Many gardeners think that getting a bigger yield solely depends on how much fertilizers they pump into their plants. While taking care of your plant through fertilizers and nutrients is good, one of the keys to successfully raising a healthy plant is good spacing.
You will spend less time, money, and effort with the right spacing and get tremendous results. I know sometimes tracking how much space your vegetables need is hard. To make this easier for you, I’ve prepared a chart that will come in handy.
How far Apart to Space Vegetable Plants
The most typical garden design consists of parallel rows spaced out at regular intervals to give your plants room to grow and provide you room to work. A block pattern can be used by gardeners who want to make the most of a small plot.
The block pattern uses the same distance between rows and plants to produce a grid of plants. Although you can plant more veggies with this form of row spacing, your plants may be more vulnerable to dryness and weed competition due to the closer spacing. This spacing works best in fertile soils with excellent drainage where weed competition is minimal.
Alternatively, you can plant your vegetables in rows. Spacing leaves plenty of room for your plants to flourish and for you to work in. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to leave 18 to 36 inches between each row of plants. Large garden plants with expansive growth tendencies, including cucumbers, and melons, do best when grown in rows that are spaced 36 to 72 inches apart.
In addition to giving you a more comfortable working space, spacing your rows somewhat wider apart than the recommended minimum for the plants you’re using might stimulate bigger, and healthier veggies. If you want, you can add companion plants to your vegetables to foster growth.
Planting small garden vegetable plants like beets, onions, pea plants, and radishes require around three to four inches of space between plants in a row. Leeks, leaf lettuce, rutabaga, and spinach, which are slightly larger plants, grow best with about four to six inches of spacing between the centers of each plant.
On the other hand, pole beans require a spacing of around six to twelve inches, whereas mustard, Swiss chard, and kohlrabi thrive with a spacing of six to nine inches. Chinese cabbage, lettuce heads, and potato plants require a minimum of 10 to 12 inches between each plant.
When growing vegetables such as broccoli, and cucumber, you should note that they require between 12 and 18 inches of space between each plant. Asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, endive, cauliflower, and kale plants don’t like a lot of competition. They grow well when they are spaced 15 to 18 inches apart. Even more, space is needed for large plants that need a lot of water to develop.
Eggplant, summer squash, and tomatoes will receive the water required if you space them 18 to 24 inches apart. The best results are obtained when winter squash, pumpkins, and watermelons are planted with a minimum spacing of 36 inches.
Vegetable Spacing in Raised Bed
Vegetables can also be planted on a raised bed. One of the advantages of planting on a raised bed is that it allows you to easily access your vegetables when it is harvest season.
Carrots, green onions, and radishes should have gaps of 2 to 3 inches. Other vegetables such as celery, leaf lettuce, and Swiss chard need spaces of 7 to 9 inches on both sides, whereas beets, garlic, leeks, spinach, and turnips need spaces of 4 to 6 inches.
If you are planting lettuce, leave 10 to 12 inches on all sides between each head of lettuce. Corn grows best when planted in blocks and should be spaced about 12 inches apart in raised bed blocks or rows. Peppers, potatoes, and cabbage need between 15 and 18 inches of spacing, whereas tomato plants need 12 inches of room on both sides.
You can also place already established vegetable seedlings on your raised bed. Established seedlings should be transplanted onto raised gardens using the same spacing guidelines. But they should only be half as far apart as in a typical garden.
If the plants seem too close together or you need to dig in the soil and potentially disrupt the roots of other plants, I advise you to use your best judgment. While maximizing space is the goal, caution must be taken to avoid crowding, as this could deprive the plants of vital nutrients and moisture.
There are a few factors that necessitate spacing on a raised bed. One of the factors is maneuverability. When planting vine crops like squash, cucumbers, and pumpkins, rows must be spaced out by several feet to give the plants the necessary room to spread out. Other crops, like bush beans, require a minimum standard distance to prevent crowding and premature depletion of soil nutrients.
Why is It Important To Space Vegetables?
I tell you from experience that spacing your vegetables is one of the best things you can do for them. If you’ve been struggling with getting results from your planting, try spacing. Below are a few reasons why it is important to space your vegetables.
- Disease Management
Have you ever had a sibling who suddenly came down with the flu? Did you notice how the flu suddenly began to spread to everyone else in the house? Plants are the same. Spacing your plants appropriately reduces disease risk by improving your plant immune system.
It is easy for disease to spread from one plant to another if the plants are growing on top of one another, so plants growing too closely together are not as healthy as plants with enough space. Overcrowding also reduces air circulation, which helps prevent disease.
- Bumper Yield
You do want that bumper harvest, right? Then, space your plants—optimal plant spacing results in higher yields. With fewer plants, you’ll get more products, saving time, energy, and money.
Vegetable Spacing Chart
I promised to give you a spacing chart at the end of this guide; check it out below.
| Vegetable | Inches Between Plant | Inches Between Rows |
| Tomato | 18-36 | 60-120 |
| Spinach, New Zealand | 12 | 24-36 |
| Watermelon | 24-72 | 60-120 |
| Squash Winter | 24-48 | 60-120 |
| Squash Summer | 24-36 | 18-48 |
| Pepper | 18-24 | 24-36 |
| Irish Potato | 12-18 | 24-36 |
| Peanut | 6-8 | 12-18 |
| Pumpkin | 24-48 | 60-120 |
| Radish | 1-6 | 12-18 |
| Rutabaga | 6-8 | 18-24 |
| Rhubarb | 30-36 | 36-48 |
| Shallot | 6-8 | 12-18 |
| Salsify | 2-4 | 18-24 |
| Sweet Potato | 12-18 | 36-48 |
| Sorrel | 12-18 | 18-24 |
| Spinach | 2-4 | 12-24 |
| Soybean | 11/2-2 | 24-30 |
| Turnip Green Root | 2-3 | 12-24 |