MANHATTAN, Kan. – This is the gardener’s mantra: Success requires planning.
“To give your plants a healthy start next year,” says Kansas State University horticulture expert Cynthia Domenghini, “the best practice is to rotate crops within the same family to a different location than where they’re growing this year.”
Crop rotation offers several benefits, according to Domenghini.
“Plants in the same family are typically susceptible to similar pests,” she said. “Some pests overwinter in the soil; some are able to survive on debris. If the same host is available when the pests emerge in the spring, they will be able to continue feeding, and multiply the problem. Crop rotation breaks the cycle of these pests.”
Domenghini added that plants in the same family also have similar nutrient requirements, so rotating crops prevents the soil from becoming depleted of those nutrients. “And, the varied root system depths from one plant family to the next contributes to the health of the soil,” she said.
“Now is the perfect time to make a map of the vegetable garden so you can switch things up when you plant next year,” Domenghini said. “For example, in the location where tomatoes are growing now, avoid planting anything from the Solanacaeae family (such as eggplant, pepper or potato) next year.”
Domenghini said a helpful table of common vegetable crop families and examples of how to rotate these crops is available online in the Kansas Garden Guide, published by the K-State Research and Extension bookstore.
Domenghini and her colleagues in K-State’s Department of Horticulture and Natural Resources produce a weekly Horticulture Newsletter with tips for maintaining home landscapes and gardens.
Interested persons can subscribe to the newsletter, as well as send their garden and yard-related questions to Domenghini at [email protected], or contact your local K-State Research and Extension office.
— K-State Research and Extension news service
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