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Re: Okra spacing & tomato rotation

GavinsMom5 <GavinsMom5@aol.com> wrote:

> Also, I'm getting confused about tomato rotation. Half the stuff I read says,
> rotate all crops. Then I've read at least 2 books on tomatoes that say they
> like to be in the same place. So, do I rotate them or not? How do commercial
> growers, who grow tomatoes year after year in the same field get away with it?
> Help!! Thanks for your help.

I can attest to tomatoes benefitting from not rotating.  I've grown them in
the same bed for many years, and I've heard of others how have done this for
20+ years with good results.  The reasoning is that tomato roots exude
chemicals that alter the soil conditions to favour future generations of
tomatoes.  Also, it is apparently good to compost disease free tomato plants
and use that compost on your tomato bed.  You can bury diseased material in
the same bed if you bury it >1' deep.  Of course it is necessary to add some
kind of compost the tomato bed every year, to replace some of the fertility
used by the previous crop. 

As far as rotating tomatoes goes, it is a good idea if you have a soil borne
disease, such as wilt, as these can persist in the soil for years.  Blights
are a different matter, they overwinter in infected tomato debris, send out
spores when the weather warms which then get spread by wind, water, hands and
tools, so you'd have to move your new tomato bed aways off to avoid it.  Good
cleanup, mulching with compost and trimming the lower leaves (to prevent soil
splash onto the plants) seem to be a more effective practice.  Also allow
good air circulation between plants and don't overhead water with a sprinkler. 
An overhead cover to keep off rain helps.

Do what feels right for you.  If your tomatoes aren't flourishing where they
are perhaps try a new location next time.

Who knows what commercial growers are doing, but I imagine chemical fungicides
are in general use.

Cheers!

--
 Bob Carter  -  bcarter@awinc.com
 Kootenay Bay, BC, Canada  -  Zone 6b
--

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