Crop Rotation
Crop rotation is the practice of planting different crop families in a given location each season. It is one of the most effective tools for maintaining soil health, preventing disease buildup, and reducing pest pressure over time.
Why Rotation Matters
When the same crop family is grown in the same spot year after year, problems accumulate:
- Soil-borne diseases specific to that family (e.g., late blight in Solanaceae, clubroot in Brassica) build up in the soil
- Nutrient imbalances develop as the same nutrients are depleted season after season
- Pest populations that specialize in one crop family establish themselves more easily
A simple 3 to 4 year rotation dramatically reduces all three risks without requiring any chemical inputs.
Crop Rotation Families in TilthIQ
TilthIQ organizes plants into rotation families used to track and warn:
| Family | Example Crops |
|---|---|
| Solanaceae | Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes |
| Brassica | Cabbage, broccoli, kale, arugula, radish |
| Cucurbit | Cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, melons |
| Legume | Beans, peas, lentils |
| Allium | Onions, garlic, leeks, chives |
| Apiaceae | Carrots, parsnips, celery, dill |
| Amaranthaceae | Beets, spinach, Swiss chard |
Each plant in the Plant Database has a Crop Rotation Family field. This is the value TilthIQ uses for tracking.
The Crop Rotation Tracker
Navigate to Planning > Crop Rotation to see the Rotation Tracker. This page shows a table of your garden locations vs. growing seasons, with each cell showing which crop family occupied that spot.
Reading the table:
- Rows represent individual garden bed spots or containers
- Columns represent growing seasons (current and past years)
- Cell content shows the crop rotation family for that season
- Red cells indicate a repeated family within the rotation warning window
How TilthIQ Warns You
Rotation warnings appear in two places:
- Planting Details page — when you assign a location, a yellow warning appears if the same crop family was grown there recently
- Crop Rotation Tracker — the overview table highlights repeated families in red
The warning window defaults to 2 seasons but you can adjust this in garden settings.
Tip: Legumes (beans, peas) are especially beneficial to rotate into a spot after a heavy-feeding family like Solanaceae or Brassica. Legumes fix nitrogen in the soil, naturally replenishing what those crops removed.