Stephen Albert
Succession cropping will help you get the most out of your vegetable garden.
Here are two succession cropping strategies:
• Plant a portion of a specific crop a little bit at a time; for example, plant a row of beans today and a second row three weeks from now. This will allow for a staggered or succession of harvests.
• Plant a crop today and after harvesting the crop, plant a second crop in the same place for a second harvest. For example, plant beets in the cool spring and follow with a crop of peppers during the warm summer.
When planning your succession cropping keep the following in mind:
• Days to maturity and date of expected harvest. Each plant requires so many days from sowing to reach harvest. The days to maturity for a crop and a succession crop must fit comfortably into your growing season–the total number of frost-free days or growing days for each crop. (Or you must plan to protect your crops from killing cold weather.) Be sure to plant warm-season crops so that they will come to harvest in warm weather.
• Nutrient requirements. Crops from the same family are best not planted in succession; they have the same nutrient requirements and will leave the soil lacking in specific nutrients if planted one after the other. Allow for crop rotation or be sure to work well-aged compost or manure into the soil before sowing the second crop. Crops from the same family also will be susceptible to the same pests and diseases.
Here are succession-cropping suggestions that might work in your region:
| Crop coming out | Succession crops to follow |
|---|---|
| Artichoke, globe | Green bean, pea |
| Broad bean, fava bean | Brussels sprouts, late spring cabbage,corn, squash, kale, cardoon |
| Bush green or snap bean | Main lettuce, endive, summer and winter spinach, kohlrabi, parsley |
| Pole green or snap bean (longer cropping season than bush bean) | Cauliflower, autumn sown cabbage |
| Beet | Broad, bush or pole green or snap bean, kale, pepper, chicory |
| Broccoli | Celery, leek, maincrop potato, corn, kohlrabi, tomato, sunchoke |
| Brussels sprouts | Early and second early potatoes, beet, celery, leek, mint, shallot, sunchoke |
| Cabbage (spring harvest) | Radish, beet, kohlrabi, onion |
| Cabbage (autumn harvest) | Early potatoes, cucumber, radish, pepper, celeriac, chives, squash, sunflower |
| Carrot | Bush or pole beans, autumn harvest cabbage |
| Cauliflower | Pea, maincrop potato, summer spinach, rutabaga |
| Celeriac | Broad bean |
| Celery | Garlic, mint, onion, shallot, savory |
| Chicory | Broad bean, Brussels sprouts, carrot |
| Chives | Broad or green bean, spring harvest cabbage, endive, corn, lettuce |
| Corn (sweet) | Autumn harvest cabbage, pea, kohlrabi, lettuce, New Zealand spinach |
| Cucumber | Maincrop potato, onion, pea, autumn harvest cabbage, carrot |
| Garlic | Broad or green snap bean, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, autumn harvest cabbage |
| Kale | Broad bean, pepper, early potato, carrot, rhubarb, celeriac |
| Kohlrabi | Pea, summer and winter spinach, broad bean, autumn harvest cabbage |
| Leek | Tomato, green bush or pole bean, cucumber |
| Lentil | Corn, cauliflower, corn salad, endive, kohlrabi, onion, radish |
| Lettuce | Potato, celery , leek |
| New Zealand spinach | Maincrop potatoes, corn, autumn harvest cabbage, Brussels sprouts |
| Onion | Spring harvest cabbage |
| Parsnip | Kale, broad bean, pepper, rhubarb, sunflower |
| Pea | Brussels sprouts, celery, spring harvest cabbage, autumn harvest cabbage, carrot, turnip, tomato, autumn harvest cauliflower, cucumber, squash, autumn-sown onions, winter spinach, leek |
| Pepper | Lettuce onion, radish, winter spinach |
| Potato (early) | Spring harvest cabbage, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, tomato |
| Potato (second early) | Kale, cabbage, savoy, pea |
| Potato (maincrop) | Sprouting broccoli, spring harvest cabbage |
| Rutabaga | Broad bean |
| Spinach | Celery, second early potato, onion, tomato |
| Squash | Tomato, spinach, parsley, kohlrabi, chervil, cauliflower |
| Sunflower | Cabbage, winter squash |
| Tomato | Onion, green bean, radish, lettuce, pea, beet, autumn harvest cabbage, |
| Turnip | Pea, green bean |
