We grow a lot of vegetables in the Brassicales family in our garden (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale). Probably the majority of our garden is in this family which makes it really hard to do crop rotation and make sure they are only in each bed every 4 years. My question is, is there anyway to protect and enhance the beds to stop pest infestation so that we can grow the same family of vegetables in the same beds year after year? We are enhancing the beds with manures, seaweed, and wild fish scraps to keep the soil nourished. I am mostly worried about the possible disease and bugs. Thanks in advance for you advice!
You can minimize bugs by using floating row covers. I've been using them for a couple of years and have eliminated root maggots, which seem to be the most serious insect pest. I think that the worst disease is clubroot, which seems to need at least 5 years to clear out of the soil. If you can keep clubroot from getting established, your Brassicas will probably be OK. I've found that clubroot is more of a problem for overwintering Brassicas than the ones with a shorter harvest interval. If you stick to the early varieties and pull out the roots immediately after harvest, you can minimize the possibility of establishing clubroot in the beds. The other tactic that helps to keep it in check is to lime these beds heavily.
Just don't go overboard with the soil additives. It's the same as cooking, if you just keep pouring on ingredients, without regard to what amounts are actually needed eventually the soup is spoiled.
Growing the same family of vegetables in the same beds year after year is not the best idea. If I were you I would enlarge the garden to make crop rotation possible. In the spare garden beds you could grow cover crops to the great benefit not only of your Brassicas but other vegetables as well. I would also grow annuals together with the vegetables to attract beneficial insects, they will be more than glad to take care of the pests (I practice it in my garden, on the picture you can see Calendulas growing together with my young Zucchini plant). As for the heavy application of lime, in my humble opinion it is probably unnecessary and is quite risky without being fully cognizant of all the factors in play (the present pH of your soil, other plants that you may grow in the same spot in the future, the kind and amount of lime you are going to use, frequency of application, etc.).
Heavy applications of lime in a vegetable garden is unlikely to cause harm. My soil is probably 50% CaCO3 and the water from my tap is pH 9+ vegetable crops do just fine. On the flip side growing Rhododendrons and Blueberries is absolutely out of the question!
"Vegetable" is a big enough category for there to be some variation in requirements. It is often stated, for instance, that you do not want a lot of lime where you are going to have potato plants.
Weird, dooryard potatoes do just fine here. http://austinurbangardens.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/img_2430.jpg
there are ways to rid your garden of all bugs, eggs, mould and unwanted seeds. i personally do not like to use pesticides in my garden, indoors or out. in the indoor growroom, just turning up the co2, to 5000 ppm, ( parts per million) for 5-10 minutes will explode any unwanted guests, eggs or mould into dust.yet outside is a little more difficult. my great grandmother, who was the princess of her tribe, and lived in a long house, born in 1878, lived for 106 years, gardened by hand, a 2 acre lot until the day she died.every fall she would gather up all the garden material,twigs, sticks and leaves from the yard, and set it ablaze. in the spring she would once again have herself a nice controlled fire. when as a child i had asked her why she burned her garden, she explained that the mohalk people, would do this twice a year to rid their gardens of mould, bugs, eggs, and unwanted seeds. she explained that this must be done twice, as the first blaze opens any seeds, kills the parent bugs, sterilizes the soil. the second, kills the developing pest eggs, and mould spores and destroys open seed pods. after doing this to my own garden for the first time 15 years ago, i no longer have issues with bugs, moulds, or weeds! i hate pulling weeds, its such a waste of time....the ash left behind has many benefits too! mulch this ash into the soil, and get ready for the best season you have ever had! p.s., i too grow broccoli, and find they flourish in the garden where ash has been added to soil from burning.
Open burning is prohibited in the city limits where I reside. Wood ash which is alkaline is toxic to highly alkaline soils in this area.
well, i am sorry to hear you live within the city limits. where i live, there isn't a single street light or stop light! we just got our first 4 way stop this year! its nice to be able to see the stars at night and feel somewhat free ones own land. its always raining here, and grass fires in spring and late fall are unheard of. there is only one season here, or so we joke, rain, with periods of sunshine. when the sun is out its almost warm, when the rain begins its not quite cold. same temp give or take 15 degrees. i didnt know that about Texas soil... learn something new every day...
