so my concern was strictly soil disease and nutrient depletion. i would be thrilled to hear i can plant the same vegetables in the same place each year without concern. i would still move plants around from year to year but i would not be strict about never planting the same plant or family in the same place for 3-4 years. for 10 years here i have been very strict and it really makes it difficult.
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IN terms of soil disease I'm not saying that you can go forever without disease buildup, and here I'm thinking primarily of the tomatoes. But in your area what soilborne tomato diseases do you have? YOu aren't that far from me and I have none to worry about.
The tomato foliage diseases are a different matter entirely and if you mulch that helps with splashback reinfection the following year and you can also turn over the soil in that area, not just rototill, to bury the foliage disases spores and bacteria.
But lets take radishes as another example. Flea Beetles love them as they do turnips and eggplant and sometimes even tomatoes. So keeping separate areas for genetically related genera/species doesn't work in this instance.
And another example is leaf miners. They love beets and chard foliage but are also known to invade tomato foliage.
So as you can see, I have a different focus than you do when it comes to planting genetically related crops b'c especially with the insect diseases there are no boundries.
I can see planting the Solanums; tomatoes, eggplant and potatoes in one area b'c they do share so many diseases, a few of which are also shared by peppers which are in the family Solanaceae but are in the genus Capsicum, for the most part.
And as I said above, cukes and melons get wilt diseases but they don't seem to bother my squash, which are also Cucurbits .
Am I helping or hindering?
And Feldon, the issue of nomenclature is pretty much settled in terms of changing the genus name from Lycopersicon to Solanum for tomatoes. I can put up some links if you want me to.
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Carolyn
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