Legumes, like peas and beans, are good because they use up and produce in the soil just the opposite of what the tomatoes and peppers do. And with these, they can be trained to grow up, giving you lots more room. Hope this helps!

Kim

Mark

You didn't ask this part of the question, but you should not plant potatoes and tomatoes together or in the same beds for about three years. They are susceptible to the same diseases, so if your potatoes are bad one year, it's quite likely your tomatoes will fail if planted there the next year.

Thank you both for your responses.
Anney,
Potatoes have not done well for me here, so I no longer grow them.
I currently rotate with peas and beans, but they do not do well in the hottest part of my year. Thus I am looking for additional ideas.

Mark try fall clover to be turned under in spring 2 weeks before planting spring crop. check Peaceful Vally Farm and Garden for info and a good seed selection. bill

Mark

I forgot to include the link below. It doesn't appear to be a scholarly bit of information, but it is, I believe, correct for the most part.

She says that tomatoes are unhappy planted near potatoes and pole beans. I believe she says this because the pole beans are likely to strangle the tomato plants rather than the plants themselves having some sort of negative effect on each other.

This site claims that tomatoes are "incompatible with Cabbage, Cauliflower, Corn, Dill, Fennel, Kohlrabi, & Potato".

But all in all, tomatoes do well with legumes and a great many other vegetables.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant this with this...

I agree with br33. I have very limited space (~1100 sq. ft.) and HAVE to have lots of tomatoes and potatoes, as well as some peppers. I do not have a choice to rotate crops, except maybe move a row over a year at a time. But I sow winter wheat or ryegrass in the fall, just after the first killing frost and wait until late April to mow the foliage then till the roots in. Last year was my best crop ever and the weather was also among some of the worst.

Mike

Mark
I agree with Kim, legumes will add back nutrients that the toms need. But I don't see where anyone suggested using an inoculated legume. Inoculating your legume seed will greatly increase it's nitrogen fixing ability. I would also have to agree with Anney in that pole beans probably don't companion well with tomatoes on a trellis, stake, or cage. Although I haven't seen it in any companion planting guides, cucumbers get along rather well with toms on a trellis. Their tendrils are careful not to grab hold of the toms, reaching around the toms and coaxing them not to stray from the trellis. As an added benifit their large leaves help prevent sun scald. Do they compete? Yes, only to get to the top of the trellis. For limited space there is much to be gained by going vertical.
Ken

I have grown carrots under the shade of tomatoes in the summer and that worked well for me. I also wanted to suggest the cow pea species of legumes since they grow very well in intense heat. If you want them in green bean form you could get the ones called red noodle, green noodle or yard long beans. Limas also grow very well in the heat. So do sweet potatoes and okra, but don't put the okra too close to the tomatoes.

tomatoes and potatoes and peppers and eggplant are all in Solanacea so you should treat them as a group. Rotate with an entirely different family.

Corn would be a good rotation after tomatoes. It is a heavy feeder so your compost would be well used. Corn is in Poacea and has an entirely different set of diseases from the Solanums.

Beans and peas and cowpeas are in the legumes so they can be rotated with tomatoes, however, there are some diseases and pests in common so this is not quite as good a rotation as using corn. There is a benefit from legumes fixing nitrogen and adding organic mass to the soil.

Brassicas are not a good rotation with tomatoes. There are some diseases that affect both and the nutrients they use most heavily are nearly the same. Cabbage, Turnips, collards, kale, broccoli, and Cauliflower are in this group.

Root crops like carrots and beets can work but these are usually better if grown after beans or cowpeas.

DarJones

Where there are nematodes in the soil, some commercial growers of canning tomatoes around here plant broccoli for winter, plowing plant residue in to suppress nematodes for a tomato crop the next spring. Mustard is also sold as a cover crop to suppress nematodes. Some cultivars of blackeyed peas also suppress specific nematodes when plants are plowed under.

I was not aware that the cabbage family and tomatoes had common diseases. Perhaps resistant tomato varieties are used.

For some of us who are bound to small plot tomato growing with no opportunity to expand and rotate, heaping amounts of compost and rotted clippings/chippings on top of the beds and rotating in with a tiller has to suffice.

I don't have some of the more disasterous diseases here like late blight or TSWV, but I do have Septoria, Early Blight and various wilts and find my best defense is lots of organic material added to the beds, discovering and regrowing the more resistant and tolerant varieties, praying for clear/dry weather and practicing known to work garden sanitation.

There is an underlying assumption in your original post that needs a closer look. ;)

I know that I need to come up with a good crop to rotate into these spaces.

Please also know that while crop rotation used to be a standard commercial practice (and still is for some), it is in many ways an outdated concept and isn't mandatory in the average home garden. And as already mentioned, not practiced by many because of space constraints.

Many home gardeners with large gardens could choose to rotate if they so desired but don't. The benefits of crop rotation, assuming proper soil amendment on a regular basis, are considered minimal by many.

It is your choice of course but when making your decision, please understand that it isn't required in any way.

Dave

Hey, Dave, can you provide any kind of cite for your statement? I've been quite conscientious about crop rotation in my small plot, but would be happy to turn over most of the raised beds to tomatoes if I don't have to worry about rotation any more.

Tired of being dizzy,

Rain