What To Plant
After Zucchini
When the last glossy zucchini has been gathered and the vines begin to yellow and collapse, the soil is ready for a change of pace.
The Best Crops To Plant After Zucchini
(The Quick Answer)
Zucchini, like all cucurbits, is a heavy feeder and can attract a rogue’s gallery of pests: squash vine borer, cucumber beetles, and powdery mildew among them.
Following with beans, peas, brassicas, carrots, or beets gives the soil a breather and helps interrupt those pest and disease cycles.
Avoid: Any other cucurbits (squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, melons). They share the same pests and diseases, making a repeat a risky move.
Why These Work
Zucchini pulls heavily on nitrogen and potassium, so legumes are a natural follow-up to replenish what’s been taken.
Brassicas can make use of leftover fertility before the soil rests, and root crops like carrots or beets need far less, allowing the bed to recover without lying idle.
Not sure which crop is right for following after your zucchini?
Let’s look more closely at the best options, why they work, and how to know when each one is the right choice.
Seeds are promises for the future, neatly tucked into paper.
Best Options to Grow After Zucchini
(The Detailed Answers)
Bush or Pole Beans & Peas
Why it works: Legumes are the soil’s quiet philanthropists, pulling nitrogen from thin air and tucking it back into the ground to bring the fertility back.
Best when: Warm-weather beans after summer harvest, cool-weather peas in fall.
Consider: Inoculate seed for better nodulation and use trellises or leftover zucchini stakes for pole varieties.
Brassicas (Broccoli, Cabbage, Kale)
Why it works: Make use of residual fertility and benefit from the nitrogen added by legumes if planted in succession.
Best when: 6–10 weeks before frost for fall crops.
Consider: Side-dress brassicas with compost or balanced fertilizer; protect from caterpillars.
Carrots or Beets
Why it works: Light feeders that adapt well to the soil after heavy cucurbits.
Best when: Late summer sowing of carrots/beets for a fall harvest, or overwinter in mild climates.
Consider: Keep seedbeds consistently moist for even germination.
Cover Crops (Clover, Oats & Peas)
Why it works: Rebuilds soil organic matter, prevents erosion, and suppresses weeds. Clover (a legume) helps rebuild nitrogen.
Best when: You’ve run out of growing season but want spring-ready soil.
Consider: Clover for nitrogen, oats for quick biomass, peas for a dual benefit.
More Unusual Companions
Fava Beans: Cool-season legumes that both feed the soil and offer a crop.
Spinach: Thrives in post-corn beds with extra compost, perfect for fall.
Asian Greens (Bok Choy, Tatsoi): Quick and flavorful; perfect for the cooler weeks post-zucchini.
Bed Reset & Prep
✅ Remove vines and any diseased leaves; don’t compost if mildew is present.
✅ Compost healthy plant material and burn any with disease.
✅ Loosen the soil gently with a fork, keeping structure intact.
✅ Add ½–1 inch compost to restore organic matter.
✅ Mulch if planting a fall crop; water in deeply.
Growing food is more than just growing food.
It’s partnership. A quiet rhythm shared between you, the plants, and the soil, deepening with each season.
All About Timing Cheatsheet
If it's:
Late Summer: Beans, peas, carrots, beets, or brassicas.
Early Fall: Sow a winter-hardy cover crop of oats/peas or clover.
Cool climates: Favor garlic, peas, brassicas, or overwintering root crops (or a nitrogen-fixing cover crop)
Warm climates: Beans or leafy greens, followed by brassicas.
The seed remembers the hand that sowed it.
What are Some Resources For Learning More About Seed Saving?
Books Worth Keeping on Your Shelf
Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth: A foundational classic, incredibly thorough with species-specific seed-saving techniques. Best for when you’re ready to dive deeper.
The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving by Seed Savers Exchange: Beautifully laid out and beginner-accessible. Offers clear charts and growing tips for over 75 crops.
Vegetable Gardener’s Bible by Edward C. Smith: Not just about seeds, this one helps you build a thriving garden from soil to harvest, so your seed saving has something to grow in.
Gaia’s Garden by Toby Hemenway: For the permaculture-inclined. Helps you see your garden as a living ecosystem — one that’s perfect for long-term seed stewardship.
Seed Sources & Swaps
Seed Savers Exchange: A nonprofit preserving heirloom seeds with a rich catalog and gardener-to-gardener swap network.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds: Stunning catalogs and rare varieties. Great for gardeners who love color, flavor, and plant diversity.
Local Seed Libraries: Check your county extension office or library -many have seasonal swaps or borrowing programs.
Online Seed Swaps & Facebook Groups: Search “[Your State] Gardeners” or “Heirloom Seed Swap” on Facebook for regional communities.
Bethany’s Tip: Don’t feel like you need everything right away. One book, one envelope, and one seed head is enough to begin.
Go Forth & Grow...
Zucchini comes in a rush, generous and unrelenting, filling baskets faster than we can carry.
It reminds us that life sometimes overflows, and that even abundance needs a pause.
Whether you shared them freely or baked them into loaves, your zucchini carried summer’s generosity into every kitchen.
This zucchini guide was just the beginning. Let it show you which crops belong after, giving the soil respite and a fresh start.
Too much, enough, begin again.
This guide was created with dirt under my fingernails, late nights, and a lot of care. No ads, no paywalls, just a simple offering for fellow growers.
If it helped you, inspired you, or made crop rotation feel just a LITTLE less mysterious (or even just if you enjoyed your ads-free time) there are two simple ways to say thanks:
Share the Love... Sow it Forward!
Share it with someone who might be interested in it.
Pin it, email it, or send it to that friend who always talks about tomatoes.
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Created by Bethany Archer, lifelong gardener and founder of Grow & Gather Life.