Space requirements

[sunnychooks]

After many weeks of lurking in the shadows of this forum and trying to figure out what I want to plant I FINALLY ordered my veggie seeds!!!

I ordered them from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. I got tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, peas and lettuce (I decided on zucchini because I saw a post about what to do with 100 lbs of extra zucchini so I figured it was a good bet to grow and I ordered lettuce because everything I read says it's pretty much a no-brainer! ).

Anyway... I know that certain veggie plants require a certain amount of space around them, but I'm having trouble finding out how far apart to plant my transplants/seeds. Can someone help me out? I would like to plan my garden BEFORE I have seeds or plants in hand and ready to put in the ground!

 

[digitS']

Sunnychooks, some folks have based their entire gardening on careful spacing. And, if you don't have much - - space that is - - it makes a lot of sense . Mel Bartholomew has a book in the library for you called Square Food Gardening. It will provide spacing information and so does this Home & Garden TV article but you should consider these numbers as absolute bare minimums for plant spacing.

I've got more space and have learned that plants don't grow in square shapes . I mean, outside of a boxwood hedge . . . Still, where my soil is deeply cultivated and fertile - I'll pack 'em it! But, my gardening in that area bears more resemblance to how these Purdue horticulturalists are suggesting in their "Small Plot and Intensive Gardening."

You'll notice in the square foot approach, it is recommended that one square foot has room for 16 spinach plants . The Purdue folks are saying that planted in close rows, 4 spinach plants will occupy a square foot. I prefer that rather than have the plants packed like sardines in a can. All 4 plants can reach some maturity rather than be aggressively harvested from the tiniest stages. Of course, the thinnings make good salads, too .

Really, I don't think that some plants should be crowded. Zucchini has enuf trouble with mildew in my garden without it being smothered with its neighbors. Many gardeners use a "rule of thumb" that the plants at harvest should only just be touching or even not quite touching each other. Until that stage of maturity, they have open space all around them. By this school of thought, this is for any plants but I can certainly see the wisdom in my row of zucchini.

Here's a more traditional wide spacing Vegetable Planting Chart from Clemson University (bottom of the page). Notice how far apart the rows are for every vegetable. Even the radish rows are recommended at 24 inch spacing. Summer squash has 60 inch rows and 48 inches between plants and that's just what I do.

One thing that helps determine spacing besides space - is what you intend to do about weeds. After all, only a rototiller can pass between radishes, 24 inches apart.

Hope these resources help!

Steve

 

[ozark hen]

sunnychooks, since you ordered from Jere at Baker Heirloom Seeds, I would call them. They are here where we live and they are extremely helpful. They would answer your questions gladly.

 

[patandchickens]

Steve, may I gently suggest the possibility that the square-foot gardening thing doesn't sound 'right' to you because it is simply aimed at people gardening in a completely different way than you do?

And that, for people who ARE in a completely different situation, so-called square foot gardening MAY INDEED be quite useful, despite your comments?

By this school of thought, this is for any plants but I can certainly see the wisdom in my row of zucchini.

The book recommends trellising zucchini, in which case mildew is not likely to be a problem.

I've got more space and have learned that plants don't grow in square shapes

Well of course they don't, silly. It is not only about available space, it is also about available energy, time, organic materials, and water; and about maximizing yeild PER SQUARE FOOT, not per plant.

It's great that you have oodles of land which (now) has good soil; and it's great that you have lots of time and energy and water to put into maintaining it. But Steve, lots of people have small yards, and/or water restricitons, and/or one or two fulltime jobs, and/or small children to take care of, and/or just plain other things that they want to do with their days. Tiny compact intensive garden plots really do take a WHOLE LOT less to maintain than bigger ones. If someone is short of time/energy/water/compost, and can grow as much in a smaller area as they could by more traditional methods in a larger area, then my goodness doesn't that make more sense for them?

Just because you don't do it yourself and it doesn't lend itself to your particular situation doesn't mean that other people, in different situations, should be steered away from it, eh?

I don't use square-foot gardening either, actually... albeit for reasons very different from yours, or probably most other people's here. (I really have very little enthusiasm for veg gardening when there are farmers' markets around, and so even the amount of energy/time required for Mel Bartholomew's schemes exceeds what I care to invest, given the large number of other demands on my time and energy around here. So my personal program is basically to only grow veggies that you "can't kill with a stick" and that I really really like; I've taken the time to get the soil in good shape, but beyond that I will start the plants, stick them in the ground once they're hardened off, mulch the plot, and after that they are basically on their own. I water my veg garden a couple of times *per summer*, you know? And pull any weeds that get thru the mulch (very few). I get lots of tomatoes and beans and lettuce and so forth this way, so it's still pletny good for my modest ambitions ) (I've messed around with 'square foot gardening' in the past, mind you.)

But the fact that it isn't quite right for me does not stop me from seeing how useful it is for many other people in different circumstances.

And for heaven's sake, it is not a religion -- it is just a collection of ideas some guy had (or really, put together -- he did not *invent* most of it!). A person doesn't have to use all of 'em! Don't want to make raised beds? Fine, don't; you can still plant in intensive squares. Don't want to plant in intensive sqares? So space your plants further apart, what's the big deal. And there is still a lot of OTHER good basic gardening info in the 'square foot gardening' book regarding successive plantings, multiple crops, good garden beds, etcetera.

I am puzzled at how certain books or other publications seem to get canonized as Methods, rather than viewed as part of a buffet from which to choose and then modify for one's own ends.

<shrug>

Sittin' down now and shuttin' up,

Pat

 

[ozark hen]

My hat is off to you Pat. Well said. I just received a gardening magazine and it features POSTAGE STAMP gardening. These types of gardening have been around for decades or more. To each his own. :bouquet

 

[digitS']

I reread what I said yesterday about the different methods regarding plant spacing. I did have some problems with words: "pack 'em it" instead of "pack 'em in" and I forgot the "small" in "only a (small) rototiller can pass between radishes, 24 inches apart." What I don't see is any effort to steer anyone anywhere specifically. I don't even see where I espoused a right way to do anything.

I thought I was presenting fairly broad information from reputable sources other than my own methods and experience (2 cooperative extension publications, a best-selling book I first read 20-odd years ago, and a HG television article).

My approaches have also varied over time and each year methods vary on the different soils of my gardens. Most of that soil is not especially fertile but I thought I was making the point that where it is fertile - I try to take advantage of that with close spacing. It seemed that I was expressing some adaptability.

I'm sorry that my motivations were not more clear.

Steve