Is Crop Rotation Necessary?

In todays video we get into the nitty gritty details on crop rotations and if they are worth it.

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Video Citations:

[notillgrowers]

One thing I don't want you to take from this video (or any of or videos) is that you need to change your systems/rotations if they're working for you. In other words, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

[bobnewkirk]

9:18 This was a tremendous aside. I think a lot of people look at science as giving definitive answers all the time but, being in the field myself I am acutely aware that, often Science is just looking for an answer to a single question. Anytime you bring in complex systems a whole list of caveats and conditions need to be expressed in order to communicate "this is what we found, its neat, but be careful drawing any inferences from it".

[wheelerryanr]

It should be remembered that historically rotations were used in combination with a return to fallowed perennial pasture to maintain productivity of fields. This was in a time that we didn’t have fossil fuels and other cheap energy to truck tons compost and mulch materials around. We also didn’t have the many other fertility sources from products of industry and extraction (also available because of fossil energy). Primarily rotations would be applied to large plots growing staple crops; in small home gardens one would still be able to apply more of these techniques of mulching and large compost applications.

[parallelfinn]

8:35 "sometimes referred to whatever the correct pronunciation is" made me chuckle. Great video.

[dayafeickert]

Only complaint about this channel is your so good at these videos you only need to make one video a week. And I’m such a nerd I can’t get enough

[drhoy]

It’s quite a quandary! On the home scale it’s even worse. My suggestion is keep your soil healthy, watch your plants, diversify whenever you can and basically hope that works. In the home garden (or allotment) it is very very difficult to NOT cross-contaminate between different parts of the garden. On the other hand, to truly do crop rotation is a true pain in the a%$e 🙄. Great video Jesse, like them it it really makes you think!

[Blynn-mddx]

Glad I am not crazy...wait...
I have a bed where peppers grow amazingly well and a couple where tomatoes do great. Tried swapping around, but came back to what works for me. Great video.

[maryhysong]

there are some people that think crop rotation is bogus because nature doesn't grow a different thing in that spot every year, but if we don't mess with it, the vegetation in a spot will change over multiple years or even decades. And like you said every farm is different, every farm is in a different stage of life depending on where they started from and how long they've been growing and what kind of management they practice. I think we always need to look at the research and see what resonates with us, that we might be excited to experiment with in our own environments. In all farm things one size never fits all

[davidstick]

I enjoy these types of videos. Having grown up on a farm we had the standard 4 crop wheat...alfalfa. So it doesn't surprise me most of the literature revolves around some variant of this cycle. But what I feel is important...these are the yearly produced crops. So there is a winter between each harvest. And we tilled. Not what gardeners deal with. Basically I am saying I am not sure I would put too much emphasis on the scientific results involving biodiversity health. I will say...it makes sense diseases and pests can only be controlled by rotation ...so for that reason yea...do it. But to say fungal diversity is better? I am not yet convinced that is the case. Just too many variables...many confounding...playing a role

[TheSimpleFarmLife]

I love how you explained the planting process at 2:45—so easy to follow! 🌱

[ardenthebibliophile]

I typically plant a winter cover crop (crimson clover) over my tomato bed and call it a day. That being said I have little space. Last year we got some septoria leaf spot, so I will probably move them. Thanks for calling out trellis material as I would have just tossed it in without thinking!

[artifex_amandalastname]

I really appreciate the stopping point, there are always more garden videos than time

[jvin]

Jesse, for the cucumber powdery mildew problem .. look up Lofthouse Landrace Gardening videos. He talks about huge PM problems in his operation for years until he crossed enough cucumbers and kept survivors until PM became a non-issue for him. I got a little of his group's cucumber seed last year and had no PM problems where I couldn't get barely anything through PM prior. The commercial seed growers are using lots of inputs to ward off disease and essentially adapting their survivors to relying on heavy chemical inputs.

[williammikell]

Just to muddy the water, Elephant Garlic. It is a biennial plant, I have been growing in the same spots for years, one place maybe 15years, maybe more. I have heard of old abandon house where it just grows wild in the spots for decades. Like abandon homesteads in Kentucky that still grow daffodils each spring. My own plants I can trace back to a house where it has been growing for 50+ years. I have heard sometimes it can get diseased and dies out, so I have them planted in several different place in my yard and at friends houses. All this to say I don't rotate my Elephant Garlic, (leek ). Oh yeah, good video,

[pavlovssheep]

home garden you can poly culture with mixed planted beds, however that would be impractical for a business grower

[lindsayk]

This is amazing. I'm an official super nerd (personally and professionally lol); we expand our urban garden every year. I've been frustrated with finding clear information on crop rotation- literally every article gives a different pattern! I've always wanted to distill down the science but you did it for me! Great job!

[FaceEatingOwl]

I tried rotating them 🤷‍♂️ the stems just snap.

[briansakurada]

Yay! I did celery in the high tunnels where the tomatoes were last year. What I did, since you asked, is I transplanted the celery up the center of the beds between the tomato rows. BTW, celery doesn't take as long to germinate in late summer as it does in the late winder/early spring and in Japan celery is primarily considered a winter crop.

[aileensmith]

Interesting, we try to do some sort of crop rotation every year with the exception of the tomatoes. We also scratch our head a bit because things travel. Airborne or simply flying or crawling. Our garden only being a few thousand square feet is there any real value to crop rotating? Another thing is that we are getting more and more into plant succession and rotation gardening. We feel that is also a positive benefit to the soil and then the future plants. We believe the key is good soil management and doing the best that we can while also being VERY watchful of the garden. And the reason we do not rotate the tomatoes is because they are planted in mineral tubs and under a shade protection because of our hot summers. As always Thank You for another fun and informative video!

[flatsville]

I gave up years ago on crop rotation. I generally plant a diverse winter kill cover crop. I do some companion & interplanting. Will relay crop if timing permits. I have had a steady decline in pest issues. Blight is hard as it often comes on the wind & is exacerbated by weather conditions. I am endeavoring to grow more crops vertically to counter-act that & save my back & legs. Overall, better soil health due to the winter kill cover crops has been the best factor...plus pollinator interplanting support plants.