Square Foot Plant Spacing Chart

How many of each vegetable, herb and flower fit in one square foot of a raised bed, with how to start each one.

Square-foot spacing divides a bed into a grid of 12 by 12 inch squares and plants each square at a fixed density instead of in rows. The density depends on how wide the mature plant gets: 1 per square for big plants, 4 (a 2 by 2 pattern, about 6 inches apart), 9 (3 by 3, about 4 inches apart) or 16 (4 by 4, about 3 inches apart) for smaller ones.

The raised bed planner uses exactly these numbers to turn your layout into a plant count.

Square foot spacing chart

Plant	Spacing	Start as	Notes
Carrot	16 per sq ft	Seed	Needs loose, deep soil; a 4-by-4 pattern of spots per square.
Radish	16 per sq ft	Seed	Ready in about a month; great filler between slow crops.
Scallion	16 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Tuck into spare squares; harvest any time.
Arugula	9 per sq ft	Seed	Fast; sow small amounts often.
Beet	9 per sq ft	Seed	Each seed is a cluster; thin to one seedling per spot.
Bush bean	9 per sq ft	Seed	Compact and quick; sow again every few weeks for a longer harvest.
Chives	9 per sq ft	Transplant or seed	Perennial clumps that come back each year.
Cilantro	9 per sq ft	Seed	Bolts in heat; sow again every few weeks.
Garlic	9 per sq ft	Cloves (plant in fall)	Planted in fall, harvested the next summer.
Leek	9 per sq ft	Transplant	Mound soil around stems for longer white shanks.
Onion (bulb)	9 per sq ft	Sets or transplant	Choose a day-length type suited to your latitude.
Spinach	9 per sq ft	Seed	Cool-season; bolts in summer heat.
Turnip	9 per sq ft	Seed	Greens and roots are both edible.
Pea (trellised)	8 per sq ft	Seed	Cool-season crop; give it netting to climb.
Pole bean	8 per sq ft	Seed	Needs a trellis or poles; best on the north edge.
Basil	4 per sq ft	Transplant	Pinch the tops to keep it bushy.
Bok choy	4 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Cool-season; harvest whole or by the leaf.
Celery	4 per sq ft	Transplant	Needs steady moisture.
Fennel	4 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Traditionally grown apart from most other crops.
Kohlrabi	4 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Harvest bulbs at tennis-ball size.
Lettuce	4 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Use 4 per square for heads; leaf types can go denser.
Marigold	4 per sq ft	Transplant	Bright border flower often tucked between vegetables.
Parsley	4 per sq ft	Transplant or seed	Slow to germinate from seed; transplants are easier.
Strawberry	4 per sq ft	Transplant	Perennial; give it a bed or corner of its own.
Sweet corn	4 per sq ft	Seed	Plant in a block of several squares, not a single row, so it pollinates well.
Swiss chard	4 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Cut outer stalks and it keeps producing.
Cucumber (trellised)	2 per sq ft	Seed or transplant	Two vines per square when trained up a trellis.
Thyme	2 per sq ft	Transplant	Likes the drier edge of the bed.
Broccoli	1 per sq ft	Transplant	One head per square; side shoots keep coming after the main cut.
Cabbage	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Large heads may lean into neighbors; give it an edge square.
Cauliflower	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Same footprint as broccoli.
Dill	1 per sq ft	Seed	Tall and airy; good on the north side.
Eggplant	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Likes the warmest, sunniest corner of the bed.
Kale	1 per sq ft	Transplant or seed	Harvest outer leaves and one plant lasts the season.
Nasturtium	1 per sq ft	Seed	Edible flowers; trailing types spill over the bed edge.
Oregano	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Spreads; keep it trimmed.
Pepper	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Sweet and hot peppers both fit one per square.
Potato	1 per sq ft	Seed potatoes	Hill soil up around stems as they grow; needs a deep bed.
Sage	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Woody perennial; prefers well-drained soil.
Tomato (staked)	1 per sq ft	Transplant	Stake or cage it; prune to one or two leaders to keep it in its square.
Melon (trellised)	1 per 2 sq ft	Seed or transplant	Support heavy fruit with slings when growing vertically.
Winter squash	1 per 2 sq ft	Seed or transplant	Plan 2 squares per plant and let vines spill over the edge, or train it up a trellis on the north side.
Zucchini / summer squash	1 per 2 sq ft	Seed or transplant	Bush types spread wide: plan at least 2 squares per plant, or 3 to 4 for big varieties.

How to mark out the spots in a square

1 per square: plant in the center.
4 per square: press two fingers into the soil in each direction, splitting the square into quarters, and plant in the middle of each quarter.
9 per square: divide each side into thirds and plant where the lines cross, a tic-tac-toe pattern.
16 per square: divide each side into quarters for 16 small spots, about 3 inches apart.
Sprawling crops: zucchini, winter squash and melons get one plant per 2 squares or more, unless you train them up a sturdy trellis.

When to give plants more room

The chart assumes loose, compost-rich soil at least 8 to 12 inches deep and regular watering. Give extra space to unusually large varieties (beefsteak tomatoes, giant cabbages), to crops in shallow or heavy soil, and to anything in a spot with less than full sun. Indeterminate tomatoes stay in one square only if you stake and prune them.

Turning spacing into a seed order

Multiply squares by the density: 2 squares of beets at 9 per square is 18 beets. For seeded crops, sow 2 or 3 seeds per spot and thin, so one packet usually covers several squares. For transplants, the count is how many starts to buy. The planner does this math for you, and the 4x8 layout examples show it worked out for full beds.