Planning next year: what to plant after cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage

At the end of every garden season, when the harvest has been carefully packed into boxes and jars and the beds have been cleared of tops and weeds, summer residents sum up the results of their labors. And their thoughts are already rushing to next summer, and the main pressing question is: what and where to plant in spring?



Spontaneous planting according to the principle "where it's free, we'll stick it there" is a sure path to the accumulation of pathogens in the beds, depletion of the soil and a drop in the yield of all vegetable crops. Proper planning of crop rotation is the basis of reasonable farming, allowing you to get an excellent result with minimal labor costs.
 

Before drawing a scheme of beds for next spring, it is important to understand the biological mechanisms underlying crop rotation. The soil on a dacha plot is a complex living ecosystem that quickly reacts to irrational use, losing the qualities necessary for optimal plant development. And vice versa — with proper exploitation it is capable of renewing and improving, increasing the yield of garden crops.

When planning beds and the annual "rotation" of plants on them, it is important to keep in mind the main principles of crop rotation.

Taking into account multi-level nutrition and the "appetites" of plants
Any crop removes a certain set of macro- and microelements from the earth. Some plants greedily absorb nitrogen and potassium, while others need more phosphorus. In addition, the depth of their roots differs: plants with a superficial fibrous root system feed from the upper soil horizon (15-25 cm), whereas powerful taproots go deep to 1 m or more, obtaining nutrition from the lower layers. Alternating crops with different root depths prevents one-sided depletion of the earth.

Breaking the chains of diseases and pests
Plants of the same botanical family are susceptible to the same infections and attract common pests. If you plant nightshades or cruciferous crops after their "relatives", spores of late blight, fusarium, clubroot will accumulate in the soil, and pest larvae will calmly overwinter in anticipation of their usual treat. Whereas a break of at least 3-4 years leaves parasites without a food base, ensuring their destruction without your direct intervention.

Combating depletion and self-poisoning of the soil
In the process of vital activity, plant roots release specific biological toxins. Representatives of their own species and family are most sensitive to such root secretions. Proper crop rotation neutralizes this effect and triggers self-cleaning of the soil.
 

Cucumbers are traditionally grown on light, loose, highly fertile soils, generously enriched with humus, compost or manure. During the season, cucumber vines absorb a significant share of potassium and nitrogen from the upper layer, but the lower soil layers remain almost untouched.

The main limitation in choosing crops for planting after cucumbers is a strict ban on planting any representatives of the cucurbits: zucchini, pattypans, pumpkins, watermelons and melons. They not only suffer from common fungal diseases (powdery mildew, downy mildew, root rots, anthracnose), but are also attacked by spider mites and melon aphids.



But the following crops will be excellent followers in the cucumber bed.

Root vegetables (carrots, table beets, root parsley, parsnip) are one of the classic and most productive options. They penetrate deep into the soil with their taproots, obtaining nutrients from depths that cucumbers simply could not reach. In addition, fresh manure cannot be applied directly under carrots or beets (root vegetables will grow branched, crooked and unsuitable for storage), but a bed with organic matter that has rotted over the previous "cucumber" season is an ideal substrate.

Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers and eggplants) have no common diseases with cucurbits, and therefore after cucumbers, on a bed well filled since autumn, these plants form abundant ovaries. The only condition is that when preparing the soil it is necessary to add a potassium-phosphorus complex, since cucumbers considerably deplete the surface reserves of potassium.

Garlic and onions (before winter or in spring) feel great after cucumbers. These crops do not need a large amount of nitrogen, and the phytoncides contained in onions and garlic naturally heal the soil, suppressing residual fungal infections.

Legumes (peas, beans, broad beans) are undemanding to nitrogen content, since thanks to nodule bacteria they fix it directly from atmospheric air. These plants structure the earth, enrich it with organic matter and perfectly restore fertility.
 

Tomatoes are rather "gluttonous" inhabitants of the garden, demanding on reserves of phosphorus, potassium and microelements. By the end of the season, the soil under them is often compacted and depleted. But the main challenge for the summer resident is the phytosanitary state of the bed. If tomatoes suffered from late blight, cladosporiosis, fusarium or verticillium wilt, fungal spores settle in the soil and can remain viable for years.

Therefore, in no case should you plant in the next season after tomatoes their closest "relatives" in the family: potatoes, eggplants, sweet and hot peppers, physalis. If last season late blight touched at least a couple of tomato bushes, potatoes and eggplants in this place are doomed to death in the first half of summer.

If the season ended with an outbreak of diseases, the bed must be immediately healed.

As successors to tomatoes, a fairly large list of vegetable and green crops can be considered.

Cruciferous crops (all types of cabbage, radish, turnip, daikon, rutabaga) are completely unaffected by the harmful effects of pathogens pursuing nightshade crops. At the same time, cabbage readily absorbs organic matter applied deeply in autumn, and fast-growing radish or daikon manage to produce a harvest long before the soil in the bed is depleted.

Root vegetables (carrots, beets, celery) are also appropriate in a tomato bed. Carrots perfectly restore the soil after growing nightshades. It has enough nutrition, since the root system obtains phosphorus and potassium from deep layers, and the soil loosened by tomato roots promotes the formation of even, smooth root vegetables.

Onions, garlic and greens. Dill, lettuce, parsley, spinach and leaf mustard have a short growing season and minimal requirements for the composition of microelements. And winter garlic, planted in the former tomato bed in October, will help disinfect the soil with phytoncides.

Cucurbits (cucumbers, zucchini, pattypans, pumpkins) are also often planted after any nightshades. If the tomatoes were absolutely healthy, cucumbers and zucchini will give an excellent harvest in this bed, especially with local application of humus into the holes in spring.

White cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts or kohlrabi — all varieties of cabbage are famous for their increased "appetite". During the long growing season, the powerful rosette of leaves "pumps out" a huge amount of nitrogen, potassium and calcium from the soil, leaving the soil compact and strongly depleted. In addition, cabbage actively acidifies the upper layer.

The main threat of the cabbage bed is clubroot of cruciferous crops (the pathogenic fungus Plasmodiophora brassicae), as well as vascular and mucous bacterioses. If characteristic swellings and growths are found on the roots of the heads during harvesting, a strict quarantine is declared on the bed — cruciferous crops cannot be returned here for another 6-8 years.

The ban on planting after cabbage applies to all its "relatives": radish, black radish, daikon, turnip, rutabaga, fodder turnip, cress and arugula. Even white mustard as green manure after cabbage is contraindicated, so as not to feed the cruciferous flea beetle and clubroot spores.



However, there are still suitable options for observing crop rotation in the cabbage bed.

Leguminous crops (peas and bush beans) are unsurpassed "healers" of the earth after cabbage depletion. They deeply drain the soil with their root system, convert sparingly soluble phosphorus into easily accessible compounds and saturate the ground with nitrogen thanks to symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing microorganisms.

Onions and carrots, with mixed or separate planting after cabbage, show excellent results. Onions do not require excessive nitrogen nutrition, ripen into dense keepable heads, and carrots use residual microelements from the depth.

Nightshades (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes) will feel quite well with proper soil preparation. Cabbage leaves behind a bed free of late blight, therefore for nightshades it is a safe predecessor. However, before spring planting it will necessarily be required to compensate for the removed nutrients: add mature compost or humus, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers (for example, superphosphate and potassium sulfate or wood ash).

Cucumbers, zucchini and other cucurbits adore organic matter and a neutral soil reaction, so they quite readily grow in beds after early and mid-season cabbage. If in autumn, for digging, rotted manure or compost is added, adding superphosphate and potassium sulfate, then cucumbers next year will thank you with a rich harvest of greens.
 

The end of harvesting is not a reason to close the dacha with a lock. Autumn procedures in the beds lay the foundation of soil fertility, on which the well-being of future plantings and the quality of the harvest directly depend.

First, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the surface of the earth from plant residues. Cabbage roots, withered cucumber vines and tomato stems accumulate infections. Leaving this waste on the plot for the winter in the hope of its natural rotting is a dangerous mistake that turns the bed into a winter "incubator" for pests and fungal spores.

Second, at the end of the season it is desirable to measure the pH level of the soil, since after cabbage and tomatoes it often becomes acidified. If planting of crops sensitive to acidity is planned (onions, beets or cucurbits), under autumn digging it is necessary to add dolomite flour, chalk or slaked lime at the rate of 300-500 g per 1 sq.m. Dolomite flour is especially valuable because, in addition to calcium, it contains magnesium, critically important for the future development of any plants.

Third, one cannot leave the earth open to winds and autumn rains. If the plantings of next year have not yet been finally determined, you can sow universal green manures that are safe for any predecessors: phacelia, vetch, oats, buckwheat.

Phacelia is an ideal neutral soil improver. It has no common diseases with either cruciferous or nightshade crops, it quickly builds up succulent vegetative mass, suppresses weeds, makes clay soil loose and breathable, and binds sandy soil and enriches it with humus.
 

In order not to get confused in the endless combinations of crops and families, experienced gardeners use a simple and proven rule of the so-called four-field crop rotation. The entire useful area of the garden is divided into four sectors, on which crops are sequentially planted, united into groups according to nutritional needs — from "gluttons" to restorers of fertility.

Crops "shift" through the sectors in a circle clockwise every year. With this approach, cucumber beds are naturally replaced by root vegetables and onions, cabbage plots pass to nightshades or legumes, and tomato plots are healed by cruciferous crops and green manures. Both the plants and the gardener are satisfied!

Having devoted just one autumn evening to drawing up a detailed sowing plan, in spring you will go out to the plot with a clear understanding of every step, you will be able to save effort and guarantee a high harvest without unnecessary troubles and the use of pesticides.