Penn State Master Gardener Practice Exam 2026 – The Comprehensive All-in-One Guide for Mastery!

Crop rotation relies on moving crops among different plant families to break pest and disease cycles and to balance soil nutrient use. Tomatoes are in the nightshade family, so following them with another nightshade (like eggplant or potatoes) keeps similar pests and diseases alive in the soil and doesn’t provide the same rotation benefit. Corn, however, comes from the grass family and is not closely related to tomatoes, so rotating to corn after tomatoes helps disrupt those tomato-specific problems and changes nutrient demands in the soil. That’s why corn is the best choice among the options for a rotation after tomatoes.