If tomato is your favorite plant to grow, you will do everything to make it thrive. Whether you grow tomatoes in a greenhouse or outside, you might want to plant tomatoes in the same spot or soil that you did last year.
But is it a good idea? Let’s find out!
If you’re short on gardening space, you can grow tomatoes in the same spot you did last year by keeping your soil fertile with compost and manure, but your plants will be at risk of soil-borne diseases. Tomatoes take up nutrients from the soil needed for healthy plant growth, so it’s recommended to plant tomatoes in the same spot every 3 years.
Here’s what you need to know about planting your tomato plants every year, how to keep your soil fertile and grow killer tomatoes!
Do tomato plants need to be replanted every year?
It’s best to Tomato plants plant your tomatoes in different locations every year to avoid the risk of diseases, especially soil-borne diseases, such as:
- Verticillium wilt
- Fusarium wilt
- corky root rot
- black dot root rot
- root-knot nematodes
Realistically, it’s not possible to find a good spot for your crops every growing season unless you have a massive garden.
To solve this problem I recommend practicing crop rotation. It’s when you grow specific groups of veggies on a different part of the soil each year.
Believe it or not but the soil is a living organism. We can’t see it but organisms live in soil and enrich it with minerals and organic matter. Our plants need these nutrients to grow.
However, different plants need different nutrients. So when you grow the same plant in the same spot it can significantly reduce the amount of nutrients in the soil.
Lack of nutrients leads to deficiencies and your plant leaves can turn yellow. Crop rotation is a good practice that balances out nutrients in the soil.
Changing crops in the same location every year reduces the chance that your plants will develop nutrient deficiencies. Moreover, the balance of removed nutrients from the soil will even out over time.
Do tomatoes deplete the soil?
Tomato plants deplete the soil of nutrients quickly as they need a lot of them. We’re talking about phosphorus, potassium and calcium. As you can tell they are heavy feeders.
It’s a good idea to plant nutrient fixing crops like legumes (beans and peas) after tomatoes. These plants are known for trapping nitrogen in nodules that form on their roots, therefore adding nitrogen to the soil.
Try to avoid growing heavy feeders like broccoli and cauliflower after your tomato plants. Give your garden bed some rest after summer by growing these plants in fall:
- Beetroot
- Carrot
- Coriander
- Dill
- Green manure
- Onion
- Parsnips
- Spring Onion
I put together a guide on what to grow in a greenhouse in September and everything you need to know about October planting, so definitely check it out!
When can you grow tomatoes in the same bed?
Although it’s possible to grow tomatoes in the same bed year after year with the addition of amendments to the soil, it’s best to let the soil rest for one growing season after 3 consecutive years. Grow some grass as its roots increase porosity and add organic material improving your soil.
So, if you really don’t have another option, you can grow tomatoes in the same bed for 3 consecutive years, then give your bed rest for a year by growing grass, and then return to growing your tomato plants.
Alternatively, some growers prefer to have two raised beds for growing tomatoes and alternate between them every year. Keep in mind that it’s very important that you control soil-borne diseases.
What I like to do is to keep my soil healthy with compost! It’s truly the first aid for troubled soil. I make sure that 20% of the soil in my raised bed is made of compost and it helps to prevent any soil problems.
Rich and bioactive compost contains microbes that suppress soil-borne pathogens. It can not only prevent the soil from diseases but also adding some compost to already affected soil can treat it.
You have to learn how to make good compost so it’s crucial to know when to stop adding to compost and how long can you keep it.
Hope that you found this article useful and please fell free to share it with your friends and family!
Are you growing tomatoes in the same bed every year? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below!
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Happy Growing 🙂
With Love,
Ana
