Guest guest Posted December 13, 2001 Report Share Posted December 13, 2001 Question for you, Chi: have you actually grown cabbage and other cole crops on the same soil year after year? ----- Original Message ----- From: soilfertility Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2001 4:20 PM Subject: Re: Crop rotation? > I was taught in school that one reason for crop rotation > had to do with insects and diseases. If you grow the same > crop in the same spot every year, diseases and insects specific > to that crop multiply. I have been practicing this in home > gardening--never planting tomatoes in the same spot two years in > a row, for example. But then I have some kind of fungus or > rot in my garden anyhow, where I can't grow squash or > melon at all because while the leaves grow happily, the fruit > all rot before they are more than finger-length. > > So how would this topic apply to home gardening? > And was the information I was taught in school wrong? > (wouldn't be the first time... <g> My dad used to like to say > that a history of science could be compiled just by putting > together all the statements about what couldn't be done) Hi Jean: It's not what they taught you in school that is the problem, it's what they didn't teach you. Insects and diseases are signs of low soil fertility and low nutritional value of the crop. I consider insects my friends, telling me when the crop is too low in nutritional value to be eaten by humans. I consider killing the insect to eat the crop an act of self-delusion. In high fertility soil, insects and diseases will not be a problem. In high soil fertility that is maintained, you can plant the same crop in the same spot year after year, and it's easier on the soil fertility. If farmers tell you they can't grow the same crop in the same field year after year, don't eat their food. Chi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2001 Report Share Posted December 13, 2001 >>If farmers tell you they can't grow the same crop in the >>same field year after year, don't eat their food. >> Chi Chi, I usually phrase it a different way. I tell people that they should ask various farmers at the market what they do about insects. When they find one who responds, " Well, gosh---I hardly ever spray because my crops just don't seem to be bothered by bugs all that much, " then they should buy everything they can that farmer grows. They should buy there because they are talking to someone who knows enough to keep the soil fertility high enough to discourage pests. It's hard to keep a conversation going when people don't understand, as Albrecht put it, " Insects and disease are not the cause of a failing crop so much as an indicator. " I enjoy showing the Japanese video " Life In The Soil " to people who don't get the connection. The pictures of such as clubroot-free cabbage being grown in the same field year after year really gets attention. Soil with proper fertility levels simply won't allow fungal, bacterial, and insect problems. Regards, Rex Harrill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2001 Report Share Posted December 14, 2001 Cherry tomatoes I picked in September are now starting to slowly dry out. So far, only 1 out of 31 has discolored inside and I threw it out. None show any signs of mold. Cherry tomatoes! I have always known tomatoes to mold or discolor etc within a month of picking. This is due to soil fertility? Grace, a Augustine I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright. I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more. I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive. I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger. I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting. I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess. I wish you enough ''Hello's " to get you through the final goodbye. --anonymous ----- Original Message ----- From: soilfertility Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 4:43 PM Subject: Re: Crop rotation? > Question for you, Chi: have you actually grown cabbage and other cole crops on the same soil year after year? > Hi : Sorry, I haven't grown cabbage or other similar crops at all. Here is a bit of what I have done: For the last few years I have lived in a basement apartment so I have no land. There is some empty property at the back where I have put in a small garden about 8 x 12 feet. I have grown peace-vine cherry tomatoes and sugar snap peas all three years in the same spots with never any sign of disease or insect damage. I have also grown zucchini but it gets some kind of white mold on the leaves. All my plants are open pollinated and I save my own seeds. The cherry tomatoes were a very poor germinating seed when I bought them (under 25%), but now they germinate over 90%. Cherry tomatoes I picked in September are now starting to slowly dry out. So far, only 1 out of 31 has discolored inside and I threw it out. None show any signs of mold. They are stored at room temperature in a kitchen. I have saved them as long as until April before. A lady who visited me this summer saw the sugar snap peas and thought the foliage looked good enough to put in a salad. Everyone who samples the cherry tomatoes or peas has their eyes open wide when they taste either. Chi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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