Plant spacing is a very serious business when it comes to maximising the yields your plot of land will produce. If you space your vegetable plants too far apart then you're wasting precious soil: too close and your plants will struggle.

So let's assume that you lost the seed packet or seedling tag with their planting directions on them. How would you be able to work out the best distances between your plants?

In order to calculate this yourself you need to take into consideration a few variables; root growth, foliage width and height of the mature plant.

• Root Growth - for carrots, parsnips, turnips, swedes and other umbellifers the vegetable is the root. These vegetables don't have a horizontal growing habit so you can afford to plant them quite close together. For these veggies the rule of thumb is to imagine the final sized carrot, turnip, swede etc and then double the width of it. This then becomes your plant spacing measurement.
• Foliage Growth - for vegetables that exhibit greater foliage growth than others such as cauliflowers, cabbages, broccoli and many of the asian leafy vegetables you will require a different standard spacing. Consider the final width of your mature leaf vegetable and multiply it by 1.5. This is the required distance between these plants.
• Height of the Mature Plant - this variable isn't as directive as the other two but it will affect the above rule of thumbs. For every 50-60cms (20-24 inches) of height you should consider another doubling of space between your plants. This is due to the size of the root structures required to uphold these plants plus also the need for light into the soil and foliage.

Now, these are only general rules - and very general at that. For many vegetables you can space them quite close together in the same row provided that you increase the distance of the rows between them. This forces the roots to access soil nutrients in a horizontal pattern rather than occupying the traditional circular area usually alloted to them. The benefit of spacing your vegetables this way is that you can gain easier access into your patch without reducing yields.

Plant Spacing by Sowing Seeds

Fine seeds; carrots, parsnips, radishes etc can be spaced out when they are being planted by combining the seeds with some clean river sand in a small jam jar. Shake the jar until the seeds have mixed with the sand well, poke a hole in the jam jar lid and then begin pouring along the drill.

Seeds will still require spacing out, even after this process, but there shouldn't be as much wastage when you do space them out.

Space your plants over time

One of the common mistakes newbie gardeners make when they're trying to grow a veggie garden is planting everything at once. They'll spend one weekend transplanting their corn, tomatoes, lettuces, and cabbages and realise that they have a glut of fruit in 4 months time.

It's much better to consider what your family will want to be eating on a weekly basis and then plant accordingly. This means staggering your plantings so that you have some vegetables maturing as others are being sown.

For instance; take broccoli as an example. Your family may eat 2-3 heads of broccoli per week so plant 6 seedlings every fortnight over the growing season and you should be able to achieve this

Conclusion

Plant spacing for vegetables is just as crucial to their success as watering and fertilising, so take the time to plan it well and you will reap the rewards.