A manual for rotating 16 vegetable crops: sensible rotation brings high returns

Reasonably rotating different vegetables can deprive pathogens of their hosts or change their living environment, thereby reducing or eliminating pests and diseases. For example, planting Chinese cabbage after harvesting scallions and garlic can significantly reduce soft rot. Rotating grain crops with vegetables, or rotating paddy and dryland crops, is even more effective for controlling soil-borne diseases.

1. Cucumber

Spring cucumbers are mostly preceded by autumn vegetables, spring small greens, or overwintering small greens, and can be followed by many kinds of autumn vegetables; summer and autumn cucumbers are preceded by various spring and summer vegetables, and followed by overwintering vegetables or spring small greens. Cucumber and tomato inhibit each other, so they are not suitable for rotation or intercropping.

2. Tomato

Rotate over 3 to 5 years, and do not grow continuously with Solanaceae crops. The preceding crop can be various leafy greens and root vegetables, and the following crop can also be leafy greens and root vegetables. Intercrop or relay intercrop with short-stalked crops or vegetables, such as edamame, cabbage, celeriac, scallions, and garlic, planted in alternate beds. For autumn greenhouse tomatoes, relay intercropping small greens can lower soil temperature. Relay intercropping sweet corn in tomatoes can attract moths to lay eggs, allowing concentrated elimination.

3. Eggplant

The preceding crop is overwintering leafy greens; it can also be relay intercroped with short-season vegetables such as early cabbage, early-maturing Chinese cabbage, spring radish, water radish, and cherry radish, and the following crop can be autumn vegetables such as Chinese cabbage.

4. Chili pepper

Not suitable for continuous cropping with Solanaceae crops; intercrop with short-stalked crops such as leafy greens, root vegetables, and peanuts.

5. Melon

Avoid continuous cropping. Rotate over 3 to 5 years. Do not follow or precede with other cucurbits. Leafy greens are best as both the preceding and following crops for melons, and a following crop of leafy greens can noticeably increase yield.

6. Legumes

Including kidney bean, pea, snow pea, sugar snap pea, and pole bean, etc. Avoid continuous cropping; rotate over 3 years or more, with the preceding crop being autumn-winter vegetables or fallow land.

7. Carrot

Autumn-winter carrots are mostly preceded by wheat, spring Chinese cabbage, spring cabbage, and legumes. The following crop can be wheat, onion, spring cabbage, Welsh onion, and potato, etc.

8. Potato

The preceding crop is alliums and cucumber, followed by cereal crops and soybean. Solanaceae crops are not suitable for rotating with each other, nor with root vegetables. When intercropping with other crops, note: 1) Choose early-maturing, short-statured varieties. 2) Shorten the symbiotic period as much as possible, and stagger the peak periods of product organ formation. 3) Minimize competition for temperature, light, water, and nutrients and interference with management.

9. Welsh onion

Most avoid continuous cropping; requires rotation over 3 years or more. Rotate with grain crops, and use the Welsh onion stubble to grow Chinese cabbage and cucurbit vegetables. During the early growth period of Welsh onion, intercrop early-maturing radish, and later relay intercrop overwintering crops such as spinach.

10. Garlic

Most avoid continuous cropping, or following other Allium plants. For autumn-sown garlic, the best preceding crops are early-maturing kidney bean, cucurbits, solanaceous fruits, and potato; for spring-sown garlic, the best are autumn kidney bean, cucurbits, pumpkin, and solanaceous fruits; it is a good preceding crop for other crops.

11. Chinese cabbage

Rotate with rice; avoid continuous cropping, and avoid rotating with other Brassicaceae crops. In rotation: 1) Choose vegetables with an earlier harvest period, such as solanaceous fruits; 2) Choose preceding vegetables that were heavily fertilized, such as cucumber and watermelon; 3) Using scallions and garlic as the preceding crop can reduce pests and diseases. Planting Chinese cabbage on chive ridges or between garlic rows noticeably reduces disease.

12. Pak choi and wuta-tsai

Can be rotated with cucurbits, legumes, root vegetables, and field crops. Spring-planted greens can be intercropped or relay intercroped with solanaceous fruits, legumes, and cucurbits. Summer-autumn greens can be mixed-sown with celery, garland chrysanthemum, and carrot. Early autumn Chinese cabbage in autumn can be intercropped or relay intercroped with cauliflower, cabbage, and autumn potato. In winter, intercrop with spring cabbage and asparagus lettuce, etc.

13. Shepherd's purse

For autumn-sown shepherd's purse, the best preceding crops are tomato and cucumber; for spring shepherd's purse, the preceding crop is garlic. Avoid continuous cropping.

14. Winter melon

Plant 5 to 6 ginger plants between winter melon plants, plant kudzu on one side of the bed and taro on the other end. After April or May, relay intercrop winter melon in chive beds, or relay intercrop winter melon with chili pepper and eggplant; relay intercrop winter melon with tomato; under the winter melon trellis, relay intercrop celeriac, asparagus lettuce, head cabbage, and small leafy greens; in mountainous areas, relay intercrop winter melon with ginger.

15. Watermelon

Rotate over 5 to 8 years or more. Rotation crops include: wheat, rice, corn, radish, sweet potato, and green manure.

16. Asparagus lettuce

The preceding crop can be scallion, garlic, and cucumber; afterward, strawberry and tomato can be planted.

Notes:

Vegetables that belong to the same family taxonomically are not suitable for rotation. For example, tomato, eggplant, chili pepper, and sweet pepper belong to Solanaceae, so they are not suitable for rotation.

Generally, leafy green vegetables that need more nitrogen are best followed by solanaceous fruit vegetables that need more phosphorus. After fast-feeding cucumbers, celery, and spinach, it is best to plant tomato, eggplant, chili pepper, etc., which take up more organic fertilizer.

Pay attention to the effect of various vegetables on soil acidity and alkalinity. Planting potato and cabbage increases soil acidity, while planting corn and pumpkin lowers soil acidity. Therefore, acidity-sensitive allium vegetables grown as the following crop after corn and pumpkin can achieve high yields.

Pair and plant long-season and short-season vegetables, and heavy-feeding and light-feeding vegetables, in a reasonable combination. Planting legume vegetables can increase soil organic matter content and improve soil fertility, while long-term planting of leafy green vegetables that need more nitrogen will cause nutrient elements in the soil to lose balance.