturtium, with nasturtium protecting the tomatoes from aphids. You can find out more about mixed cultures here.

    Crop rotation in the bed cycle

    Now you might want to grow potatoes and tomatoes every year. This is of course possible, provided you do not plant them in the same location. A simple model is the bed cycle, also known as gardening squared. Four beds are cultivated at the same time, one each with weak eaters, one with medium eaters, one with heavy eaters and one with green manure. Every year, the bed sequence is shifted by one bed, so that foundations are grown on the weak-feeder bed, weak feeders on the middle feeder, medium feeders on the heavy feeder and heavy feeders on the green manure, etc.
    Here you will find everything clearly illustrated.

    Make a cultivation plan

    Even if the concept sounds simple, logical and clear, it is advisable to create a plan so that you know exactly where you planted what. This concept works best when you have three, four, or five beds and rotate them alternately as described in the bed cycle above. To plan the extension in detail, proceed as follows:

    • Measure your beds and make sketches of them on one or more sheets of paper.
    • Divide the bed into the appropriate rows that you want to grow. Pay attention to the recommended row spacing.
    • Now write in each row what should be grown there. Pay attention to good and bad neighbors.
    • You can also note sowing and harvesting times as well as a possible second sowing.
    • Next year you simply move the sowing one bed to the right so that the crop rotation is given. Correct any poorly chosen neighbors that are reflected in a low crop yield.

    If you combine cleverly, you have less work.

    Crop rotation in agriculture

    Crop rotation also plays a major role in agriculture, and not only in ecological ones. Not only is the main crop regularly changed here, but different things are also grown within a year. A distinction is made here between summer crops, winter crops and catch crops.

    • summer fruit: This is a crop that is sown in spring and harvested in summer. This can be summer cereals, as well as beets, potatoes or vegetables.
    • winter fruit: Winter crops are useful plants that are frost hardy and therefore spend the winter in the field. This can be winter cereals or winter vegetables.
    • catch crop: Cover crops are mostly legumes grown between the main crops to improve the soil.

    digression

    catch crop

    A wheat producer cannot wait three years before he can plant wheat in his field again. This is why the cultivation cycles in agriculture are shortened: instead of growing a catch crop in the third or fourth year, a catch crop is sown after the main crop. The EU provides guidelines according to which no monocultures are grown as catch crops, but rather various soil-supporting plants such as clover, peas, mustard, oilseed radish or field grass. These can be used to feed livestock or subsequently worked into the ground.

    frequently asked Questions

    Are there also "permanent crops" that can appear on any bed at any time?

    Yes, not all fruits have to migrate. Weak consumers can generally stay on the bed as permanent crops and be alternately combined with other plants. This is particularly useful for perennial plants such as herbs. Strawberries are also popular as permanent crops.

    Does good crop rotation replace any type of fertilizer?

    Mostly not. Beds with weak or even medium-feeders may be able to do without fertilizer, but heavy-feeder beds should still be fertilized regularly with compost in order to optimally feed the hungry plants.

    Do I really have to see crop rotation that narrowly?

    Most home gardeners invent their own version of crop rotation. If you don't want to jeopardize your harvest, you should above all make sure to vary heavy feeders and, above all, never put the same heavy feeder in the same place the following year.

    Where can I get the seeds for the cover crop or green manure?

    For cover crops, you can get ready-made seed mixtures from retailers and online retailers, which provide soil-improving variety on your vegetable patch.

Category:

Vegetable garden