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Laguna Hills Nursery
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Rotation of All Plants is Vitally Important!
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Greetings!
Thank you for sending ideas for future newsletter topics. Don't stop. Also, if you have a question about your garden, don't hesitate to ask. Pictures often help. If you have something to brag about, that's great too. There are a lot of plants that I never thought would succeed locally, until someone showed me the specimen they were growing.
Now that we are at The Great Park FARMERS MARKET on Sundays (10am-2pm) you can ask or show me things in person. We will have sacks of our popular potting soils on hand, our ACID MIX POTTING SOIL and our TROPICAL POTTING SOIL. If you need a large number, let us know before you come. Don't worry about carrying them, we bring carts and dollies.
By the way, if you have used 1 gallon or larger plastic nursery cans to discard, bring them by. I'll reuse them.
As a teaser, I will mention that we are very hopeful of establishing a small growing ground and retail outlet at The Great Park. We hope to get involved with some of the demonstration gardens going in. I will know more in a few weeks.
This week's topic is related to a previous topic "the longevity of plants". Proper rotation of plants in the garden is probably the most overlooked rule of gardening. This phenomenon is not exclusive to farm crops!
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Rotate the plant, or Rotate the Soil
 Proper crop rotation, or the lack of it, is also known as THE REPLANT SYNDROME. If you replace an established plant with the same plant, the resulting growth will be less than what is expected.
Almost everyone is aware that farmers rotate crops so as not to "deplete" the soil and to avoid the buildup of pests and diseases associated with that particular crop. It is the leftover dead tissue of the crop that harbors diseases. After a typical annual crop is harvested the ground in quite full of small dying and decaying roots of that crop. This situation persists until the dead tissue dissipates from natural processes and becomes insignificant. For most annual farm crops this period is 2-3 years.
Plants are no different than animals in this respect. Humans are easily sickened by dead human bodies decaying nearby. It doesn't matter whether the dead humans were sick or healthy before they died, the organisms that consume dead human tissues are detrimental to living people. Humans are not affected by dead fish, frogs, dogs, or bugs. We are are sickened by the decaying tissue of our species, or closely related animals (the great apes and monkeys). Plants are most affected by the immediate presence of dead tissue of themselves or close relatives.
Tomato plants are a common example. Farmers typically rotate crops so that tomatoes are grown once only every 2-4 years. During the other seasons and years a different unrelated crop (beans, corn, barley, cotton, lettuce, etc.) is grown. After a few years the amount of dead tomato root in the ground is insignificant and the next crop will grow unencumbered. Now, you may have grown tomato plants in your own garden 2 years in a row and gotten good results. But generally the 2nd year is not quite as good as the 1st, and the 3rd is an absolute disaster with the plant dying prematurely. Once this point is reached, a new crop of tomatoes just won't perform in that same soil for several years. You are forced to grow weeds ("let the land lie fallow") or grow an unrelated crop (stay away from the related eggplants, chiles, and potatoes) for 3 or 4 years before that plot of ground is suitable for tomato plants again.
Grapes are an example of a longer-lived crop. Vineyards are in existence for 50 or more years. When performance is no longer profitable the farmer will often remove the vines and let the ground lie fallow for a decade. This is sufficient time for the remaining grape roots to dissipate and allow a new planting that grows vigorously.
Over 20 years ago the American Rose Society published an article discussing the Rose Replant Syndrome. At that time I was just starting to grow roses and had just replanted a bed of 3 year old roses with new plants with no observable problems. However, a few years later I started replacing the second set of roses (out of boredom). While the established plants continued to do well, the new bushes among them only bloomed once and grew just a few inches that entire year. During the next few years the newest replacements remained weak and performed poorly. At the same time, other entirely new rose beds I installed did quite well.
I also found out that the wholesale rose growers (like Jackson & Perkins) grew roses in the ground as a 2-year crop, then allowed other farmers to grow other crops for 3 years before starting a new crop of roses.
Over a decade ago the U of California Davis published a study on the Apple Replant Syndrome. They found that if an apple tree in an established orchard is replaced, the new apple tree grows very poorly. They found, however, that a new apple tree would perform admirably if 1/2 cubic yard of soil (3' x 3' by 18" deep) was replaced with virgin soil (similar soil distant from the apple trees). They observed that the new tree's roots grew quickly in the virgin soil, but stopped when they encountered the old orchard soil. The researchers wouldn't speculate on just what caused what they were seeing. Just a few years ago I actually met someone whom had worked in an apple orchard while in college and noted that one of his chores was to install new trees using the above mentioned method. He said that they dug the replacement dirt from the middle of the road that goes between the rows of trees.
Researchers of the US Forest Service had long ago noted that the dying roots of a declining tree, dead tree, or recently killed tree, did not allow regrowth of the same or related species. In Nature, after a tree dies it is initially replaced by annual and perennial plants. After a number of years woody shrubs take over. After a few decades a different species of tree gets established. Observers noted that a forest can only be renewed by the same species of tree if it experiences a substantial wildfire. The extreme heat actually burns up or cooks the soil to a depth of about a foot or so. This essentially sterilizes the soil and the same trees can regrow. (Plants grow the majority of their roots within 18" of the soil's surface.)
Researches also noted that in tropical rain forests, fires are very rare. This makes for a very diverse forest. They found that the average distance between 2 trees of the same species was 170 yards.
Some farms sterilize the soil so that they can forgo rotation and grow the same crops year after year. Strawberry crops are highly valuable, and the farmers cover the field with plastic so that they can fumigate the soil beneath. Fumigation kills all living organisms (bad, good and neutral) in the soil rendering the dead strawberry roots from the previous crop relatively harmless. Keep in mind that on farms only about 1/2 of the soil has roots with the other 1/2 used for access to the beds. Every time they start a new crop the soil is mixed up, diluting the dead roots.
As an alternative to crop rotation, the apple orchards use soil rotation to replant their trees. Replacing the soil about 1 foot deep will suffice for most of your garden applications. Be certain not to substitute with "potting soils". Potting soils do not resemble soil at all. Use pure native soil dug from somewhere else in your yard, or purchase sand (washed plaster sand in bags or bulk) or sandy loam (bulk). Our Laguna Hills Nursery ACID MIX POTTING SOIL can actually work as a soil replacement for annual flower beds.
Another way to rotate soil is to do it vertically. The majority of a plants roots are in the top 8-12 inches of soil. If you replace this with the soil located a foot below the surface, the soil near the top will be relatively free of roots. This is called double-digging a bed. In our heavy soil this involves a great deal of effort.
You will see a replant syndrome even if you are just installing a plant next to an existing plant of the same type. This is because as you dig with a shovel you are cutting off and thus killing all of the roots in the soil you remove and also some just beyond the hole dug. When the new plant is installed, the soil that contains all the severed roots is placed back into the hole. This happens when gardeners try to replace a dead part of a hedge. The key to avoid this is to dig out and replace (don't reuse) as much soil as possible without severely damaging the adjacent plants.
It is not practical to try to remedy the replant problem by removing the remains of the roots from the soil. Most of the roots in the soil around the plant are quite "hair-like" and very numerous. Healthy plants have roots about every 1/4" throughout the soil. You would need a lot of time and patience.
If a plant is already established in a large container, it will show fewer problems going into the ground as a replacement. Many gardeners grow roses in a half barrel before placing it in their rose garden. This is a sufficient amount of "clean" dirt to avoid encountering the replant syndrome.
In conclusion, it is important to treat your whole garden like a farmer treats his fields. Either plan for succession in your garden beds or bring in new soil when replanting.
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Order Sweet Onions Seedlings for Huge Spring Harvest
The bountiful displays of large sweet onions at the farmer's market reminds me that it nearly time to get them ordered. I'll be placing an order for bunches of onion seedlings that will arrive the third weekend of December. These seedling are ideally planted on December 20 for maximum size potential. The mature bulbs can then be harvested in late spring or early summer. All varieties are very mild and sweet if grown properly.
Once again, here's the lineup:
Candy 5-6" yellow globe
Contessa 5" white globe, early harvest
Red Candy Apple 3-4" flattened red
Super Star 4" white globe
Texas Super Sweet 5-6" yellow globe, early harvest
White Bermuda 3-4" flattened white, early harvest
Yellow Granex 4-5" flattened yellow, early harvest
Each bunch is about 60 seedlings of one variety. Seedlings are far superior to planting "sets" ("runts" from the previous year's harvest). Here are the prices.
Order 1 bunch for $10.70
Order 2 bunches for $14.70
Order 3 bunches for $20.00
Order 4 bunches for $24.00
Order 5 bunches for $27.50
Order 6 bunches for $32.00
Order 7 bunches for $36.40
Order 8 bunches for $40.80
Send a check made out to Laguna Hills Nursery for the amount listed (this includes delivery) and your delivery address. If delivery is to a business, let us know hours of operation. After receiving, plant the seedlings as soon as possible. The seedlings can be stored standing up in an open container for up to 2 week if you can't install immediately. We need to receive your order and check before December 1, 2010.
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Hope to see you at the farmer's market.
Gary Matsuoka
LAGUNA HILLS NURSERY |
26285 Verona Place
Mission Viejo, California 92692
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