All herb SQF bed, how many plants per square?
disneynut1977 ~ Melissa
16 years ago
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justaguy2
16 years agoappmy
16 years agoRelated Discussions
How many successful HOS per milk jug ?
Comments (16)I don't plant that many seedlings in the HOS style. Some plants seem to adapt well to this form of planting, such as Alyssum, California poppies, grasses, some herbs, and other plants that naturally form a "carpet" work well. There are probably lots of others that don't mind being crowded. I would gently tear apart a clump of the roots and make a small "plug" about an inch or 2 big. Other plants prefer to grow individually especially a lot of perennials and large annuals like Cleome or Tithonia. They'll grow bigger and flower more when they have their space. I sowed more lightly in the containers and then separate the seedlings and plant them in groupings about 6-12 inches apart. I planted lots of 1st year plants last year and can't wait to see what makes it through the winter. I'll probably end up moving a lot of them around to make a more creative design....See MoreTrying to Plant the SQF
Comments (5)I am in the same family situation that you're in. And I find that the more 4 x 4's that I can plant the better! And if you have the space, use it! I find that most of what I harvest has been supplemental so far. I can't live on it alone. Because it takes awhile to produce. I basically went by mel's book for the spacing. ALthough the tomatoe plants grow like weeds. They are huge! I use conduit trellis. ANd just started to compost this year. Radishes take off fast. Other plants take awhile. This is my first year as well. I will definately start seeds before frost next year. I have found that certain nurserys ( depending on their growers ) have better plants than others. I will buy tansplants from certain places and wont from others. That is more of trial and error. My grandmother insisted that this whole idea with SFG will fail. she is from the "old" school of row gardening. And her relatives who were the first pioneers to the west "farmed" this way. She did say that my tomato plants would grow. Nothing else. As big as some plants get it does appear to be over crowded. But you trying to use as much space as you have. I have 8 ( 4 x 4 ) and I know I could use more for suh a big family. I think the book tells you a box per person per season just for salad and an extra box for supper. Romaine lettuce works well for cuttings. Butternut lettuce not so much. I have 6 planted. And at the rate that reproduce I could use more I am not only trying to save money from this but also trips to the grocery store. So more meals that I can get from this the better....See MoreHow many plants can I squeeze in this amount of space?
Comments (15)I'm a hydro grower and am usually on that forum, but I love growing tomatoes so much that I spend a lot of time here too. Anyway, to my point: go vertical! I grow strawberries and tomatoes and I grow UP! I grow the tomatoes in perlite and use the "static" method. All this is explained on my Web page. I'll throw a link in below. I grow 100 individual strawberry plants on a "growing station" that takes up 8 square feet in my greenhouse. It is 6 feet tall and grows 50 plants per side. I also grow tomatoes, which are tethered on a rope suspended from a rod anchored 5 feet off the floor. Each plant is indeterminate and I both "super-crop" the trunks as well as use the "single-truss fruiting method". The plants put out tomatoes like there's no tomorrow and all the fruit is at waist height! I don't see why it wouldn't work in an outside garden as well. In fact, you could use the "static" method of hydroponic growing in a pot outside on the dirt. I grow most of my tomatoes outside on concrete! Hope this spurns you on! My Web site motto is "Grow On -- I Dare You!" Here is a link that might be useful: TenGreenThumbs...See MoreMaximum pounds of toms per square foot in Raised Bed
Comments (26)Now this is the best comment among them. "But one of your basic assumptions, if I understand correctly, is that commercial farmers grow determinates sprawled to achieve greater production. But keep in mind that there are several other factors too that determine why they grow they way they do." It is not a cheap attempt at reconciliation its simply dead on. I hope I don't break any hearts when I say commercial growers are better at growing food than we are. I also believe McDonalds is a first rate cuisine given its mandate being edible, fast and cheap. I just go there for the clean bathrooms when I travel. So why do we gardeners buck the trend and take on an entity that we in no way could compete against? Because they don't serve us to the same degree. Many people in the US just don't care how food tastes or are not willing to spend the time or the money. In my field I also do stupid things because that is what the market demands. Commercial growers are not stupid but their customers in my opinion are, relatively speaking. People in our market will choose unblemished fruit based on price over good tasting food. They don't want to know how its made or where it came from. That is the market. When I was in Hungry the waiter brought me a fish to display the daily special. A whole fish with the head and all and not a machine cut fillet? In the US it may as well be a fresh pig's head. I prefer the feet because they make some of the finest soup stocks but does not hide its fundamental nature as well as a can. Commercial growers use determinate paste tomatoes for canning because it is cheaper to use wide open spaces and harvest all at once. Growing up on vines is not efficient because land is cheap. In a green house each square foot is expensive so they grow on vines up. Thick skinned varieties are preferable because they ship. Supermarket strawberries taste bad for straw berries but ship very well. One of my favorite wines, red Zinfindel, has some of the oldest vines in the country because its thick skinned grapes were ideal during prohibition. There was still a market because making you own wine was still legal. In this case the thick skin makes great jammy red wine. So basically the bush beans you plant often have mechanical harvesting needs bred into it. The goal is to fruit all at once and be a uniform height, resist disease and have no blemish. Now I want some of that. I do want to resist disease but not always because I believe I may control it for a better tasting variety. That is some of what is behind the heirloom trend. I like bush beans because I can put those on southern exposures. I grow pole beans on northern exposures. The reason why the home gardener beats the commercial grower in areas of taste, nutrition and hygiene is because the home gardener has some of the smartest consumers. However I do respect how well the pros satisfy ignorance and can certainly learn from them. Since I am in the space restricted camp I pay attention to green house growing....See Moresinfonian
16 years agodisneynut1977 ~ Melissa
16 years agomegajas
16 years agoamy_d-r
16 years agoveganmom30
16 years agosinfonian
16 years agoRay Scheel
16 years agonewgardenelf
16 years ago
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