Plant Spacing
Calculator

The calculator divides your bed's area by the space each plant needs (its spacing distance squared, for a square grid), giving you how many plants fit. Tighter spacing means more plants but more competition for resources.

The range accounts for growing conditions and goals: tighter spacing within the range maximizes yield per square foot for the current season but can reduce individual plant size and air circulation, while wider spacing gives each plant more room to reach full size and reduces disease risk.

Crowded plants compete for light, water, and nutrients, which typically produces smaller individual yields and increases humidity around foliage that promotes fungal diseases like powdery mildew. It's rarely worth it just to fit in a few extra plants.

Spacing recommendations are almost always measured center-to-center of each plant, not the gap between their mature edges. This matters because two plants that will each spread 12 inches wide need their centers 12 inches apart, not 12 inches of clear space between them.

Often yes. Row spacing is frequently wider than in-row spacing to leave room for walking, weeding, and equipment access, while in-row spacing is set tighter to the plant's actual mature size since you don't need to walk between individual plants in the same row.