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What to plant after tomatoes in a greenhouse: secrets of crop rotation in a limited space
02.01.2023 06:20
Updated: 13.04.2023 05:16
Crop rotation in a greenhouse is a sore subject for summer residents. There is usually only one greenhouse. And the same crops are grown in it from year to year.
Most often, these are tomatoes - plants prone to various diseases, ranging from late blight to fusarium wilt, in which the fruits accumulate toxins and become harmful to the human body.
Prevention of diseases and pests is a competent crop rotation. But how to organize it in a limited space?
Recommendations were shared by the expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", landscape designer and agronomist Anastasia Kovrizhnykh .
Rule number one: rotate greenhouse crops
Typically, tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are grown in a greenhouse. It is useless to alternate tomatoes and peppers, since these plants are from the same family.
But it is necessary to swap tomatoes and cucumbers every year.
Rule two: autumn sowing of green manure
Swapping cucumbers and tomatoes is not enough. It is better than nothing. Planting two crops in the same place year after year will lead to the accumulation of pathogens and pests, as well as to soil depletion.
Therefore, autumn sowing of green manure is a must. There is no need to wait until the tomatoes are removed from the garden bed. They can be sown in August and early September. By this time, they will no longer interfere with the tomatoes, but they will grow more green mass, and their root system will penetrate deeper into the soil.
Rule three: spring sowing of green manure
There is enough time before planting the seedlings in the ground to grow another batch of cold-resistant green manure.
Some summer residents like to sow mustard or oil radish, plant tomato seedlings in them. After some time, the green mass is cut off and tomatoes are mulched with it.
Rule number four: don't limit yourself to one plant
Many summer residents use one green manure from year to year, which significantly reduces the effectiveness of this agricultural technique. Each plant has certain properties and enriches the soil with certain microelements. For example, legumes repel wireworms and enrich the soil with nitrogen. Mustard suppresses the development of late blight. Oats increase the potassium content in the soil.
Use different green manures - phacelia, cereals, legumes, cruciferous plants. An excellent solution would be to sow marigolds, marigolds, cosmos. These flowers improve the soil and repel pests.
Once every 3-4 years, you should still make a full crop rotation, "evict" the tomatoes from the greenhouse for the entire season. To improve the soil, you can sow the beds with green manure. Or you can grow other crops. For example, plant early cabbage in the spring, and sow peas in the middle of summer. This way you can observe double crop rotation and get a double harvest.
