Vegetables are essential food in our daily life. Different vegetables have different planting times, and there are specific requirements for each. Below, we will introduce the annual vegetable planting schedule and the rational rotation of different vegetables. This can prevent pathogens from parasitizing or alter their living environment, thereby achieving the goal of reducing or eliminating pests and diseases. From now on, vegetable farmers can grow vegetables without seeking help!
- Types of vegetables
- Heat-loving crops that are not frost-resistant. For example: tomatoes, eggplants, green peppers, sweet potatoes, peanuts, green beans, edamame, various types of kidney beans, watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, gourds, bitter gourds, loofahs, melons, amaranth, water spinach, corn, taro, sesame seeds, sunflowers, water spinach, etc;
- Cold-loving types are not heat-tolerant, and require cool weather during seedling stage. Frost during maturity can enhance their flavor. Examples include: Chinese cabbage, white radish, mustard greens, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, turnip, potatoes, lettuce, arugula, carrots, celery, beets, spinach, parsley, choy sum, Shanghai green, onions, green onions, leeks, etc;
- Cold-tolerant types can survive the winter, such as broad beans, peas, rapeseed, asparagus, shepherd’s purse, etc.
Heat-loving vegetables: They should be planted after the frost clears, the weather warms up, and the temperature stabilizes in spring. For heat-loving vegetables that grow slowly, they should be planted earlier, and some may need to be nursed in greenhouses before the frost clears, to ensure sufficient time for maturity. As for heat-loving vegetables that grow quickly, such as water spinach and amaranth, they can be planted from spring until late summer or early autumn.
Cold-loving vegetables: In areas without frost, they can be planted in autumn and winter; in areas with frost, they should be planted in late summer or early autumn to ensure they mature before the frost descends. In colder regions, they can also be planted in spring, but seedlings need to be raised in a greenhouse before being transplanted outdoors. Cold-loving vegetables that mature quickly, such as cherry radishes, Chinese cabbage, Shanghai green, and lettuce, can be planted in spring, whether in the south or the north.
Cold-tolerant vegetables: They are highly tolerant of cold during the seedling stage, but require warm weather to grow and mature. Therefore, they are usually planted a few days before the first frost, allowing the seedlings to grow and overwinter. During the cold winter, the seedlings will not freeze to death, but they will almost stop growing. When the weather warms up in the following spring, they will continue to grow.
II. Reduce the harm of continuous cropping
Planting the same crop or the same cropping pattern on the same piece of land for many years is called continuous cropping, also known as heavy cropping. Two years of continuous cropping is called sequential cropping. These practices can lead to reduced yields, such as the occurrence of diseases, soil nutrient imbalance, and soil ecological deterioration. Therefore, to achieve sustained high yield and high quality of crops, crop rotation must be implemented.
Vegetables belonging to the same family in taxonomy should not be rotated, such as tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and sweet peppers, which belong to the Solanaceae family and are therefore not suitable for rotation.
Cucumber: The preceding crops for spring cucumber are mostly autumn vegetables, spring small vegetables, and overwintering small vegetables. The following crops are suitable for various autumn vegetables. For summer and autumn cucumber, the preceding crops are suitable for various spring and summer vegetables, and the following crops are suitable for overwintering vegetables or spring small vegetables. Cucumber and tomato mutually inhibit each other, so they are not suitable for rotation and intercropping.
Tomatoes: 3-5 years of crop rotation, not continuous cropping with solanaceous crops. The preceding crops can be various leafy and root vegetables, and the following crops can also be leafy and root vegetables. They can be intercropped or interplanted with short-stem crops or vegetables, such as edamame, cabbage, fennel bulbs, onions, garlic, etc., in alternate rows.
Planting tomatoes in autumn sheds and intercropping with small vegetables can lower the ground temperature. Intercropping sweet corn with tomatoes can attract moths to lay eggs, which can be eliminated in a concentrated way.
Pepper: It is not suitable for continuous cropping with solanaceous crops. It is suitable for intercropping with short-stem crops such as leafy vegetables, root vegetables, and peanuts.
Shepherd’s purse: For autumn sowing, the best preceding crop is tomatoes or cucumbers; for spring sowing, the preceding crop is garlic. Avoid continuous cropping.
Muskmelon: Avoid continuous cropping. Rotate for 3 to 5 years. Avoid planting in succession with other melons. It is best to plant muskmelon after or before leafy vegetables, as the latter can significantly increase yield.
Legumes: including kidney beans, peas, snow peas, sweet crisp beans, and snap beans, etc. These crops should not be planted continuously, and should be rotated for at least 3 years. The previous crop should be autumn or winter vegetables or fallow land.
Carrots: The preceding crops for carrots in autumn and winter are mostly wheat, spring cabbage, spring cabbage, beans, etc. The following crops can be wheat, onion, spring cabbage, green onions, potatoes, etc.
Potatoes: The previous crops are allium vegetables, cucumbers, followed by cereal crops and soybeans. Solanaceous crops should not be rotated with each other, nor should they be rotated with root vegetables.
When intercropping with other crops, it should be noted that varieties with early maturity and dwarf plants should be selected. The symbiotic period should be shortened as early as possible, and the peak period of product organ formation should be staggered. Minimize competition for temperature, light, water, and fertilizer, and avoid affecting management.
Chinese cabbage: It should be rotated with rice, and should not be planted continuously or rotated with other cruciferous crops.
In crop rotation: choose vegetables with an earlier harvest period, such as solanaceous fruits; choose vegetables that require more fertilization from the previous crop, such as cucumber and watermelon; planting onions and garlic as the preceding crop can reduce pests and diseases. Planting Chinese cabbage on the ridges of leeks or between garlic rows can significantly reduce diseases.
Pakchoi and Wutacai: They can be rotated with melons, beans, root vegetables, and field crops. Spring-planted vegetables can be intercropped with solanaceous fruits, beans, and melons. Summer and autumn vegetables can be mixed with celery, chrysanthemum, and carrots. Early autumn cabbage in autumn can be intercropped with cauliflower, cabbage, and autumn potatoes. In winter, they can be intercropped with spring cabbage and lettuce.
Winter melon: Plant 5 to 6 ginger plants between winter melon plants, with kudzu vine on one side of the border and taro on the other. After April and May, interplant winter melon or chili peppers and eggplants in the leek border, interplant winter melon with tomatoes, and interplant under the winter melon trellis with bulb fennel, lettuce, head cabbage, and small-leaf vegetables. In mountainous areas, interplant winter melon with ginger.
Green onions: The most important thing to avoid is continuous cropping. They need to be rotated with grain crops for at least three years. Use the stubble of green onions to cultivate Chinese cabbage and melon vegetables. During the early growth stage of green onions, plant early-maturing radishes, and during the later stage, interplant winter crops such as spinach.
Garlic: It is most important to avoid continuous cropping or planting it in the same location as other allium plants. For autumn-sown garlic, the best preceding crops are early-maturing kidney beans, melons, solanaceous fruits, and potatoes; for spring-sown garlic, the best preceding crops are autumn kidney beans, melons, pumpkins, and solanaceous fruits; it is a good preceding crop for other crops.
Watermelon: Rotation period of 5 to 8 years or more. Crop rotation includes wheat, rice, corn, radish, sweet potato, and green manure.
Lotus root: Rotate with rice. After harvesting early lotus roots, you can plant water celery, arrowhead, water chestnut, and watercress. Lotus roots are often rotated with arrowhead, water chestnut, and wild rice shoots every other year, or intercropped with wild rice shoots.
Lettuce: The preceding crops can be onions, garlic, and cucumbers, and the following crops can be strawberries and tomatoes.
For intercropping with short growth periods, the subsequent crop can be autumn vegetables such as Chinese cabbage.
Cultivating eggplants in open fields, solar greenhouses, and plastic tunnels can be rotated with leafy vegetables, melons, and leguminous vegetables. Rotating with crops of different families can deprive pests and diseases of their hosts or change their living conditions, thereby achieving the goal of reducing or eliminating pests and diseases. However, as the cultivation area of eggplant-type vegetables expands year by year, crop rotation becomes more challenging. Implementing eggplant-grain rotation in open fields and plastic tunnels is feasible and beneficial for controlling the occurrence of soil-borne diseases, especially for Verticillium wilt, which is an effective measure.
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