I’m glad crop rotation is going out of style because it used to be a stuffy, hard thing to do. But don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater! I love how crops move around and mix with each other, and so does your soil. It has a lot of benefits.
Rotation is simply moving crops about and mixing them up. It’s also good for soil balance because each crop needs different nutrients and helps different kinds of soil life grow.
And it keeps good health by providing a break in disease cycles. There are only 3 vegie fam’s with potential for soil borne disease:
You can move other plants, but give these guys extra care and give them as much space as possible before planting them again in the same spot. And in that space, grow as big a variety of crops as poss. That’s it! Don’t get hung on the details, just mix and move. Keep a notebook to jog your memory.
As a passionate gardener, I know how rewarding it is to harvest a bumper crop of beans. Whether you grew bush beans, pole beans, or any other legume, watching those pods fill out over the summer is so satisfying. But then comes the question – what should you plant after beans?
Proper crop rotation is crucial for a healthy garden. By rotating vegetable families each year, you prevent pest and disease issues from building up in the soil. You also ensure the soil gets replenished with the nutrients each plant needs. So the crop you choose after beans is an important decision.
In this article, I’ll explain why crop rotation matters and walk through the best vegetables to plant after beans I’ll also share tips on using cover crops in your rotation and how to track your rotation plan Let’s dive in!
Why Crop Rotation Matters
Crop rotation refers to planting different vegetable families in the same spot in successive years. It brings two major benefits for your garden soil and plants:
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Pest/disease control – Many pests and diseases attack specific crops year after year Rotating families starves them out
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Improved soil nutrition – Different plants leach or deposit different nutrients. Rotation prevents nutrient depletion and imbalance.
Rotating crops has been a farming practice for centuries and remains critical today. Without rotation, gardens often become less productive over time.
Ideal Crops to Follow Beans
As legumes, beans enrich soil with nitrogen through a process called nitrogen fixation. This makes them an excellent precursor for heavy feeding crops with high nitrogen needs.
Some great options include:
Tomatoes
One of the most popular crops for succession planting after beans are tomatoes. As fruiting vegetables, tomatoes thrive with the nitrogen boost provided by beans. Wait at least 3 years before planting tomatoes or other nightshades like peppers or eggplant in the same spot.
Sweet Corn
Another heavy feeding crop, corn can soak up leftover bean nitrogen efficiently. For best results, choose a quick maturing super-sweet corn variety. Look to harvest before summer heat peaks.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers make a refreshing successor to beans in the garden. They ramble aggressively, so be sure to provide strong trellising or cages for support. Plant cukes from seed or seedlings 4-6 weeks after your final bean harvest.
Summer & Winter Squash
All types of squash are nitrogen loving plants. They perform exceptionally well when rotated into former bean beds. Consider interplanting quick-growing summer squash with slower winter varieties.
Cabbage Family (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts, etc)
Cole crops thrive when rotated into bean beds. The extra nitrogen fuels rapid growth of broccoli heads, cauliflower curds, and brussels sprouts. Just be sure soil phosphorus levels are also sufficient.
Onions and Garlic
Onions, garlic, and other alliums appreciate both the nutrient recharge and pest break they get from following beans. For best yields, plant allium bulbs in the fall after clearing spent bean plants.
Flowers like Zinnias, Marigolds, and Cosmos
Blooming annual flowers make great interim plantings after finishing your bean harvest. They prevent soil nutrient depletion and break pest cycles while adding color.
Cover Crops
Rather than leave soil bare, plant cover crops like buckwheat, clover, and legumes to rebuild fertility. Incorporate them into the ground before next vegetable planting. More on this below!
Using Cover Crops in Rotation with Beans
Cover crops are plants grown solely to enrich and protect soil between cash crops like beans. They provide living roots in the garden year-round, which brings many benefits:
- Prevent erosion
- Suppress weeds
- Fix nitrogen (legumes)
- Accumulate nutrients from lower soil depths
- Improve soil structure and water retention
Common cover crop options include cereals (rye, wheat), legumes (clover, vetch), and broadleaves (buckwheat, mustard). Mixes combine several varieties to maximize advantages.
After cutting down spent bean plants, sow cover crops to occupy the space until your next planting. Once they reach maturity, mow or till them into the soil about 2-3 weeks before planting your next vegetable crop. This gives time for decomposition so nutrients are available.
Cover crops are a simple way to keep your bean beds nourished and productive. No need to leave plots fallow!
Keeping Track of Your Crop Rotation Schedule
With all these options for crop succession after beans, how do you remember your plan from year to year?
A crop rotation planner is essential. This can be as simple as a notebook listing what you grew in each bed over the past 3-5 years. Sketch out a map of your vegetable garden beds and jot down notes.
Alternatively, create a garden planning spreadsheet with a tab for each bed. Log crop, variety, date planted, date harvested, yield, and any other notes. This gives you data to pick ideal timing and varieties the following year.
Tracking crop rotation diligently prevents nasty surprises like soil-borne disease outbreaks. Refer to your records when deciding what to plant after beans and you’ll maintain healthy, productive soil for seasons to come.
Putting It All Together – Sample 3 Year Rotation Plan
To summarize, here is an example three-year rotation schedule for a vegetable garden following a bean harvest:
Year 1 – Beans
Pole beans, bush beans, soybeans – any type!
Year 2 – Heavy Feeders
Tomatoes, peppers, corn, squash, or cole crops. Must be different plant family than beans.
Year 3 – Onions/Garlic + Cover Crop
Plant fall allium sets or bulbs. Sow cover crop like cereal rye after garlic harvest.
Then repeat the cycle again! Adapt plan based on your local growing conditions and garden layout.
Planning crop rotation for after clearing spent bean plants is an essential garden chore. With smart succession planting, you can take full advantage of the soil-enhancing properties of bean nitrogen fixation.
Follow beans with heavy feeding nightshades, vines, brassicas, alliums, and cover crops. Avoid planting the same families repeatedly. Track your rotation to prevent pest and nutrition issues.
With a thoughtful crop plan after beans, your vegetable garden will continue producing bountiful harvests for many seasons to come. Happy planting!
My crop rotation pattern
This rotation is my simplified version of one I learned many years ago from Kay Baxter. I love it for its flexibility and ease.
GREENCROP ⮕ COMPOST ⮕ HEAVY FEEDER ⮕ LIGHT FEEDER ⮕ START AGAIN
1. Start with a mixed greencrop: Sow a mix of seasonally appropriate greencrop seed. Be sure to include a nitrogen fixer.
2. Follow with a heavy feeder: We’ve primed the soil, so lets use it!
Either plant amongst the standing greencrop. It’s my guess that seedlings grow quickly in this well-kept environment because their little roots connect directly to the fungi and all those adult roots. This works well for:
Or clear the greencrop, spread compost over the bed and plant. This works well for
- Alliums: onions, leeks, garlic, who prefer clear space.
3. Then put out a light feeder. If the soil is good, you don’t need to do anything else before planting or sowing light feeders. (You’ll know it’s good because your DIY test + your crops tell you so. ) However, not so great soil like sand or heavy clay soil may need something more. Options are to aerate clay soil first. Then in both scenarios, add a fine layer of compost and/or vermicastings before sowing or planting.
If you need to follow a heavy feeder with another heavy feeder because you’re out of room, don’t worry—just make up the difference by adding compost or planting a nitrogen-fixing greencrop next to the crop.
Do you NEED to Rotate Your Crops?
FAQ
What is best to plant after beans?
What grows well after green beans?
Can I plant beans in the same place each year?
What order to plant a vegetable garden?
Can you plant a vegetable garden after beans?
Our Top Crops To Plant After Beans Depending on your zone, you may be able to have a flourishing vegetable garden from Spring all the way into winter and can continue planting crop after crop until the end of your season.
What is the best way to eat beans?
The best way to eat beans is to first cook them in a large pot of water, about 4 cups of water to every 1 cup of beans. Adding lemon grass or other herbs to the water can improve the flavor. Once beans are cooked the best thing to do is combine them with cooked rice, this is because beans are low in methionine and rice is low in lysine, so combining them makes a more complete protein.
When should you plant beans?
It’s important to plant your beans early enough in the year that you get a crop before the peak heat of summer. You may be able to get a second harvest season if you time new plants to reach adult stages once the summer’s heat has died back down again.
How do you care for a bean plant?
Beans have shallow roots, so mulch keeps them cool. Water regularly, about 2 inches per square foot per week. If you do not keep beans well watered, they will stop flowering. Water on sunny days so that foliage will not remain soaked, which could encourage disease. If necessary, begin fertilizing after heavy bloom and the set of pods.
How do you keep beans alive during the season?
Save your containers for plants such as tomatoes or peppers. Here’s are some basic care tips for keeping your beans alive throughout the season. Water frequently and keep the soil moist by adding mulch around the base of your bean plants. Avoid watering plant tops and give about 1/2 inch of water per week.
Can you plant beans outside?
Beans don’t like having their roots disturbed, so set up any supports for pole beans prior to planting. Beans grow best when direct-seeded outdoors. Sow any time after the last spring frost date, when the soil has warmed to at least 55°F (12°C). Don’t plant too early, as cold, moist soil will delay germination and could cause the seeds to rot.