Crop rotation/reusing soil

Crop rotation sounds a bit grand, given that all our veggies were container-grown last year but I suppose that's what it is. I still have the soil in the pots and bags (was shop-bought compost) and I'm wondering what to grow where. In the dark recesses of my mind I have a vague memory of crop rotation in 3rd year Geography, being told you shouldn't plant potatoes in the same soil in consecutive years, and that you ought to put leguminous crops in their place. Something to do with adding nitrogen to the soil I think?

So I was thinking the following:

Last year: Beans
This year: Potatoes
Next year: Lettuce, onions, carrots

Last year: Potatoes
This year: Lettuce, onions, carrots
Next year: Beans

Last year: Lettuce, onions, carrots
This year: Beans
Next year: Potatoes

Is that right?

Or doesn't it actually matter this year as the compost is only one year old, would it still have plenty of nutrients? If I feed it would it be ok to re-plant with the same crops? It would be alot easier than shifting it all around between the pots and bags. I won't have enough soil in last year's bean pots for the potato bags so will probably end up reusing some of it anyway...

the compost will need feeding as it will pretty much be all used up from last years crop.
It's not just about different plants using more/less of specific nutrients it's also about bugs and disease
Have fun planning (I'm putting my planning of till tax return finished!)

I don't know how crop rotation works with pots of soil, all our pots are still filled with compost from last year too but I was planning to buy some more (we just dont know what to do with the old soil!), mostly because there can be bugs and diseases in used compost. You can sterilise your soil with Jeyes Fluid, but you'd probably need to add fertilizer or other nutrients to the soil to make it usable. However, root veggies like carrots and parsnips do much better in poor soil than in rich soil, so your pots of soil should be ideal for that. In crop rotation, some people like to grow "green manures" every so often instead of crops to naturally fertilise the soil, something you probably wouldnt do with pots. PLants grown in containers use up nutrients more quickly than ones grown in the grown, as the soil is limited and nutrients aren't replenished.

Did you only do potatoes last year or were there other veggies, and do you remember what pots they went in? I wouldn't have a clue now what I'd planted. I don't know enough about crop rotation to advise on it, but it could be a bit easier to buy new compost for fruiting veg (tomatoes, peppers etc) and salad leaves, and a couple of big bags doesn't usually cost too much. Sterilise your old soil and use it for root veggies and flowers etc. Or you could probably mix it (sterilised, preferably) with new compost to save on costs. I think crop rotation is mostly important on the actual land, as the soil can become barren and useless over time if it's not done, and can have effects on the surrounding ecosystem, whereas pots of soil aren't so much an issue...

Have you heard of companion planting? That might be an option too, some plants support each other when grown together, ideal for pots

Having just spoken to a friend who has much more experience in gardening, I can say now that its fine to reuse old compost as long as the previous years plants showed no signs of disease However I just tipped out a plant pot of soil from last year to discover a colony of slugs and for that reason alone i will be buying new compost again this year!

If you go with the rule potatoes follows lime, ( ie always lime the soil after you dig up your potatoes), follows legumes/pulses, follows brassicas, follows roots rule you really cant go wrong. If you doing a 3 part rotation.... http://www.allotment.org.uk/vegetable/c ... tation.php

If your going to look at companion.. also take note of sacrificial planting too

Oh I'd love to know about sacrificial planting, presumably that's where you plant something to attract the pests away from the crops? Like nasturtiums are always covered in aphids and blackfly?

Oh I'd love to know about sacrificial planting, presumably that's where you plant something to attract the pests away from the crops? Like nasturtiums are always covered in aphids and blackfly?

Absolutely!!!
So like for my cabbages.. I will plant the chinese leaf as they love it more than the regular commoners cabbage I won't get a look in on the "chinese" one .. but I'll end up with the one I want, un-eaten

Oh and for companion planting, its not always about that grow better.. sometimes.. like with tomatoes and basil.. they actually get on soooo well, that they become best friends and make each other taste nicer too!