Succession planting means sowing the same crop again at regular intervals, or following one crop with another in the same bed, so harvests arrive steadily and not in a single glut. For salad greens the carrier schedule is a new sowing every 2 weeks, each producing for about 3-4 weeks before it bolts or is harvested out. Match the interval to how long a crop stays harvestable, which you learn by recording your own sowing and harvest dates.
Succession planting is the practice of staggering sowings or following crops in the same space so the harvest of a vegetable is spread over months instead of arriving at once.
One Big Sowing Gives One Big Harvest, Then Nothing
A single sowing of lettuce matures at one time, is eaten for a short while, and then bolts or rots. A community that wants salad over many weeks must sow again before the first sowing is gone. The carrier guide (Four-Season Growing & Season Extension) gives the basic schedule: sow lettuce every 2 weeks from early spring through late summer, each sowing producing for about 3-4 weeks, so that by the time sowing 1 is finished sowing 3 is ready.
Three Ways To Stagger
- Same crop, spaced dates — see Staggered Sowing Schedules.
- Different crops in sequence in one bed — see Quick-Turnover Crop Rotations.
- A new crop started before the old one ends — see Relay Planting Techniques.
What You Need
- Seed enough for all the sowings.
- A record of sowing and harvest dates for each crop.
- Bed space that will be free when each sowing is due.
Method
Step 1: Pick a crop that is eaten fresh over a long period (lettuce, radish, spinach, beans).
Step 2: Sow a first batch, then sow again at a fixed interval. Use 2 weeks as a starting point for lettuce and adjust.
Step 3: Record when each batch is ready and when it ends, and change the interval until there are no gaps and no gluts.
Step 4: Stop sowing at the end of the crop’s suitable season. Lettuce sown in midsummer heat tends to bolt (see the carrier’s note); sow heat-tolerant types or shade the bed, and resume in late summer.
Common Mistakes
- Sowing everything at once — it is all ready the same week.
- Sowing too thinly spaced in time — gaps open when the first sowing finishes.
- Ignoring the season — a crop sown in the wrong weather fails regardless of the schedule.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Staggered Sowing Schedules — the arithmetic of intervals
- Combine with: Harvest Labor Calendar & Work Coordination — fitting the sowings into the work year