Crop rotation and mixed culture in the garden
No vegetables, no salad, no berry tastes better than what you have grown, nurtured, cared for and harvested. So that you have as much success and yield as possible in the garden, there are some basic rules to consider in bedding planning and also useful tips that make gardening easier.
The crop rotation: plants need nutrients? some more, some less
In the vegetable garden one differentiates roughly into three categories of crops: heavy-duty, medium and weak.
Stark Zehrer have an enormous nutrient requirement and also like to be fertilized during the growing season. Planting many starvators side by side endangers the yield. Also in the following year you should put on a Starkzehrerplatz rather a frugal little plant. The exception are tomatoes that like to be in the same place again and again. And the rhubarb, which drives out every year anyway.
- Starchers are: All the major cabbages, potatoes, cucumbers, celery, leeks, squash, rhubarb, tomatoes
means Zehrern If you feed with a little organic fertilizer in the spring and during the main growing phase, it is sufficient to have regular composting as food.
- Middle earners are: carrots, kohlrabi, radishes, salads, spinach, fennel, beetroot, peppers, salsify
weak Zehrer are the ascetics. All you need is ripe compost.
- Poorers are: peas, beans, onions and herbs.
Anyone who now cleverly changes the planting locations every year and treats the soil to a relaxing bean year after a colic attack has to fertilize less and has more yield. Also, most plants, with the exception of tomatoes and rhubarb, do not want to be in the same location every year, because without targeted fertilization, the soil will be drained from undemanding plants over time.
The easiest way is a two-year crop rotation. The bed is divided into two areas, where the hungry and frugal plants are grown alternately every year.
Diversity in the garden: mixed cultures
What makes a cheerful, lively impression in old cottage gardens has an intelligent reason and a name: mixed culture. A mixed culture uses the different demands and characteristics of the plants, which mutually support each other. Perfect pairings are:
- Bush beans and savory: Not only on the plate together, the herb repels the black bean louse!
- Cucumbers and dill: Dill is an old bitch, but growing well in the neighborhood of cucumbers. If you sow the cucumbers in the center of the bed, preferably on a small hill, you can use the dill to form a meter high dill hedge around it. The cucumbers appreciate the wind protection and the light shade.
- Carrots and onions or leeks: Planted in alternating rows, they repel each other carrot and onion flies.
- Strawberries and garlic: The garlic has a preventive effect against fungal diseases of strawberries.
- Kohlrabi, salad radishes and cress: If you can sow in alternating rows, the cress also has a positive influence on the radish aroma.
- Tomatoes, parsley and nasturtium: They promote each other's growth, sowing the nasturtium between the tomatoes, acting as a ground cover in the summer and holding the water with the thirsty tomatoes.
For advanced: good neighbors? bad neighbors
Anyone who has the nutrient needs of his plants in mind and certain preferences, will not want to stick to the mixed culture suggestions. Therefore, a short, incomplete overview of who likes to stand next to each other and who does not.
| plant | Good neighbors | Bad neighbors |
|---|---|---|
| beans | Savory, strawberries, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage lettuce, pickles salad, tomatoes | Peas, fennel, garlic, leeks, onions |
| peas | Dill, fennel, cucumbers, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, radishes, zucchini | Beans, potatoes, garlic, leeks, tomatoes, onions |
| strawberries | Borage, beans, garlic, lettuce, leeks, radishes, chives, spinach, onions | cabbages |
| cucumbers | Dill, peas, fennel, cabbage, lettuce, coriander, cumin, leek, corn, beetroot, celery, onions | Tomatoes, radishes |
| potatoes | Camomile, Nasturtium, Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Caraway, Peppermint, Spinach, Tagetes | Pumpkin, tomatoes, celery, sunflowers |
| garlic | Strawberries, cucumbers, raspberries, carrots, fruit trees, tomatoes | Peas, cabbage, runner beans |
| cabbages | Mugwort, beans, dill, peas, chamomile, lettuce, coriander, cumin, leek, peppermint, pickles salad, spinach, tomatoes | Strawberries, garlic, mustard, onions |
| kohlrabi | Beans, peas, potatoes, lettuce, leeks, radishes, spinach, tomatoes | |
| lettuce | Beans, dill, peas, strawberries, cucumbers, chervil, cabbage, cress, leeks, carrots, peppermint, radishes, tomatoes, onions | Parsley, celery |
| leek | Strawberries, chamomile, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes | Beans, peas |
| carrots | Dill, peas, garlic, leeks, radish, radish, rosemary, sage, chives, pickles, tomatoes, onions | |
| Pflücksalat | Dill, fennel, cabbage, radish, radish, tomatoes | |
| Radish u. radish | Beans, peas, nasturtium, cabbage, lettuce, cress, carrots, spinach, tomatoes | cucumbers |
| spinach | Strawberries, potatoes, cabbage, radishes, radish, runner beans, tomatoes | |
| tomatoes | Bush beans, nasturtium, garlic, cabbage, lettuce, leeks, carrots, parsley, pickles salad, radishes, radish, spinach | Peas, fennel, potatoes |
| zucchini | Nasturtium, runner beans, onion | |
| onions | Savory, dill, strawberries, cucumbers, chamomile, lettuce, carrots | Beans, peas, cabbage |
Organic gardeners say that if one notices only the most terrible neighbors and avoids them, one can not do too much wrong. So never, never, never: Plant salad and parsley, bush beans and onions, cabbage and onions, sunflowers and potatoes, potatoes and tomatoes, tomatoes and peas, peas and beans next to each other. And then: good luck and good appetite!
