Friday, June 26, 2009

Multi-cropping


I space my tomatoes pretty far apart to allow for good air circulation so that conditions that favor blight will be reduced. I am also on the lookout for opportunities to multi-crop. I got the idea earlier in the season that it might be a good idea to grow some bush snap beans between the tomatoes. There were 4 possible benefits i reasoned. 1. the tomatoes could take advantage of the nitrogen fixed by the rhizobium bacteria that colonize the bean roots. ( i inoculated the seed). 2. the beans would shade the soil which would reduce evaporation and keep the roots of the tomatoes cooler. 3. We would get 2 crops out of the space. 4. The blight organisms live in the soil and get onto the lower tomato leaves by being splashed by the rain. By having the beans between the soil and the tomato leaves blight infestation might be reduced.
I waited until the tomatoes were about 3' tall before planting the beans. The beans are starting to produce now. The tomato plants are doing well. No blight so far.
Seems like it is working.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Looks great, and I'm glad the method is working for you. Could you please share the spacing distance between the tomatoes?
Thank you,
Roni