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Beans and Onions: Too Close for Comfort?
"simy1" wrote:
Excellent - thanks. But that book is, for example, suggesting to mix potatoes with cabbages and onions. the former prefer unlimed soil, and the latter like it well limed. I am probably going to put the potatoes in their own patch, I see nothing that goes really well with them. Perhaps. But upon re-reading it it seems to suggest using aromatic crops, perhaps as a border crop. Why it suggests potatoes as aromatic I don't know. Do potatoes produce smelly flowers or leaves? This is what I'm getting out of the book... All members of the cabbage family are heavy feeders and like a rich soil (rich meaning manured). They also crave calcium (lime). Potatoes on the other hand dislike limed soil. And while the book states that the fragrance of potatoes (and other aromatic crops) helps, it doesn't state to plant potatoes next to cabbage. (In fact, it states under the "Potatoes" section, that potatoes dislike lime). It appears as one of those overlooked things while she wrote the book (easy enough to do). That's the way I'm taking it. So perhaps planting potatoes around but not next to cabbages works well, to keep whatever causes clubroot from getting to the cabbage. Great catch! Thanks for pointing that out. Jim Carlock Post replies to the group. |
#17
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Beans and Onions: Too Close for Comfort?
Jim Carlock wrote: All members of the cabbage family are heavy feeders and like a rich soil (rich meaning manured). They also crave calcium (lime). Potatoes on the other hand dislike limed soil. And while the book states that the fragrance of potatoes (and other aromatic crops) helps, it doesn't state to plant potatoes next to cabbage. (In fact, it states under the "Potatoes" section, that potatoes dislike lime). It appears as one of those overlooked things while she wrote the book (easy enough to do). Yes, there are ways to accomodate potatoes in your garden, but really very few possible companions. Potatoes will like semi-composted wood chips mixed with compost, high organic matter, well drained, high Ca, but low pH. I suppose garlic is one of the few veggies that will thrive in similar conditions. The other veggies I know that accept some acidity (tomatoes, squash family) are all no-nos. The interesting part is that you can make life comfortable for your veggies, simply by knowing their preferred pH, and major nutrient requirements, using only wood ash (alkaline), manure (basic fertilizer), wood chips (acidity). Wood chips might be 0-0.2-0.2, pH about 4. to 5.5 depending on how advanced their composting is. Manure is 2-1-2, dry weight, and about neutral. Ash is 0-2-7, pH 10.4. Of course I use also leaves (neutral, low nutrients) and composted kitchen scraps (high nutrients, similar to manure). The best gardening books will usually tell you pH range and nutrient requirements for each veggie. You then proceed to group them according to their fertilization requirements, and then within the bed you might decide to interplant them according to companion preferences. |
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