Crop Rotation detail question?

[nao57]

So I had a gardening question for you guys. When you go to do crop rotation on a piece of land or your backyard garden schedule, the idea is to try to get a different kind of plant in the spot that you used for something else. Also you allow for rest periods. This is just for reference for my question but yes you could go into great length of the details much better than I could.

My question is... if I had cucumbers in a spot last year... I'm worried if melons are too close to cucumbers in plant type? DO they use the same nutrients? Supposedly if they are different enough there's less damage from using the same resources. And this is what I'm curious about specifically for cucumbers and melons.

The reason I ask this is that when you have small sproutlings/seedlings etc for cucumbers and melons they look so similar. If you didn't know which was which you might not be able to tell them apart. And this is what prompted the question.

Thank you.

 

[Sally PB]

My question is... if I had cucumbers in a spot last year... I'm worried if melons are too close to cucumbers in plant type? DO they use the same nutrients? Supposedly if they are different enough there's less damage from using the same resources. And this is what I'm curious about specifically for cucumbers and melons.

What other choices do you have to follow the cucumbers? Can you plant root crops there instead, and plant the melons somewhere else?

You can fertilize the soil to replenish the nutrients, but another issue is the pests and diseases that bother one can be a problem for the other. A lot of pests overwinter in the ground; same with fungal and bacterial problems.

 

[Chris2018]

As a rule, I use 3 types of nutrients in 2 different forms.
Dry --
5-5-5 (All Purpose) Early Spring and Fall.
7-4-4 (Grow) While there in a growing stage.
2-8-6 (Bloom) While there in a bloom stage, or producing a crop below grown.
Liquid --
3-1-3 (Grow) While there in a growing stage.
4-3-6 (Bloom) While there in a bloom stage, or producing a crop below grown.

I don't crop rotate Tomatoes, peas, corn and potatoes. Everything else gets planted wherever, if there in the same spot or a different spot it doesn't bother me.
I find if I "put the garden to rest" in the fall by feeding it and planting it with a cover crop, then in the spring after cutting the cover crop down adding plenty of compost and spraying with a fungal dominate tea, I can keep a lot of the unwanted fungal and bacterial issues under control.
I will rotate a crop throughout a crowing season, meaning if I harvest lettuce today then I replace it with a different crop like carrots or beats.