Succession Planting: How to Keep a Summer Patch Producing
The usual pattern in a home veggie patch is a whole lot of one thing at once, then a bed sitting empty for six weeks, then a whole lot of the next thing. Succession planting is the fix for that, and it is not complicated. It is mostly a matter of sowing less at a time and sowing more often.
Have a rough plan before you start
Work out what you are growing and roughly when each of them comes off, because the maturity dates on the back of the seed packet are what the whole thing hangs on. You do not need a spreadsheet. You need to know that the radishes are gone in five weeks and the corn is not.
Lean on the fast growers
Radishes, baby carrots and the leafy greens like rocket and Asian greens are the ones that make succession planting work, because they come off quickly and the bed is free again while there is still season left to use. Harvest, and sow the same space again straight away.
Stagger the sowing
Rather than putting the whole packet in on one Saturday, sow a portion every two or three weeks. It is the single change that turns a glut into a supply, and it is the one most people skip because sowing everything at once feels efficient at the time.
Rotate what goes in after what
Follow a heavy feeder with something that puts nitrogen back. Corn or tomatoes come out, beans or peas go in, and the bed recovers while it is still producing for you. Rotating families also breaks the cycle for the pests and diseases that specialise in one of them.
Intercrop the fast with the slow
Put radishes or lettuce between the rows of something slow like corn or tomatoes. The quick crop is harvested and out of the way by the time the big one needs the room, so you have had two crops off one piece of ground.
Feed the soil between rounds
Turning a bed over repeatedly takes a lot out of it, so put something back after every crop rather than at the start of the season only. Compost, aged manure or an organic fertiliser through the top before you sow again is enough, and skipping it is why the third round is always the disappointing one.
Use the shade you have
Taller crops throw shade, and shade extends the season for anything that struggles in the heat. Put the leafy greens on the shaded side of the corn and they will keep going weeks longer than they would in the open.
Write down when you planted
A notebook or a note on your phone with the sowing date beats memory every time, because by the back half of the season you will not remember which end of the bed went in first. Knowing the dates is what tells you when the next sowing is due.
Companion planting stacks on top of it
Basil next to tomatoes is the well known one, and it helps the tomatoes along while putting a few pests off at the same time. Since you are already planning the beds, you may as well get the pairings right while you are at it.
Clear and replant the same day
The moment a crop is finished, pull the debris out, refresh the soil and sow the next lot. Every week a bed sits empty in summer is a week of growing weather you have given away.
Shop related products
- D.T. Brown Radish Cherry Belle Seed. About five weeks from sowing, which is what makes it the succession crop.
- D.T. Brown Radish French Breakfast Seed. A second variety, so you are not eating the same radish all summer.
- D.T. Brown Rocket Seed. Cut and come again, and quick to replace.
- D.T. Brown Lettuce All Year Seed. Sow a short row of it every fortnight.
- D.T. Brown Carrot Chantenay Seed. A shorter carrot, so it is off the bed sooner.
- Brunnings Garden Compost with Seaweed 25L. Between every round, not just at the start.
The seed racks and the soil improvers are in the garden centre, and if you want a hand working out a sowing order for your own beds, come in and we will sketch one out. Nobody starts out knowing this, and it is a lot faster to be told than to work it out over three seasons like I did.
More from the garden
- How to Water a Veggie Garden in Summer Heat
- Heat Tolerant Vegetables: Ten to Grow in a Hot Summer
- Companion Planting: Flowers to Grow With Your Vegetables
Cheers, Candeece. I am very good at keeping the sowing notebook for about three weeks and then trusting my memory instead.
