What is succession planting?
Succession planting is when you stagger the planting of your crops to help extend your harvest.
What are the benefits of succession planting?
- Allows you to produce fresh vegetables from spring to fall with limited time and space.
- Helps extend your growing season for as long as possible.
- Minimizes the chance of crops being ruined by pests or diseases.
- Maximizes the space in your garden.
4 methods of succession planting:
1. Same vegetable, staggered planting
This involves replanting the same species of crop throughout the season. This works especially well for vegetables that have a short seed to harvest time or single heavy yields. There are a lot of vegetables that do well with this method, including peas and broccoli.
2. Different vegetables in succession
There are many crops that have short growing seasons. Therefore, you can use the space they were once grown in to grow a later season crop, like eggplant. As long as the vegetables have time to mature and grow before the season ends you can make all kinds of combinations while growing vegetables. For example, growing lettuce or spinach which have short seasons, and then planting beans after.
3. Intercropping
This involves planting multiple different species of vegetables in the same space. The three sisters method is a common form of intercropping or companion planting. The three sisters are corn, squash, and beans; and you grow them near each other to maximize space and resources.
4. Same vegetable, different varieties
Planting the same vegetable just early, mid-season and late-season variety crops, this allows you to have a longer harvest. As they all have different maturity rates, you will be able to have the same vegetable all season long. Tomatoes and potatoes are good vegetables if you are interested in trying this method.
Tips for succession planting:
- Make sure you have enough seeds for the season.
- Add compost between planting to keep the soil rich.
- Don’t be afraid to pull out a vegetable and replant it with the same type or a different variety if a plant starts losing its stem.
- Do not replant the same vegetable in the areas that are struggling with pests and diseases.
- If you don’t have a huge garden, and you want to maximize your space, try combining square foot gardening and succession planting. You want to divide your raised bed into equal sections and then plant a different species of vegetable in each one.
