Maize Relay Intercropping with Tobacco Enhances Soil Buffering Capacity and Maintains Yield Under Continuous Cropping

A two-year field experiment was conducted in Tengchong, Yunnan, to evaluate the effects of tobacco monoculture (TM) and maize relay intercropping with tobacco (TIM) on subsequent tobacco growth and the rhizosphere microenvironment. Results showed that TIM significantly increased plant height by 11.8% and maximum leaf length by 12.4% at the vigorous growth stage without reducing yield. Although leaf chloride content increased and the potassium-to-chloride ratio decreased, both remained within high-quality ranges. Relay-cropped silage maize yielded 4.86 t·hm^-2, adding 1.70 × 10⁴ CNY·hm^-2. TIM reduced nitrogen accumulation in aboveground tobacco and temporarily lowered soil organic matter and available potassium, while increasing acid phosphatase, peroxidase, and urease activities. Soil bacterial α-diversity increased, with enrichment of beneficial genera, including Candidatus Solibacter, Talaromyces, and Penicillium. Metabolomics identified 1043 metabolites, with upregulation of galactinol, N-acetyl-L-tryptophan, and 3-dehydroshikimic acid, enriched in cyanogenic amino acid and cysteine-methionine pathways. PLS-PM and Mantel analyses indicated that relay-cropped maize indirectly regulates nutrient availability via microbial and metabolic pathways. These results show that maize relay intercropping creates a soil "legacy effect," shifting the system from direct nutrient competition to microbially mediated nutrient buffering.