Plant Spacing Calculator

Spacing is where most raised beds are won or lost. Plant too far apart and you waste the expensive soil you just paid for. Plant too close and you get leggy, disease-prone plants competing for light. This plant spacing calculator works two ways: use the square foot gardening planner to lay out a bed crop by crop and get an exact planting list, or switch to row and area spacing if you plant in traditional rows and just need to know how many plants will fit.

Square foot gardening Row & area spacing

Bed size (squares)

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Common sizes

2 x 43 x 64 x 44 x 84 x 12

Crop to plant Carrots — 16 per sq ftRadishes — 16 per sq ftOnions (bulbing) — 16 per sq ftScallions — 16 per sq ftBeets — 9 per sq ftTurnips — 9 per sq ftGarlic — 9 per sq ftLeeks — 9 per sq ftPotatoes — 4 per sq ftSweet potatoes — 1 per sq ftSpinach — 9 per sq ftArugula — 9 per sq ftMustard greens — 9 per sq ftLettuce (leaf) — 4 per sq ftLettuce (head) — 4 per sq ftSwiss chard — 4 per sq ftCelery — 4 per sq ftBroccoli — 1 per sq ftCabbage — 1 per sq ftCauliflower — 1 per sq ftBrussels sprouts — 1 per sq ftKale — 1 per sq ftCollard greens — 1 per sq ftKohlrabi — 4 per sq ftTomatoes — 1 per sq ftPeppers — 1 per sq ftEggplant — 1 per sq ftOkra — 1 per sq ftCorn — 4 per sq ftStrawberries — 4 per sq ftBush beans — 9 per sq ftPeas — 8 per sq ftPole beans — 8 per sq ftChives — 16 per sq ftCilantro — 4 per sq ftParsley — 4 per sq ftBasil — 4 per sq ftDill — 1 per sq ftThyme — 4 per sq ftOregano — 1 per sq ftSage — 1 per sq ftRosemary — 1 per sq ftCucumbers — 2 per sq ftZucchini / summer squash — 1 per 2 sq ftWinter squash — 1 per 2 sq ftMelons — 1 per 2 sq ftPumpkins — 1 per 2 sq ftMarigolds — 4 per sq ftNasturtiums — 1 per sq ftZinnias — 4 per sq ftSunflowers — 1 per sq ft

Tomatoes — 1 per square, about 12 in apart · Indeterminate types need staking

Click or drag across the squares to plant. Click a planted square again to clear it.

Fill empty squares Clear all

32squares in bed

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No squares planted yet. Pick a crop above and click the grid to build your planting plan.

Square foot gardening spacing chart

Square foot gardening divides a bed into 12 inch squares and assigns each crop a set number of plants per square. The whole system rests on four densities: 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square, which correspond to 12, 6, 4, and 3 inch spacing. Large sprawling crops get more than one square to themselves.

How square foot gardening spacing works

The logic is simpler than it looks. Take the spacing a seed packet recommends between plants, then work out how many of those fit across a 12 inch square:

• 12 inch spacing gives 1 plant per square — tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, broccoli.
• 6 inch spacing gives 4 per square — lettuce, chard, basil, marigolds.
• 4 inch spacing gives 9 per square — bush beans, spinach, beets, garlic.
• 3 inch spacing gives 16 per square — carrots, radishes, onions, scallions.

Seed packets usually list two numbers, a plant spacing and a much wider row spacing. The row spacing exists so a person can walk between rows in a field. In a raised bed you never walk on the soil, so you can ignore the row number entirely and space plants equally in both directions. That single change is why a raised bed produces far more per square foot than the same area planted in rows.

Row and triangular spacing

If you are planting in rows rather than squares, the number of plants that fit is the area divided by the space each plant occupies:

Plants = Area ÷ (Plant spacing × Row spacing)

That formula assumes a square grid, where every plant lines up with the one behind it. Triangular spacing staggers alternate rows so each plant sits in the gap between the two in front of it. At the same spacing it fits about 15% more plants into the same bed, because the formula picks up a factor of 0.866:

Triangular plants = Area ÷ (Plant spacing × Row spacing × 0.866)

Triangular is worth using for anything you want to form a solid block, such as lettuce, greens, or a flower planting. Square grids are easier to weed, harvest, and replant, which is why square foot gardening uses them.

A worked example: the 4x8 bed

A 4 ft by 8 ft bed is 32 square feet, so 32 squares. A productive mixed layout might be 4 squares of tomatoes (4 plants), 6 squares of lettuce (24 plants), 4 squares of bush beans (36 plants), 2 squares of carrots (32 plants), 4 squares of basil (16 plants), and 12 squares left for succession planting through the season. That is over 100 plants in a bed most people would put six tomatoes in.

Once you know your layout, the raised bed soil calculator will tell you how much soil that same bed needs to fill.

Frequently asked questions