Among garden crops, peas are one of the most useful, not only for the summer resident, but also for his plot. It, however, like other leguminous plants, rarely gets sick and practically does not suffer from pests.
In the garden, peas are the most environmentally friendly, because chemicals (various fungicides or insecticides) are almost never used on them, and why do this if they grow well without them.
It is worth noting that peas are often grown as green manure and the reasons for this are quite compelling, since both the above-ground part of the plant and the roots enrich the soil with nutrients, namely:
- leaves and shoots do not accumulate harmful substances during the growing season and serve as an excellent source of easily digestible microelements, organic matter, potassium and phosphorus when incorporated into the soil, thereby enriching and restoring it after growing other crops;
- The root system of legumes is no less useful - it contains microorganisms that saturate the soil with nitrogen.
Basic rules of crop rotation
Crop rotation means that every 2 years it is necessary to replace the crops grown in one bed. For example, if potatoes grow in a certain area of the garden this year and the previous year, then next year it is necessary to plant, for example, beets, carrots, and onions.
Did you know? In 2004-2005, as part of an experiment conducted by the Institute of Biological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, several types of peas were grown in zero gravity.
Recommendations for alternating garden plantings were developed by scientists with several goals:
- Preventing the accumulation of pests and pathogens. That is, if you alternate plants that are affected by different types of parasites, then the insects that have overwintered in the soil will not have anything to eat. In this way, their mass reproduction can be prevented.
- Preventing the accumulation of toxins. Some plants, when planted frequently in one area, experience reduced yields because they react sensitively to toxins that they themselves leave in the soil during cultivation.
- Reducing nutrient consumption. Each plant requires certain micro- and macroelements for normal growth and development. If you plant the same crop or related vegetation for many years, the soil will become depleted and will not be able to fully provide the nutrition that is needed.
As a result, the following crop rotation rules were developed:
- Do not plant the same plant or related crop in the same area every year.
- Do not plant vegetables that have the same diseases and pests year after year.
- You can return the plant to the same place, but not earlier than after 3 years, and better - after 4-5.
- When planting, pay attention to the nutritional requirements of plants.
- After plants with a shallow root system, those with deep roots should be planted.
Did you know? Legumes are sometimes called “plant meat” because they contain essential protein for the body and are part of the diet of people who give up animal foods. 100 g of peas contains the most protein among all legumes.
What to plant next year after corn
Corn suppresses weeds as it grows. Eventually the earth gets rid of them. You get a clean field without weeds. A culture with a powerful root system. Decomposing in the soil, the underground part enriches the earth with useful substances. The only drawback is that decomposition is slow. To speed up the procedure, the field is plowed, crushing the root into small pieces. Various crops can be planted on the site. Among them there are favorable and undesirable plants.
Favorable crops for planting
After planting corn, the field is loosened well. Prefers this soil for next year:
- potatoes, with additional mineral fertilizers;
- sunflower. The same sunny areas suit him; they have common moisture requirements;
- fava beans, peas. They love weed-free soil;
- red linen;
- beets of all types;
- winter grain crops.
Unwanted
Owners of pets can plant clover, lupine, and alfalfa after corn. Plants are green manure - they enrich the soil and provide food. But with their planting, the field will again be overgrown with weeds.
Features of peas in crop rotation
Based on the above rules, let's try to figure out what place peas occupy in crop rotation.
Peas are classified as members of the legume family. It is susceptible to weedy areas and diseases, in particular to ascochyta blight, downy mildew, rust, root rot, and is affected by tuberous weevils, pea weevil, pea moth, and aphids. Thus, this representative of legumes should be planted only in weed-free areas to which fertilizers have been applied, after and before crops that suffer from the same diseases and are affected by the same insects.
The peas themselves enrich the soil with nitrogen - after planting them, about 100 g of mineral nitrogen remains on a plot of 1 m². Therefore, after it you need to plant plants that really need this element. It is placed between non-legumes as green manure to increase soil fertility and plant productivity.
The pea crop is harvested about a month before the grain is planted. Therefore, it is considered as a fallow crop.
This legume can be planted several times a year: in spring, July and August.
Important! The increase in yield of winter wheat when planted after peas is several times higher than when planted after other crops.
Development
The egg overwinters on alfalfa, vetch, chin, and clover. No overwintering eggs were found on peas. [3]
Founder . Appears in spring and produces an average of 150 larvae during its life. [3]
Wingless Virgins . Approximately 150 larvae are capable of hatching. They live in large colonies on shoots, flowers, leaves, and young pods of the host plant. One female is capable of hatching approximately 150 larvae. [3]
Winged virgins appear en masse in the second or third generation and contribute to the rapid spread of the pest. Up to 150 larvae hatch. [3]
During the season, there are up to 10 generations of winged and wingless virgins. [3]
Amphigonic generation (normal males and normal females) . Appear depending on climatic conditions at the end of August, September or October. After fertilization, each female lays up to 10 eggs on alfalfa, vetch, china or clover. [3]
Features of development . Life cycle is monoecious. There are several biotypes of the species that prefer plants of different genera. [3] The ecotype Acyrthosiphon pisum destructor is specialized on peas, which is characterized by the presence of green-colored individuals, winged weevils and males. Also, this biotype can have both full-cycle and non-full-cycle clones.
Acyrthosiphon pisum destructor does not live on alfalfa, clover and some other moths, but develops normally on beans and vetch.
Specialized forms of pea aphids develop on alfalfa, clover, steelweed and other moths. They are characterized by the presence of wingless females and males. Each of these forms breaks down into green and red forms, which differ from each other in many environmental factors: relation to the chemical composition of food, crowding, air humidity, the ability to form winged forms, life expectancy, fertility and many other factors. Sometimes red forms are also found on peas. [1]
Predecessors of peas
It is good to plant this crop after vegetation that can be grown to effectively control weeds and that allows you to retain moisture in the soil.
According to recommendations for maintaining crop rotation, peas are best cultivated after the following plants:
- different types of cabbage;
- early potatoes;
- cucumbers;
- zucchini;
- squash;
- pumpkins;
- spring;
- winter crops;
- strawberries;
- strawberries
The following are considered bad predecessors:
- sunflower;
- buckwheat;
- millet;
- perennial herbs;
- pulses.
Find out also about peas.
Harvest and storage
Pea pods are ready for consumption within 1-1.5 months after flowering. The beans ripen gradually, so they should be collected every 2-3 days. The fruits of the lower tier ripen first. Depending on the variety from 1 sq. m of pea planting, you can harvest about 4 kg of crop.
Harvested green peas quickly wither and spoil even in the refrigerator, so it is not recommended to store them fresh for more than 5 days. For long-term storage, young sugar fruits can be canned or frozen.
You can dry the peas:
- First, boil it in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain it in a sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold water.
- After this, place the fruits in the oven for an hour and dry at 50 degrees.
- Let cool.
- The second time, place the peas in the oven for the same time, preheating it to 70 degrees.
- It is recommended to store dried peas in a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
What crops can be planted after peas?
After the representative of the legume family we are considering, it is recommended to plant the following plants:
- eggplant;
- Bell pepper;
- tomatoes;
- cucumbers;
- cabbage;
- pumpkin;
- carrot;
- beet;
- onion;
- celery;
- potato;
- winter crops
Important! In order to monitor the rotation of crops at your summer cottage, you need to keep a special notebook in which to write where and when certain crops grew.
Good and bad neighbors of peas
When planning plantings, it is worth considering that the following crops are good neighbors of peas:
- root vegetables (potatoes, radishes, turnips and others);
- mustard;
- cucumber;
- aromatic herbs (basil, rosemary, oregano);
- yarrow;
- corn;
- pumpkin.
You should not plant next to peas:
- legumes, including fodder;
- rutabaga;
- sagebrush;
- garlic;
- tomatoes;
- onion;
- marigold;
- decorative wormwood.
What are peas good for the soil?
• the root system of plants structures and loosens the arable soil horizon (0-20 cm); • water permeability and air permeability of the upper layers of soil increases; • with proper care of peas, the number of dangerous pests in a certain area is reduced; • nitrogen-fixing bacteria are located on the roots of peas, which are capable of absorbing atmospheric nitrogen from the air; • overall soil fertility increases.
Many experienced gardeners claim that such a good predecessor as peas increases the yield of various crops by 8-13%.
What can you plant next to tomatoes?
They go well with tomatoes: corn, onions, carrots, peppers, radishes, watermelon, melon, parsley, celery, asparagus, spinach, neutral beans. Between the tomato bushes you can plant lettuce, and perhaps eggplant.
It is very good to plant flowers and protective herbs next to the tomatoes: marigolds, calendula or nastrutia. Basil and garlic planted nearby are also beneficial for tomatoes.
You can’t plant peas, cabbage, potatoes, grapes next to tomatoes; cucumbers and turnips are undesirable.
In turn, tomatoes have a beneficial effect on gooseberries - the smell of its tops repels the moth and sawfly from the berry bushes.
Together is better
Many years of experience and ingenuity of gardeners suggested another correct solution - joint planting. This is both convenient and allows you to get a large assortment of vegetables in a small area. However, not all vegetables can be placed in close proximity, since not all crops have a beneficial effect on each other. This is explained by the mutual action of phytoncides and other volatile substances released by plants.
Carrot
can be planted together with peas, marjoram, and onions (this is even useful, since joint planting with onions repels the carrot fly).
Onions
coexist with beets, chicory, and carrots.
Peas and vegetable beans
get along well with potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, pumpkin, melon and watermelon.
It is quite possible to add vegetable beans and sweet corn
to potatoes dill
and corn to cucumbers, radishes will benefit from being next to watercress, and peas to green mustard.
It has been proven that potatoes and beans, garlic and black currants have a beneficial effect on each other. You can make the following bed: plant parsley, lettuce, and sow garlic between them.
As for undesirable proximity, you can’t plant next to
potatoes and cucumbers, white cabbage, strawberries and tomatoes, tomatoes and pumpkin. If legumes are placed next to onions, both crops will be suppressed.
In addition, if space allows, select a small area for growing trasiderates: clover, lupine, alfalfa and others. In this way, you will give the earth a rest and gain strength for growing vegetable crops.
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this knowledge. By following the listed rules, you can get a lot!
The annual use of such a technique as crop rotation in the garden beds allows you to avoid diseases of vegetables and grow them strong and productive.
Gardeners know that they cannot plant vegetables of the same group for several years in a row.
For example, if clubroot appears on cabbage, not only will there be no harvest, but you will also have to take a whole range of measures to get rid of such an infection. There’s already a lot of work, and there’s no need for extra problems. They can be easily avoided if you know what to plant next in the garden.
Each vegetable plant has its own pests and diseases. With the help of crop rotation, we fight against those bacteria and viruses that can infect the earth:
- The clubroot fungus (on cabbage) persists in the soil for a very long time, especially if it is acidic. The clubroot fungus is so stable that it can easily overwinter on the post-harvest remains of cabbage. Therefore, it is burned. If infection has occurred, then cabbage and its closest cruciferous relatives can be planted in this bed will be returned only after 7-8 years.
- White rot (fungus) affects carrots, mainly during storage, but carrots could “pick up” it not only due to the incorrect microclimate in the basement, but also due to improper crop rotation: the predecessor of carrots was also a carrier of this fungus.
- Even bactericidal garlic has its own problem: one of the reasons for the yellow tips can be the stem onion nematode, which lives in the ground for 8-10 years and nothing can eradicate it from there...
To avoid contamination of the soil in the garden with similar diseases, it is worth planting the same plant in the same bed only after 4 years. That is, crop rotation must be observed at intervals of 4 years.
