Crop rotation

Vegetable plant families for crop rotation

The short answer

“Roots” is not a family. Carrots and parsnips are the carrot family; beetroot is the beet and chard family; swede, turnip and radish are brassicas. Chives are in the onion family, and sweetcorn is a grass. For rotation it is the family that counts, because that is what clubroot, white rot and eelworm follow.

Rotation works by family, because the soil problems it avoids follow family lines. The families don't always match how we group vegetables in the kitchen.

The families in a vegetable plot

Built from Vercro's own curated taxonomy and crop catalogue. “In Vercro's check” is how the rotation check treats that family.

Vegetable plant families, their crops and how Vercro's rotation check treats them
Family	Common crops in it	In Vercro's check	Why it matters
Cabbage familyBrassicaceae	Broccoli, Brussels Sprout, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chinese Cabbage, Kale, Kohlrabi, Mizuna, Mustard, Pak choi, Purple Sprouting Broccoli, Radish, Rocket, Swede, Turnip	Wait about a year	Clubroot lives in soil for years once it arrives
Pea and bean familyFabaceae	Asparagus Pea, Broad Bean, Dwarf French Bean, French Bean, Mangetout, Pea, Runner Bean, Sugar Snap Pea	Wait about a year	Pea and bean root rots build up where they are grown repeatedly
Carrot familyApiaceae	Carrot, Celeriac, Celery, Fennel, Florence Fennel, Parsley, Parsnip	Wait about a year	Carrot root fly and violet root rot both carry over
Onion familyAmaryllidaceae	Chives, Garlic, Leek, Onion, Shallot, Spring Onion	Wait about a year	White rot persists in soil and spreads slowly
Squash familyCucurbitaceae	Butternut Squash, Courgette, Cucumber, Melon, Pumpkin, Squash	No warning	No documented soil problem from repeating it
Potato and tomato familySolanaceae	Aubergine, Bell Pepper, Chilli, Potato, Tomato	Wait about a year	Potato cyst nematode (eelworm) eggs can survive in soil for up to ten years, and blight carries over in potatoes left in the ground
Beet and chard familyAmaranthaceae	Beetroot, Chard, Perpetual Spinach, Spinach	No warning	No documented soil problem from repeating it
Lettuce and daisy familyAsteraceae	Chicory, Endive, Lettuce, Sunflower	No warning	Sclerotinia can carry over where lettuce is grown intensively
Honeysuckle familyCaprifoliaceae	Lamb's Lettuce	No warning	No documented soil problem from repeating it
Bindweed familyConvolvulaceae	Sweet Potato	No warning	No documented soil problem from repeating it
Grass familyPoaceae	Sweetcorn	No warning	No documented soil problem from repeating it

“Wait about a year”: Vercro marks crops of the same family to wait when that family grew in the bed in the last year.

The ones that catch people out

Radish, turnip and swede are brassicas
They share clubroot with cabbages. The RHS lists all three among the crops it affects. See brassica rotation.
Rocket, pak choi and mustard too
Salad and green-manure brassicas count. The RHS says not to follow mustard green manure with other brassicas.
Beetroot is not a carrot
Beetroot, chard and spinach are the beet and chard family. The RHS still puts beetroot in its roots group for convenience.
Chives and leeks are onions
They share white rot with onions and garlic. See onion family rotation.
Tomatoes are potatoes
Same family, same eelworm. See potato rotation.
Parsley and celery are carrots
The carrot family includes parsley, celery, celeriac and fennel.

So what counts as a root crop in rotation?

In the RHS rotation, the roots group is beetroot, carrot, celeriac, celery, Florence fennel, parsley and parsnip. That is a practical grouping, mostly of the carrot family, plus beetroot. Swede, turnip and radish are left out of it and put with the brassicas, and potatoes have their own group.

One problem does cross the lines: AHDB notes violet root rot is most often seen after carrots or beet, and it affects potatoes too.

Which families matter most depends on what you grow. Among UK gardeners in Vercro, the potato and tomato family and the onion family were the most widely recorded this season; see what Vercro gardens are growing.

What Vercro doesn't know

Where Vercro can't place a crop in one family, it says so rather than guessing. A mixed packet of “salad leaves” can hold three families, so the rotation check won't say whether it is safe to follow. Guessing a family produces confident wrong advice, which is worse than none.

Frequently asked questions

Is a radish a brassica?

Yes. Radish is in the cabbage family (Brassicaceae), along with turnip, swede, rocket, pak choi and mustard. The RHS puts radish, swede and turnips in its brassica rotation group, and lists them among the crops clubroot affects.

What counts as a root crop in crop rotation?

In the RHS rotation, the roots group is beetroot, carrot, celeriac, celery, Florence fennel, parsley and parsnip. Swede, turnip and radish are eaten as roots but go with the brassicas, and potatoes have a group of their own.

What family is beetroot in?

The beet and chard family (Amaranthaceae), with chard and spinach. It is not the carrot family, even though it sits in the RHS roots group.

Keep going

Where this comes from

Crop windows, growing times and plant families come from Vercro's own curated crop catalogue, the same data the Vercro app uses. Where a published source says something different, we show both rather than choosing the convenient one. Reviewed 19 September 2026.

Crop rotation, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Club root, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Green manures, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Chard: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
Violet root rot, AHDB. Read 19 September 2026.

Vercro sorts crops by family for you

Vercro files every crop by botanical family, so when you plan a bed its rotation check looks at the right relatives.

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