Significance

• Succession planting is an ancient concept that requires the planting of new seeds or seedlings throughout the growing season. According to the Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener website, planting succession style makes the most efficient use of garden space. Immediately after one crop is harvested, another crop is planted in its old location.
  
  

Time Frame

• Most gardeners begin succession planting in the spring with cool-season crops like lettuce, beets and broccoli. Once those plants are harvested, often within 60 days, mid-summer, warm-weather crops are planted in their place. These could include cucumbers, carrots and Swiss chard. Within 60 to 95 days, those plants are harvested and late-summer and fall crops, like collards, spinach and snap beans, are planted in their place.
  
  

Types

• Although the crop rotation style described above is the most common type of succession planting, sometimes planting crops in succession is more about repeated harvests of the same crop. This is occasionally called "relaying," according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension website. An example of this type of succession planting is when a certain number of lettuce seeds or seedlings are planted in the garden--for example, 10 seeds or seedlings. Two weeks later, 10 more lettuce seeds are planted. Then two weeks later, another 10, and so on, so there is always lettuce to harvest and the soil never lies unplanted.
  
  

Misconceptions

• It's a mistake to think all vegetables can be grown in succession. Some summer annuals, especially those needing a long growing period, can't benefit from this method. According to the organic seed company Seeds of Change, such crops include tomatoes, eggplants, melons, peppers and most squash, pumpkins, corn and beans.
  
  

Expert Insight

• Steve Peters, writing for the Seeds of Change newsletter, stresses the key to successful succession planting is knowing how long it takes crops to mature. Therefore, it's important to plan the garden with seed packets or nursery tags in hand. Not all types of beans, for example, mature at the same rate. Some can be harvested in a month, but others may not be mature for several months.