Tomato Growing Tips on Crop Rotation and Pest Control

Crop rotation is what most gardeners think of when talking about improving the nutritional value of their soil through growing different crops each year. But crop rotation is also beneficial in breaking the cycle of pests and diseases. Many tomato gardeners are not aware of the benefits of this technique and it is a tomato growing tip that they should consider for better end results.

The old saying "the quality of the soil affects the quality of the plants growing above it" is so true.

Pest And Disease Control.

One downside of getting the right results of crop rotation is if the neighboring plots are not doing the same thing. It means that the diseases and pests will quite probably be prevalent in them and not help the situation at all.

Tomatoes are part of the nightshade family and for crop rotation to work properly plants of the same family should be avoided in the rotation as they will take the same nutrients from the soil and will attract the same pests. This means that plants like peppers, potatoes, tobacco and morning glory should be avoided. These members of the same family also deplete the soil of the same nutrients.

Similar Nutrients.

As mentioned earlier, when crop rotation is done correctly the soil is being replenished with nutrients from crops that are not using the same nutrients as the previous crop. Crop rotation may mean that a crop is planted that is purely and simply grown as fertilizer or mulch. Hairy vetch is such a crop that may be planted in the off year and is an excellent mulch crop for tomatoes, plus it adds nutrients to the soil.

Crop Rotation Cycle.

A home tomato gardener who is using organic compost in his soil on a regular basis could quite possibly find that he can get away with a two year rotation cycle, whereas a grower who is seeking high volume return crops would most likely need to have a three year rotation cycle. It is possible that they might get away with it the first time with a two year toation but after that the soil will deteriorate and it will be difficult to bring it back to quality soil again.

Even during the period of resting the soil it is best to feed it with organic matter. The more the soil is fed the better the harvest will be from it. It is better to be planting in a soil that has had plenty of organic matter worked through it over a longer period than have a whole heap of organic matter added just prior to planting.

One tomato growing tips is that to rotate crops it can mean that other vegetables are grown in the tomato plot such as carrots, lettuces, peas or vegetables of personal choice. It does need to be kept in mind though that for each new crop the soil nutrients will need to be adjusted to suit the crop being planted.

So what is organic matter? It is "plant and animal material in the process of decomposing." Sounds lovely doesn't it? Not! But it does do wonders for the soil and that is what we are about when planting tomato plants with the goal in mind of producing a good crop of fresh succulent tomatoes.

For novice gardeners this information on crop rotation will be invaluable because it is quite likely they have not thought about this in terms of how to produce better crops.