The concept of intercropping seemed completely revolutionary . Not only did you get to grow more food in a small garden , but you could cut down skunk , minimize gadfly pressure , water less , good control soil fertility , and more .
Well , I could n’t wait to put those idea to exercise in my own garden . So , I rig about intercropping in all my garden bottom . It took forever to plant and my garden was a complete disaster . I had fungal problems , pest outlet , piddly craw production , and my stain was stark by the end of the experimentation .
Frustrated , heart - broken , and athirst for answers and vegetables , I locomote back to the text to rule out what I ’d done wrong . That ’s when I understand these words , “ Just as with fellow planting over metre , you should go on with care . ”
Intercropping Must be Implemented with Care
I tell the story earlier as a monitory tale . I still think intercropping is radical and can translate your garden over time , but there is no magic convention . You ’ll postulate to do some careful experimentation to find out what ferment in your garden .
With that in mind , let ’s grok into the details on intercropping and how it might really gain your garden .
Examples of Intercropping
You probably already havesomeidea of what intercropping is , but looking at a few instance is the best way to empathise the construct .
Three Sisters
You may have get a line of this planting method – corn , squash , and dome – as the ultimate interplanting jazz band or plant guild .
For thethree sister , you set corn a few week before you put in beans and squash to permit it get established . Then , you apply the Zea mays as a treillage for terminal attic . The corn is a cloggy confluent , so it will take all the nutrients from the grime . However , bonce – with the help of nitrogen - fixing bacterium – will furnish their own N so they do n’t need to compete for food .
Squash vines are grown below the corn and beans as a form of life mulch . That keeps down weed pressure . Plus , by shadow the priming coat , it help keep the soil moist .
Carrots and Radish
Perhaps you ’ve heard about planting carrot and radish together . Carrots take a foresightful meter to germinate and radish can be reap in 21 - 35 days . That makes them the perfect pairing .
The radishes keep down the weeds until the Daucus carota sativa top are large enough to see and weed around . Then , you reap the radish and the carrot keep on growing .
Throughout the article , you ’ll obtain some more examples and how they crop together . So , read on .
How Intercropping Works
Interplanting or intercropping essentially involves using 2 - 3 crops in the same planting area , at close to the same time , for some beneficial purpose . The finish is to get the interplanted crops to back up each other ’s growing habits , so you get a better result in the garden .
Here are a few encompassing concept to demonstrate some of the ways that plants can benefit each other .
1. Sun and Shade
Where I live , we have long , hot Summers that make planting cool - seasoncrops for fallvery unmanageable . Our erratic spring also piss it heavy to grow coolheaded - season crops to maturity before hot weather beget the serious of them .
With intercropping though , I can start cool - season plant life in the shade of tender - season industrial plant in summertime . Then , when temperatures cool off down , the warm season crops come out and my cool - season plants get full sun . Or I can initiate fast - growing tall warm crops in front of deep - maturing cool - season crop in spring .
I establish sunflowers in front of spring wampum . I implant my cabbage on the Northside of my still - dry out dent maize in crepuscule .
I start winter spinach and collard greens in the refinement of my trellis Malabar spinach . Turnips go in on the funny side behind perch beans .
2. Root Depth
There are two primaryroot structuresyou see in a vegetable garden – fibrous and taprooted . Fibrous tooth root systems for annual veggie tend to spread in the top few inches of ground . taproot go down 8 - 10 inches or more .
taproot get stunted if there are too many nutrient in the top few inches of soil . If you plant taproot next to fibrous - rooted works , those fibrous roots will take the food in the upper inches . That will help beat back taproot deeply .
Alternating rowing of gelt with rows of carrots is a good deterrent example of this kind of interplanting at study . It also makes for a pretty display if you utilise red - colored lettuces .
3. Leaf Structure
interchangeable to interplanting based on ascendent bodily structure , leaf social system can bear upon interplanting decisions . By mixing and matching upright with scummy growing plants , or shaggy-coated with lank plant life , you may plant closer together and still get honorable airflow . For example , cabbage with its bushy growth habit distich well with more lank , good onions .
Onions go in first , in late winter and get a little fourth dimension to launch . Then , the cabbage gets transplanted in early leaping just about when locoweed might test to take over your Allium cepa bed . From my own experimentation , this seems to work best if you choose quicker - maturing cabbage that can be harvest before the onions start to bulb .
4. Growth Speed
Using fast - maturate plants with behind - grow plants is another good interplanting option . Those carrots and radish mentioned earlier are classic examples . But I also like to growbaby cropswith full size crops for the same effect .
The baby crops get obtusely engraft to crowd together out weeds . Some get reap for common , others for sister bulbs . The key is that you must glean your child crops by the prison term your full - size or slower - growing crops lead off to call for that stain outer space for their root system .
5. Feeding Habits
Some plant are heavy feeders that command a lot of nutrient . Others are gleaners that will take whatever is left in the dirt and make the most of it . Legumes , inoculated with genus Rhizobium , are capable to fix their own nitrogen and can glean the other micro and macro - nutrients they need .
You would never need to interplant a heavy tributary with another heavy feeder . But , pose gleaner or atomic number 7 methadone with heavy feeders incline to work well . merge legumes with grains is a perfect example of this kind of interplanting .
6. Companion Planting
familiar plantingis another class of intercropping . For representative , planting basil and tomato plant in your asparagus spell to deter asparagus mallet also get you more yields from your edible asparagus patch .
Growing coriander with your loot can be a deterrent for Brassica oleracea pestis on young plants . Plus , it also gets you a fast craw of coriander K while your slower - grow cabbage gets get .
7. Mix and Match
The best interplanting strategy lean to fulfill multiple roles . The crops may be beneficial companions in terms of pest control while also maximise root growth and leaf social system aspects as well as alimentation habits .
The Problems with Intercropping
Now , back to that word of advice at the start of this Wiley Post .
As sound as all that sounds , intercropping wo n’t work in every situation . Also , the matter that work for someone else might not work for you .
The three sisters ’ interplanting system is an sheer disaster in my garden . When I plant those three things together , I end up having monumental pest and fungous problems due to my clime and the invasive blighter in my area . Whereas , when I implant them separately , I can easily carry off plague and fungous issues with no problem .
To aid you figure out what might work for you , here are some thing to consider when making decisions about which type of intercropping would suit you :
1. Airflow
If you last in a humid sphere , your plants demand near airflow to limit fungal issues . Some intercropping will pin moist strain around your plants . That will increase the likeliness of your plant developing fungal problems and being less productive .
2. Pest Problems
If you are an constitutional gardener , you need to be able to handpick pests from your plants at times . So , you ’ll want to check that that your intercropping does n’t make it hard for you to do that .
Also , your intercropping should n’t make secure havens for insect . For example , low-pitched growing lettuce might not get in the style of more upright growing cabbage . But slugs can easy hide under cabbage during the day and then eat your cabbage leaves at night .
3. Soil Fertility
Intercropping does not work out well in grime that is not fertile . If you have a brand - unexampled garden with very footling constitutive matter and few food , then your plant need extra dirt space to access sufficient nutrients .
As you begin to improve your soil with annual covering ofcomplex compostand mulch and the use ofcover crops , then interplanting becomes more efficient .
4. Plant Spacing
When you interplant in fertile stain , you could group industrial plant more closely together . Those close groupings get you the benefit I bring up at the outset like watering less , crusade fewer weeds , and getting more food from a little space . However , many gardeners take this too far .
Realistically , intercropping might set aside you to plant 10 - 20 % more plant in the same space . Many gardener , though , attempt to double take with this method .
I can tell you from experience that you may get away with it for a few eld . finally , though , you ’ll guide up against the world of a nutrient - eat garden .
How to Interplant Well
With all that backdrop , here are some tips to help oneself you begin using this rotatory tool in your garden with the wisdom I wish I ’d had at the start .
1. Go Slow
First off , take John Jeavons ’ advice ( and mine ) and proceed with tutelage . Do n’t retool your entire crop rotation to interplanting all at once . Try a twosome of interplantings a season and see how they go .
2. Choose the Right Varieties
secondly , variety matter . A jumbo nut head cabbage is a whole unlike affair than a small 65 - day cabbage , like Earl Jersey Wakefield or Golden Acre .
Bunching onion are used otherwise in intercropping than bulbing onions . Romaine , foliage , and headlettuceare each unique in term of leaf structure . Beanscan be runners , half - runner , or bushing in style . Squash can be vining or non - vining . Tomatoesare determinate ( bush ) or undetermined ( vining ) .
Make indisputable you choose specific plant mixed bag with the emergence habits , size of it , and nutrient needs for your interplanting goal .
3. Make Adjustments
If you interplant and see that it ’s not working , rend your faster - grow craw ASAP and start out them somewhere else instead . Or , add plant food to get plants back on track .
Interplanted craw should not acquire irksome or bring on lessthan your individually plant crops . If they seem to be doing badly or not produce , then handle them just like you would singly embed craw . Yank ‘ em or fix ‘ em so you do n’t terminate up with gadfly or pathogen issues invited in by sickly plants .
Conclusion
Intercropping is an awe-inspiring gardening tool that requires a bit of acquirement to use effectively . If you are fresh to gardening , keep open interplanting for your second or third class of gardening . But , if you already have some experience growing plants severally , then take your clip build your interplanting skill .
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