Organic farming mixed plantings. Organic farming: intensive planting

Currently, the popularity of growing vegetable crops at home is growing rapidly. Many residents major cities and megacities are starting to buy suburban areas to provide for yourself healthy foods food with minimal pesticide content. Such an occupation does not require large investments and is within the power of every average person. Therefore, every year the number of gardeners and gardeners is steadily growing.

About the methodology

In order for the future lesson to bring good results, you need to take care of proper preparation soil composition. Important, so that the soil in the selected area was breathable and loose high content nutrients. In this case, you will be able to grow strong and prolific crops.

If you intend to treat the soil composition chemicals, then such an action will not only impregnate all food products with unsafe toxins, but will also begin to kill valuable microorganisms in the substrate, due to which the development of plants will not be complete.

An important condition for proper organic cultivation is comfortable lighting. For this reason, when choosing a suitable place for planting vegetables or fruits, give preference to open areas where daylight hours last at least six hours.

When preparing the garden for the upcoming lesson, it is not necessary to dig the earth. Instead, the soil must be carefully loosened using a fork. For cleaning row spacing from weeds and other unwanted plants, you can use a flat cutter.

All preparatory work include leveling the beds and the spaces between them in the ratio 1:2:

• the optimal width of the beds is 40 centimeters;
• row spacing is 80 centimeters;

If you use the same bed, digging the soil is not necessary, because. as crops grow and develop, humus will begin to accumulate in the soil, which will give it friability and moisture.

An important feature of the processing is the mulching of row spacing. In this case, you will have to use:

• sawdust;
• humus;
• weed grass;
• peat;

Organic farming in the country should be started from a small garden bed, the size of which is constantly increasing.

Where to begin

You need to start growing organic vegetables and fruits by choosing the right planting material. Taking any seeds that caught your eye is highly discouraged, because you will not have any guarantees in their quality. The choice of suitable specimens should be taken with special responsibility.

Do not forget, that certain types of plants need complex care and enhanced care. In addition, they are highly exposed to all kinds of diseases and pests, which are quite difficult to get rid of. Among these plants are tomatoes.

To reduce the hassle when growing plants organically, it is necessary to give preference to those varieties of vegetable crops that can boast of strong immunity and endurance to pathogens of infections and other diseases.

You can study the morphological features of specific plants using training videos or instructions that come with a pack of seeds. In order for agriculture to be as successful as possible, it is necessary to provide the planted green spaces with a number of mandatory top dressings:

When preparing a good substrate for farming in the country, it is not necessary to use top dressing. When applying a large amount of fertilizer, there is a risk of developing many pests, which is associated with an increase in the growth rate of the crop. Slow-growing individuals independently develop strong immunity and are able to withstand many dangers without additional intervention from the summer resident.

Yields are known to decrease when a crop is grown in the same location for several years. This is not strange, because characteristic harmful microorganisms accumulate in the place of constant planting, which not only impair fruiting, but also pose a great danger to the plants themselves. To prevent such, it is enough to change the landing site on a specific bed every year.

For such purposes, you can apply a special scheme and a table that mentions the sequence of planting plants in the beds. It is known that some green spaces are subject to the same diseases, so it is impossible to plant them in one place. For understanding, eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes and peppers are vulnerable to the same problems. The same goes for watermelon, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins.

Plant care in organic farming in the country

If you intend to see the result of your work in the near future, horticultural crops quality care must be provided. Mulch is used as a good protection. In addition, this procedure effectively fights weeds and pests. It is important that the mulch layer is between 2.5-5 centimeters.

Mulch based on organic materials is especially effective, because she is degradable. It is known that weeds attract all sorts of pests which, in turn, carry various diseases and infections. Also, weed plantations reduce the content of nutrients and minerals in the soil, which negatively affects the growth and development of crops. For this reason, every gardener must know how to effective fight with weeds.

An important condition for successful organic farming– balanced watering. It must be carried out taking into account some subtleties:

• watering must be regular, otherwise the plant will not be able to develop well enough;
• watering is carried out directly under the trunk of plants, because. wet leaves and other green parts strongly attract pests;
• it is impossible to carry out spraying and watering by the method of sprinkling. It is better to supply water with a hose, which is placed directly at the trunk;

In order for the flowering of the crop to be full, and the harvest to be maximum, it is necessary to provide the plants with free access to a source of oxygen. This is also done using root top dressing. For the procedure to be as successful as possible, it is better to plant plants at large distances from each other. It is not difficult to prevent the development of all kinds of fungal formations. It is enough to observe a good flow of air and regularly weed the bed.

If you plant flowering plants along the edges of the beds, they will begin to attract useful "guests" who will not only protect the crop from pests, but also become good pollinators.

Organic cultivation of vegetable and fruit plants will be successful if combined with the planting of marigolds, zinnias, nasturtiums, purple echinacea and other colors. Despite a number of difficulties that may arise, you must understand that the end result justifies all the efforts spent.

Soil mulching

It is not difficult to start growing plants in the country. The main thing is to correctly follow the basic recommendations and avoid irreparable mistakes. An important principle for the successful development of planted crops is the mulching of the soil. Such an action implies the provision of reliable protection with the help of covering materials. Mulching is not allowed strong hypothermia of the soil and does not allow it to overheat under the influence of direct sun rays. In addition, it protects the soil from evaporation of moisture and the rapid growth of weeds.

AT vivo the earth is always covered by growing or dried grass, leaves and other organic deposits, so it practically does not dry out in summer time and does not succumb to intense frosts in winter. When using mulch, it is possible to provide favorable conditions similar to natural. In the future, the used layer rots and turns into humus, which increases soil fertility. Choice good materials should be responsible. It is better to give preference to various natural raw materials, including fallen leaves, mowed straw, sawdust, needles, peat, sand and other devices. Only organic mulch can become humus, and the use of a small layer of sand improves soil fertility.

Do not refuse the use of green manure - special plants that positively affect the soil composition and can be a good alternative to organic and mineral dressings. They are characterized by high speed growth and ability to provide soil reliable protection from the damaging effects of direct sunlight and wind. In addition, such plants, as they grow, become food for beneficial living microorganisms, accumulating a number of certain substances. They also form tubules in the soil through which moisture and air enter. It is better to plant green manure in temporarily empty areas, before and after planting the main garden crops.

Being engaged in organic farming in the country from scratch, be sure to enrich the soil with microorganisms. In our latitudes, cold climatic conditions reduce the number of such inhabitants, so it is restored only in the middle of summer. With a lack of such substances in the soil, growth cultivated plants and yields are declining rapidly. To reliably enrich the soil, it is enough to use special means based on living microorganisms. Among them, tested by years and experience many gardeners use compost, which helps to quickly saturate the substrate with useful elements. In addition, the active substances from the composition of the compost allow plants to absorb mineral supplements more productively.

Many summer residents and gardeners are used to fertilizing the land organic top dressing. For this reason, they often apply organic mulch and water the plants. herbal infusions. In the process, you can leave potato tops on the beds and prepare compost from all plant waste.

If you want to do organic farming, you need to take into account such a feature as the influence of green spaces growing nearby. It is known that some types of plants coexist freely with each other, while others do not tolerate such a "neighborhood" and negatively affect the soil and their neighbors.

For successful crop management rotation must be observed. It is known that not all plants are able to bear fruit annually in the same place without a transplant.

Summing up

Everyone can grow healthy vegetable and fruit crops in their country house. To do this, you need to “roll up your sleeves” and start acting, despite any difficulties that may arise in the process.

Learn the topic in as much detail as possible, watch training videos and use the advice of professionals. This will definitely bear fruit.

"Correct" beds with their own hands

I have my own house and household plot in 7 acres. We have been gardening for 20 years. So, in recent years, I began to notice that the earth is becoming heavy, water- and air-tight, and the crops are getting scarcer and scarcer. By autumn, it became a shame that so much effort, time and money had been invested, and the result was almost zero.

I had to do something, but I didn't know what. It was then that the book by B.A. fell into my hands. bagel “Garden in a new way. The revolutionary method of doing nothing. This book turned all my thinking upside down and allowed me to take a fresh look at cultivated plants, weeds, pests, soil and, in general, mother nature. In nature, everything is interconnected: one with the other, the other with the third, and so on along the chain. And then I looked on the Internet, saw a lot of interesting, smart, instructive things, and in the spring I decided to embody the basic principles of organic farming in my garden.

With the onset of spring, my husband and I broke the garden into "Correct" beds - 90 cm wide and 8 m long(although the length can be arbitrary), row spacing of 60 cm. The width of the beds should be such that you can reach the middle with your hand, because you can’t step on the ground either when planting or when weeding.

Aisles should be wide to provide plants with good air exchange and illumination, since scientists have long proven that plants take only 30% of the required energy from the soil in the form of nutrients.

The width of 60 cm was also chosen because of the convenience when mowing with a lawn mower. The brought earth, compost were poured on top of the beds, and everything was mixed together with garden soil. The beds turned out a little raised, but not high. Several garden beds were fenced wooden planks- there was not enough material for everything.

On one bed there were 4 rows for planting seeds of onions, carrots, beets, radishes. I planted seedlings of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cabbage in two rows in checkerboard pattern. Planting vegetables was carried out according to the principle of "good neighborhood", i.e. culture compatibility. For example, onions along with carrots and beets (along the edge of the garden). In general, beets are considered an "extreme" crop, its place is on the edge of the garden. I planted tomatoes with peppers, cabbage with celery and beets.

Combined plantings are good because plants (at least three species) do not oppress neighbors, but help each other.

Harvest without mulch!

Further, following the principles of organic farming, I mulched plantings, but did this only when shoots began to appear (late spring - early summer). Mulched with mowed grass, but always a little dried in the shade. The mulch was watered with a solution with effective microorganisms and again spilled with water on top. Beneficial microorganisms begin to work when warm weather sets in with an air temperature of at least 25 °.

Throughout the summer, I put more and more portions of mulch (about once every one to two weeks). Ideally, the layer of mulch per season should be at least 5 cm.

And with potatoes, we did this: sprouted bushes after the first weeding and hilling with the whole family mulched with straw and hay. Of course, I had to work hard, but then throughout the summer we no longer weeded, and the Colorado potato beetle appeared much later and in smaller numbers. The area under potatoes was small, about 4 acres. A bed of strawberries was also mulched with mowed grass, where they then collected clean berries, and there were no rotten ones at all. Weeds grow through the mulch, but very little. To avoid them at all, a dense layer of mulch is needed, at least, as I said, 5 cm.

Mulching is especially important in hot weather, but in rainy weather you need to be careful, as the mulch can rot, especially on heavy soils.

And yet, it has much more advantages: protecting the soil from drying out, reducing labor costs for weeding, enriching the soil due to the decomposition of organic matter by soil microorganisms and bacteria.

Wormwood instead of chemistry

I would like to dwell on ways to control pests and diseases in organic farming. To control pests, I planted plants on the beds that repel them. For example, next to the cabbage I planted marigolds, hyssop, sage and a lot of dill.

White butterflies circled over the cabbage, circled, but I did not notice the pests on the leaves. I planted basil with tomatoes and peppers, which not only repels insects, but also improves the taste of tomatoes and soil structure. I planted onions and carrots not far from each other, since the onion fly is repelled by carrots, and the carrot fly is repelled by onions. Wormwood repels many pests, especially the Colorado potato beetle. Several bushes of wormwood grow in my garden in different places, but aside, not in the beds. With the help of wormwood, I saved the eggplant from the striped pest. In the summer when all my spicy plants and flowers, there was such beauty in the garden, and the smell was awesome!

Top dressing was carried out only once, in the spring, and only foliar. Next season we plan to use homemade solutions and top dressings.

In the fall, we plant the vacated beds with green manure (white mustard). The use of green manure is another principle of organic farming.. They enrich the soil with macro- and microelements, their long rhizomes loosen the soil, increase the humus layer of the soil.

When using organic farming, the land before winter should always be covered with greenery and in no case bare.

And in conclusion, I want to say: in order to carry out the “perestroika” in the garden, my husband and I had to work hard, but the whole family is very pleased with the results of this work! In addition, next season there will be much less work, since the beds will already be permanent, all that remains is to loosen them (up to 5-7 cm) and plant plants.

If you follow the principles of organic farming, the humus layer in the garden will increase every year, as a result of which the yields will increase significantly, and (most importantly!) Absolutely clean from the point of view of ecology.

Dear gardeners, switch to organic farming! It really works - proven by practical experience. Believe me, this is a very interesting process, because mother nature has long taken care of everything for us, you just need to watch her and try to interfere with her less!

Seedlings in diapers

I love experimenting in the garden. I take a plastic bag for a sandwich measuring 20 × 30 cm, without unfolding it, I put 1 tbsp on the left edge. l. (with a slide) of prepared moistened earth, then I place a seedling in the middle of a clod of earth, and on top of another 1 tbsp. l. land, and I roll everything up in the form of a roll - I “swaddle” a seedling, as a baby is swaddled. I wrap the edge of the package (you can pull it off with an elastic band). The leaves of the seedling should protrude above the film.

I put the formed rolls in a container from under the kiwi (you can from under the cake), 13-15 bags are placed. In short, in three containers I got 42 sprouts of seedlings, and they all fit on one windowsill. I put the containers themselves in small trays from under the semi-finished products.

Then, when the seedlings grow up (after a few weeks), you need to unroll the rolls again and add 1-2 tbsp. l. earth. Normal care: watering, lighting.

Seedlings grow remarkably, and by the time of planting in open ground I have healthy and strong tomato seedlings with an elongated root system.

With this method of picking, the most important thing is that the root system is not injured when transplanted to a permanent place, and the tip of the root is not pinched, which contributes to the further growth of the root deeper, where the plant will find more moisture and will not depend on watering.

Having planted my tomatoes in two rows in a checkerboard pattern in a narrow box-bed, I mulch them with hay and straw (but not fresh!). A bed with ripening tomatoes looks so beautiful that it is simply indescribable! And the harvest is so big that before the New Year my whole family eats fresh tomatoes.

By the way, this picking method is very well suited for apartments where there is little space for seedlings, and much less land is used. You can dive in this way and other vegetables, as well as flowers. Try it, you will definitely like it. It really works!

ORGANIC GARDEN - MY FEEDBACK

Garden "under laziness"

The most interesting thing about organic farming is that increasing soil fertility can be translated into a permanent and almost autonomous mode of operation. And another article - the best of that the confirmation.

It's not like that guys...

At the beginning of my gardening journey, I used the experience of my parents, that is, first I dug up the entire garden, and then created beds up to a meter wide, leaving 30-40 cm gaps between them. Then, of course, I fought with weeding plantings, carrying out all torn grass outside the site. But every year it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong, because the work was constantly added and added.

This was especially felt after he began to independently grow seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. After all, at first I bought it only at the market, but when I was once cheated there with varieties, I decided that now I had to take this matter into my own hands (now I already have a pretty good garden collection, but every year I test one two new varieties or hybrids).

When I was finally convinced that there was no longer any possibility to engage in agricultural technology in the old way, I undertook to study the works of advanced gardeners. Meat-tlider made the greatest impression on me. Thanks to his articles, I fully realized that it is most reasonable to abandon the "wandering" beds, replacing them with boxes installed once and for all in selected places, thereby eliminating the trampling of the earth, which leads to a deterioration in its structure. But at the same time, I left the width of the beds themselves as usual (about a meter), but increased the aisles to 70 cm.

Practice has shown that if in the fall the surfaces of the beds are covered with organic matter, then under this “fur coat” by spring you can get wet and loose earth, which you can not dig, but simply loosen it with a chopper.

But where to get so much mulching material? I began to grow green manure before winter, collect leaf litter along the clearing along which I go to my site, and stopped disdaining weeds. Why wear them compost heaps? It is wiser to leave it in place, increasing the thickness of the mulch layer, which will serve as extra food for various worms, insects, fungi and microbes. In addition, in the earth "under a fur coat" the moves made by worms are preserved, and empty

you are from decayed organic matter, through which water passes with air and nitrogen dissolved in it. In other words, soil fertilization occurs almost “automatically”! It is generally accepted that nature independently creates 1 cm of humus in about 100 years. If we help her, then this process can be accelerated at times.

Correct Timing

My next step was the transition to ridge planting of potatoes, which also saved me from having to shovel the entire plot area. By creating parallel trenches 10 cm deep and a spade bayonet wide at 70 cm intervals, the soil only has to be laid to the right of them. Very convenient and economical. I called this method of landing "under the sloth." I now plant corn using the same method (the distance between the rows of this crop is 1.2 m, and I place cucumbers or pumpkins between the rows), sunflowers and curly beans. The only difference is that under these plants I do not dig trenches, but loosen strips of earth 30 cm wide.

As for cucumbers, I came to a clear conclusion that in the southern regions they should be grown in three terms. And only so!

First, I plant seedlings in the greenhouse between April 25 and May 1 and get a good harvest in early July. I plant the second batch of cucumbers with seeds in open ground on May 15, and they give me their fruits from mid-July to mid-September. And I plant the third wave of cucumbers in mid-August, which allows me to feast on green ones almost at the end of the season. At the same time, cucumbers of the first and second terms can be both varietal and hybrid, and partheno-carpics. But the third term - only parthenocarpic. The fact is that by September 1, figs ripen, the flowers of which simply ooze nectar, and therefore bees, flies and hornets race to them, pollinating cucumbers along the way. At the same time, I note that cucumbers can be grown from stepchildren, but their survival will be worse than that of tomatoes.

A week before planting cucumbers and tomatoes, I water the beds well with water and immediately cover them with a film, pressing it tightly to the ground around the entire perimeter. Under her wet soil warms up well, and the evaporation of moisture is practically excluded.

When planting, I use a hydrogel, which I carefully place in the holes around the plants, which allows me to forget about watering for 10 days.

It is also important here that when watering, water can turn barely hatched seeds upside down in the soil, and then they will surely die. To prevent this from happening, after planting, I always lightly tamp the soil. And if the weather is hot and windy, then I do all the watering only through the stretched on the beds nonwoven fabric, and from a small watering can and in small portions.

I urge all readers to dig the earth as little as possible. Do not destroy its structure! Do not walk on it unnecessarily. Take care of her. Switch to simple loosening with a depth of no more than 5 cm. After all, even in Soviet time agronomist T. Maltsev proved in practice that tillageless tillage is the most promising and correct. Deep loosening worsens its structure and leads to overgrinding.

Such land, after rain or irrigation, turns into a swamp with the formation of a soil crust upon drying. And I also urge all gardeners not to get carried away with weeding: do not keep the ground bare, something should always grow on it! After all, vegetation reduces the temperature of the soil and significantly delays the evaporation of water. Mulching is the shading of the soil. Take care of this in advance. I wish you all good health, good luck in your country and personal work. And human happiness!

V.A. GIGANOV. Sochi

I am glad for those who strive to live in step with the times, for those who master the new science of agriculture for them, for those who are not afraid to admit their mistakes and are looking for new ways to communicate with the earth without harming nature. But in almost every issue there are also such letters that simply upset.

About traditions...

Why don't people see their mistakes? Why do they not feel guilty before future generations? They are destroying the earth, leaving no chance to restore its fertility, to create a sustainable balance in nature! Moreover, without hesitation, they also harm the health of their own and their loved ones. Who exactly do I mean?

And those respected gardeners who are engaged in the "traditional" (or even worse - "grandfather") way of running their farm. Do you think I'm overly categorical? Yes, I myself am worried about these fellow summer residents! But anyway, let's talk about it.

So what do people usually mean by "traditional farming"? And here's what: every-

suitable digging of the soil with a shovel in autumn and spring, weekly weeding in the summer, the application of mineral fertilizers, as well as the treatment of plantings in gardens and vegetable gardens with chemical means of protection against diseases and pests. But is it really a tradition? Yes, the plow was one of the main agricultural tools of the peasants, but who said that they plowed their gardens from and to?

They did this selectively and plowed shallowly, without disturbing the fertile layer. But the main thing is that before that they took manure to the plots, embedding it in the ground.

It will be objected to me that then everyone had a large farm, and no one had problems with the presence of such organic matter. And I don’t deny it, I just want to draw your attention to the fact that digging in itself is not only pointless, but also harmful.

Move on. After the Great Patriotic War, devastated villages and villages remained, in which there were neither livestock nor poultry. To speed up the development Agriculture, a number of forced measures were taken. Forced! In particular, chemists have developed and introduced mineral fertilizers, thereby dramatically increasing the yield of almost all crops.

But the thing is that the "mineral water" replenishes only chemical composition soil, and its balance is constantly disturbed. And the amount of humus from the introduction of chemistry is not added. Moreover, it is gradually decreasing! As a result, the land is becoming more and more depleted, plants, due to a lack of one or another nutrient, grow frail (at first glance, this may not be noticed) and therefore become easy prey for pests and diseases. If you have depleted soil - increase its fertility, but not with the help of "mineral water"! Yes, of course, it will not be easy, you will have to work hard and be patient, because the earth needs time to recover. But you can cure almost any soil, do not believe that there are "lazy" gardens! Move away from old stereotypes. I was wrong?

…and about innovations

Many summer residents often think that natural and organic farming- This is the same. But in fact - no. In the first case, we are talking about the coexistence of different plants on a certain unit of area, and each of them performs its role. For example, tall ones shade low ones from the sun and protect them from the wind, wild ones attract beneficial insects, helping to get rid of their cultural neighbors from pests, etc.

And organic farming is the management of one's own economy with the help of waste products of flora and fauna. Here our assistants will be not only the plants themselves, but also everything that can move: from the simplest microorganisms to lizards and birds. I understand how difficult it is to appreciate, understand and accept all this.

In addition, after taking the first step and not getting a good result, many return to their usual methods. But this difficult and long path must be passed by everyone, because each generation must make its contribution to the restoration of the fertility of the earth.

My dears, try to start with a simple one: sow areas with green manure in the fall, do not leave the soil anywhere bare - neither in winter nor in summer. In the spring, just loosen it shallowly, cutting off the grown grasses, and mulch your plantings with them, covering the beds from the sun, winds and showers (they wash the humus deep into the earth). And the covered soil will always be moist, which will create a favorable climate on the site.

Believe me, at one time I also stood at a crossroads, and I didn’t succeed at once either. And now I am looking for more and more new ways of rapprochement with nature. But for five years now I have not digged, I have not weeded, but only mowed grass and put it on mulch. Every autumn I fall asleep near the trunk circles of trees and shrubs with leaves.

I don’t burn the branches left after pruning, but I process them with a chopper and scatter the resulting sawdust in the garden. All food leftovers (as well as paper and cardboard collected over the winter) are buried in the garden at the beginning of the season. I water all the plants without exception with infusions of herbs and chicken manure, sprinkle with baking soda, infusions of garlic, birch tar, practice treatment with whey and biohumates. And all my plantings hibernate without loss, even if there were frosts over -30 °, and in summer I always take good crops, even if the heat was at 40 °. That's it!

: GROWING EARLY Zucchini IN MOBILE...

In gardening and horticulture, many farmers are faced with the problem of lack of space, as well as sometimes inexplicable incompatibilities between different plants. which in turn leads to lower yields and various diseases, which impair plant growth and the quality of the resulting fruits. mixed landings vegetables, the schemes of which are drawn up taking into account all the features, can solve many problems.

The science of mixed landings

Allelopathy is a science that studies the influence on each other and the ability of them to coexist together. The proximity of vegetables in the greenhouse and mixed plantings are determined taking into account the influencing factors. Each plant releases various substances through its leaves and roots, which, when released into the soil, can both be absorbed by other plants and harm them.

Some species tend to stimulate the growth of related plantings and have a protective effect on them from pests, but at the same time they can also oppress. In addition to the obvious, there is another reason to create mixed landings - this is space saving.

Schemes of mixed and compacted plantings of vegetables

It is very important, when making a plan for future landings, to consider:

1. Climatic conditions in a given area may vary, as some places are drier, while others are more humid. The impact of wind, precipitation and frost must also be taken into account in the calculations.
2. It is necessary to know the characteristics of each specific site, its soil composition, impact sunlight on this area, as well as its protection from the aggressive effects of nature.

Planning

These parameters should form the basis of a vegetable garden planting strategy to get the best result from every square meter. Drawing up a plan begins with a study of the characteristics of the site and the features of each individual meter of land. Mixed schemes (planting vegetables in the garden, as you know, are different for their intended purpose) beds must be made taking into account all the climatic and agrotechnical parameters of the soil.

Advantages of the method

Benefits of mixed landings:

Competent combination

The alternation of crops with different nutritional requirements and soil composition makes it possible to avoid partial or complete depletion of the land and the destruction of any individual nutrients needed by plants.

Joint planting of vegetables can improve the quality of life of neighboring crops, and can also affect the taste and nutritional value of fruits.

Basic and accompanying plants

Mixed plantings of vegetables, their arrangement and the principles that guide the gardener in their preparation are based on simple knowledge. In the practice of this method, there are such concepts as a companion plant, or accompanying, as well as the main culture. The main plant is the target plant, and the satellite plant is used to fill gaps and produce large yields.

Mixed Landing Tactics

In the role of accompanying plants, fragrant green fertilizers are more often used, a number of which can benefit their neighbors. The main crops are usually vegetables and are slow-ripening, small-sized specimens, in between which are fast-ripening species.

This tactic is very effective. While the main culture is slowly growing and developing, the accompanying one has time to grow, making room for the main one to develop sufficiently. This is the main principle of drawing up a plan and scheme of mixed landings.

Preferred neighborhood

In order to organically fit into your plan various mixed plantings of vegetables, their location on the site, you need to know the properties of each plant and its compatibility with others. The properties inherent in individual garden crops are conveniently viewed in the form of a table. Mixed plantings of vegetables in the garden are necessarily compiled taking into account the needs of each crop.

Proper Neighbor Table

Today you learned about what mixed planting of vegetables is. Schemes for their compilation are created taking into account the preferences of each individual plant, as well as the conditions of its maintenance, which should be the basis for calculating future beds. There are many advantages to using this progressive method, which are especially important to take advantage of when trying to get the maximum benefit and high yields from every square meter of area.

Spring work on your own summer cottage begins with planning a garden. This may seem like a simple task. But in order to get a good harvest, it is necessary to take into account important factors that affect the location of certain crops and plant varieties in the beds. To provide good harvest it is important to plant plants according to the cardinal points, the composition of the soil, the necessary lighting, the relief of the site. It is necessary to observe the rules of crop rotation of plants.

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The basics of proper garden planning

You can start planning your garden in early spring when the snow melted and the soil dried out a little. For summer residents with many years of experience, this process is not particularly difficult. Those who are just taking their first steps in gardening should take into account the basic rules that you need to know in order to properly plant plants on the site.

If the summer resident decided to plan his garden for the first time, then you need to pay attention to the following factors:

1. 1. Cardinal directions. Planning the location of the beds should be carried out only in length from north to south. Placement from the northeast to the southwest is allowed. If you plant crops taking into account the cardinal points, this will ensure a uniform supply of sunlight to the garden bed, and prevent the development of many fungal diseases. In the southern part of the site, heat-loving crops should be planted. It can be beans, cucumbers, tomatoes. In the north, cold-resistant plants should be planted: turnip, radish, swede. On the north side, it is recommended to plant corn, which can protect the beds from strong winds. For this purpose, a sunflower, gooseberry or currant bushes are suitable.
2. 2. When creating a planting plan, the composition of the soil should be taken into account, especially if the plants will be planted in this place for the first time. It is necessary to make additives in the fall, depending on the type of soil. The ideal time is considered to be a month before planting seedlings in the ground.
3. 3. The scheme for planting vegetables in the garden should take into account the characteristics of the lighting required for different crops. the only in an efficient way influence on the illumination of the beds is the thinning or cutting down of trees. Plant seedlings under lush crowns apple and pear trees are not recommended. These trees can grow from the northern part of the garden. Thus, it will be possible to protect landings from strong winds. If there is land in the northern part of the site that can be equipped for beds, then it should be planted there shade-loving plants for which the strong rays of the sun are undesirable. It can be sorrel or onion. If you plant seedlings of tomatoes, cucumbers or peppers in the shade, then it will wither. Another good option will be the cultivation of flowers in the northern part, since it is risky to cultivate vegetables in such conditions.
4. 4. The relief of the site. If the site is characterized by the presence of some irregularities, then it must be borne in mind that in the lowland in the spring the process of snow melting will be slower, and during the period of intense rains, water will stand in such places. To get rid of excess moisture, you should take care of the drainage system in the form of small grooves. In these places you need to plant plants that require abundant and frequent watering. If the region is characterized by hot summer period, then in the lowlands you can plant seedlings of peppers and tomatoes. In this case, it will not be necessary to water the plants often.
5. 5. The presence of weeds. If you plan to break the plot into beds for the first time, and before that there was a simple lawn with large quantity weeds, then this problem is solved in several ways. You can remove the top layer of soil and take it out. Pour peat, sand and manure on the remaining land. This method is not particularly popular among summer residents due to its high cost and labor intensity. Another way is simpler. It consists in the fact that the soil is simply dug up, and only potatoes are planted in the first year. This will allow you to get rid of weeds and cultivate any vegetables next year, even very fastidious ones.



Irrigation system

When drawing up a plan for the location of the beds, you should definitely consider how the plants will be watered. Crops such as peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and cucumbers need watering every 3-4 days. Therefore, the irrigation system must be sufficiently convenient.

At the summer cottage, at least there should be a tap and long hoses that could be reached to the plants. If the site has a large area, then a garden should be laid out on it or plants should be planted that do not need frequent watering, and vegetable beds should be located closer to the water source so that the distance allows regular and cost-effective irrigation.

It is important to consider that you should not moisten the plants directly with tap water. It should be settled, rainwater or from a local pond, river. For this, large containers are used: an old bathtub, a metal vat, plastic barrel. To ensure good pressure when watering, you should purchase a pump and place it in the middle of the tank. You can water with a garden watering can, but this process will take quite a lot of time.

A good option for establishing an irrigation system is drip irrigation. If the site already has such a system, then the planting of vegetables will need to be “tied” to places provided with water.






Compatibility and crop rotation

After the issue of watering, lighting and cardinal points has been resolved, another important point should be considered. Namely, compatibility and alternation of plants in the garden.

For proper planning of beds, it is important to remember the compatibility of cultures, which consists in the ability to grow, develop and protect each other side by side.

The table contains the names of crops and the degree of compatibility between plants.




It is important to pay attention to the timing of ripening and planting crops. This will allow you to enjoy the grown crop on the same bed at different times.



Features of crop rotation of plants

crop rotation is important point, on which the degree of soil fatigue and the quality of the future crop depend.

Otherwise, there may berather serious problems with the cultivation of vegetable crops.

Causes of soil fatigue

The following factors lead to soil fatigue:

1. 1. Accumulation of pathogens and pests. For example, if you grow potatoes in the same place, then the number of wireworms, Colorado potato beetles will inevitably grow.
2. 2. Accumulation of toxic substances. This is another reason that confirms the need for crop rotation. Toxic root secretions - colins - accumulate in the soil. Many crops are quite sensitive to their toxins, such as beets and spinach. Therefore, if you plant these plants in one place, then every year the harvest will be worse and worse.
3. 3. The need for adequate nutrition. Each vegetable crop has its own requirements for soil nutrition. It is important to consider this feature of planted crops. If you plant related plants for several years in a row, they will suck out all the useful substances from the soil.

To more accurately understand this, it must be borne in mind that all vegetable crops can be divided into several categories according to how demanding the plant is on the soil.

To properly draw up a plan, it is necessary to divide the site into 4 zones:

1. 1. Perennial crops such as strawberries.
2. 2. Demanding.
3. 3. Medium demanding.
4. 4. Undemanding.


The following year, demanding plants should be planted where undemanding ones grew. The average-demanding should go to the place where the demanding ones grew up. Undemanding plants should be sent to the garden where medium-demanding ones grew. This rotation should be done every year. This will allow the soil to rest a bit.

The table shows the predecessors and successors of vegetable crops. It is important to remember that the culture returns to its original place no earlier than after 3-4 years.



It is important to take into account the fact that human memory is not unlimited. It is very difficult to remember exactly what culture grew in a certain area 5 years ago.

Practical knowledge about mixed planting of vegetables in the beds, garden compatibility, garden plants, their influence on each other has been accumulated by many generations of gardeners. What are the advantages of mixed landings? What plants can not be planted next to the beds? How can plants influence each other? What vegetables grow well together? How to choose the best neighbors for your plants? What are the benefits of co-planting? We try to learn more about them, to take this knowledge into account in our practice. Sometimes, however, they are quite contradictory.

For example, it seems that there are often assurances of many about the incompatibility of growing cucumbers and tomatoes in the same greenhouse. This is explained by the different requirements of these vegetables to the conditions of detention, temperature regime, humidity. But, nevertheless, for many they get along well with each other. Why is it so? Until now, this controversial question has no definite answer. Is it possible to plant potatoes with cabbage?

Allelopathy - plant compatibility

Let's start with theory.

What is allelopathy? This word is of Greek origin - allēlōn - mutually and páthos - suffering - mutual suffering. This means that plants can influence each other, cause each other suffering, inconvenience. This is the original meaning of the word allelopathy. Now, allelopathy has come to be understood not only as a negative, but also as a positive interaction of plants with each other. Allelopathy refers to the interaction of plants with each other through various secretions - root and leaf.

Plants secrete various substances through the roots, mainly organic - amino acids, sugars, biologically active substances, antibiotics, hormones, enzymes, and others, which can affect neighboring plants, both positively and negatively.

Through the leaves of the plant, various substances are also secreted - most often volatile. But they can also release water-soluble substances, which are washed off by rain or when watered, enter the soil, have different influence to neighboring plants.

These properties - the influence on each other - plants acquired during a long evolution, when they grew together in natural conditions. They had to compete, to establish some kind of relationship with each other. It is assumed that this property - allelopathy - is developed by plants in the process of competition for light, water, nutrients in the soil. In this competitive struggle, plants can even use chemical protection, that is, they release chemicals: enzymes, vitamins, alkaloids, essential oils, organic acids, phytoncides.

Some of these compounds are similar in properties to herbicides used to kill weeds. These substances, called inhibitors (inhibitors), kill neighboring plants or retard their growth, inhibit seed germination, reduce the intensity of physiological processes and their vital activity.

It is important to note that inhibitors only act negatively when there are many of them. Their small concentrations already act as accelerators of physiological processes, that is, as stimulants.

Mixed plantings - the basis of organic farming

What is written above is rather theoretical information. Can this knowledge be put into practice in our garden?

It is possible, even necessary! They must be taken into account when sowing, planting seedlings in a greenhouse or open ground, since this knowledge has been verified not only by science, but by many generations of gardeners. Let's talk about mixed or joint landings.

Such plantings are part of organic or, as it is also called, biodynamic farming. It is based on working with nature, not against it. The founder of biodynamic agriculture was the famous German philosopher Rudolf Steiner. Now the idea of ​​organic farming is becoming more and more popular all over the world. And mixed plantings in the gardens and vegetable gardens of Europe have long become commonplace.

The reception of joint plantings in the garden for a long time and has been successfully used in Germany. The Germans are very pragmatic in their approach to these things, they believe that it is irrational to lose the area of ​​their personal plots without any purpose. The main thing for them is the amount of production per unit area. They are very proud of the fact that they have learned to get as much benefit from every piece of land as possible. For example, one vegetable plant is planted in the garden, and the sides of the beds are empty - this is a mess. It does not matter what grows on this square - cucumbers or tulips.

In Russia, the reception of mixed, combined landings is not yet very common.

Let's take a closer look at the experience of German gardeners. The optimal width of the beds, they say, is 1 meter.

The central part of the garden, the middle should be occupied by some kind of main crop. This is the culture that will grow in the garden for a long time, until the end of the season. During this period, it will grow strongly, over time it will occupy the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe garden. For example, it can be cabbage or tomatoes.

But at the beginning of the growing season they are small. side area beds can be planted with something else that ripens quickly. It can be spinach, lettuce, radish - friendly crops. Spinach is generally compatible with almost all crops, it even stimulates the development of neighboring plants.

By the time the tomatoes or kale have grown, the spinach, radish, or lettuce will have been cut, plucked up for food. This is just one of the aspects that speaks in favor of joint landings.

Additional, fast-maturing plants should be small, compact, so that their root system does not interfere with the main crop.

Often joint plantings protect each other from pests. For organic farming, this is very important, as it is against the use of herbicides or other chemicals protection. For such purposes, aromatic plants are most often used - basil, coriander, onion, sage.

Many herbs bring triple benefits: they are beautiful, they enrich our table, they attract beneficial insects to our garden.

It is believed that coriander with its smell can even scare away the Colorado potato beetle from potatoes. But, it should be borne in mind that a lot of such aromatic plants should be planted so that aromatic vapors create a significant cover over the site.

For cabbage, aromatic protection is also important, since it itself attracts various butterflies with its smell. By the way, the Colorado potato beetle, white butterfly find their prey - potatoes, cabbage - by smell. Lettuce or celery planted along the edges of the garden can help protect cabbage from pests. That is, if aromatic herbs are planted nearby, then their smell will kill the smell of potatoes or cabbage, to some extent disorientate pests.

Among gardeners, such a term is common - a nanny plant. It is believed that if you plant nasturtium along the perimeter of the cabbage bed, then the cruciferous flea will first attack the flowers. That is, nasturtium - a nanny for cabbage - distracts pests. By the way, cabbage salad is also somewhat of a babysitter - it distracts slugs, which are very fond of salad, which has more tender juicy leaves than cabbage. And if slugs have a choice, they choose lettuce.

If you want to protect cabbage from slugs, plant lettuce. And how to protect the salad from slugs without resorting to chemistry? This is already more difficult ... It is believed that the oak bark used as mulch will well protect the salad (and not only it) from slugs.

Practitioner gardeners have long noticed that neighboring plants can not only compact plantings, protect each other from pests, but also improve each other's taste. For example, basil improves the taste of tomatoes, while dill improves the taste of cabbage.

Isop, parsley, lavender, sage, borage, thyme, mint, chamomile, chervil work well on almost all vegetables. Planted along the edges of beds or plots, white lamb, deaf nettle, valerian, yarrow make vegetable plants healthier, more resistant to diseases and pests.

Here's something else interesting about mixed plantings. I read this from N. Zhirmunskaya in the book Good and Bad Neighbors in the Garden Bed.

The history of the use of the idea of ​​​​such landings has more than one century. The ancient Indians grew corn, pumpkin, and beans in the same field. They noticed that corn, for example, creates a shadow, protects the earth and pumpkin from the scorching rays of the sun, and is a good support for beans. Pumpkin covers the ground with its leaves, stifles the growth of weeds, retaining moisture, protects the ground from drying out.

In addition, the ancient Indians did not destroy all weeds, for example, amaranth, quinoa, which are now weeds for us. They let them grow along with the vegetables.

How weeds help garden plants or the benefits of weeds

It turns out that some weeds can benefit cultivated garden plants. Even the ancient Indians noticed that amaranth, a malicious weed in our gardens, can share with some plants the nutrients it receives from the depths of the soil.

There is, for example, such an opinion that one should not weed out all the amaranth on potatoes, leaving 3-5 plants for each square meter. Having no competitors nearby, amaranth grows, its powerful root system, penetrating deep into the soil, extracts nutrients there - phosphorus, potassium, calcium, which are much more at a depth than in upper layers. Excesses of these elements are released through the roots into the soil, nourish the potatoes. That is, amaranth, as it were, shares these surpluses with potatoes. Moreover, these nutrients are in a digestible form, easily absorbed, absorbed by potatoes.

Agronomists have already established through laboratory experiments that, indeed, plants can share their root secretions with each other. I must say that plants do not skimp on root secretions - this is very important for them. It has been established that approximately 20% of what is synthesized in the leaves of plants is released by their roots into the soil.

Recently, the issue of the benefits and harms of weeds has been significantly revised. If weeds are not allowed to grow uncontrollably, stifle cultivated plants, especially in the early stages of growth, then they can play the role of a useful member of the plant community.

By the way, I noticed that thistle - a malicious weed - distracts aphids. Cucumbers grew in my greenhouse. They grew well. Were healthy. The harvest was good. Sow thistle grew in the corner of the greenhouse - I didn’t notice it right away, Only then I paid attention to it, when it grew over a meter tall, I even threw away the buds. Decided to root it out. She gasped when she saw that he was covered with aphids. Here it is, I think, a breeding ground for pests - it must be destroyed. And what? Not even a day passed after that, as all my, still healthy, cucumbers were covered with aphids. I had to take measures to destroy the aphids. It turns out that sow thistle protected my plants from aphids.

I never pull out all the weeds on tomatoes planted in open ground. I do weeding only in the first growing season, when there is a danger that the weeds will clog the tomatoes and cover them from the sun. But, when my tomatoes gain strength, they are not afraid of weeds. They cover the soil from the burning sun - it does not crust, does not dry out, it can be watered less often. In addition, grass, weeds protect fruits from sunburn, which is very important in our southern hot climate.

Most weeds have deep root systems. In the struggle for existence, they developed the ability to get food deep in the soil. In cultivated plants, which we pamper with our care, this ability is rare.

The most important vegetable plants, such as potatoes, corn, head lettuce, cucumbers and a number of others, have a small root system and receive nutrition from the upper layers of the soil. And, for example, a dandelion with its powerful root system extracts calcium from the depths. In addition, this weed plant releases into the air a large number of ethylene gas, which accelerates the ripening of fruits, not to mention the fact that it bright flowers attract bees and other pollinating insects to the garden.

Incompatibility or which plants should not be planted nearby

So far, we have talked about the positive influence of plants on each other. But there is also a negative impact.

For example, do not plant carrots and parsley side by side. These are plants of the same family and their influence on each other is negative, they do not tolerate each other's root secretions.

There are plants that do not like their own root secretions - they are not recommended to be planted in the same place, even two years in a row. It is believed that beets belong to such plants.

All legumes do not go well with all types of onions and garlic. That is, they cannot be planted side by side.

In one year, I placed them next to each other, practically didn’t even leave a path between them, onions and peas. Didn't know they were incompatible. And what? Peas could not stand such a neighborhood. Two rows of peas - closest to the onion - sprouted, but disappeared after a while. So the peas themselves made a path between themselves and the onions.

Watercress adversely affects many vegetable crops.

Pumpkin does not like the neighborhood of potatoes.

Even plants of different ages can affect each other in different ways. That is, the plants are not initially hostile to each other, but planted one much earlier than the other can suppress each other.

Here is an example not from a book - from my experience. I identified one bed for late cabbage and Beijing cabbage. I decided that Beijing cabbage will ripen earlier and make room for late cabbage. Seedlings of Beijing cabbage planted much earlier than cabbage. What came of it? Until I removed the Beijing cabbage, which, by the way, has grown very much, the seedlings of cabbage froze in growth. As a result, she began to gain growth much later, she could not form heads of high quality. I think this did not happen if I planted them at the same time, or at least one after the other with a small time gap.