Seed Spacing Calculator
Calculate how many plants fit in a garden bed or row based on standard spacing requirements for common plant types.
ft
ft
Result
Total Plants
20
Plants Per Row
10
Number of Rows
2
How to Use the Seed Spacing Calculator
Enter the length and width of your garden bed or row, then select a plant type to use its standard recommended spacing, or choose Custom to enter your own spacing value. The calculator converts your bed dimensions to inches and fits as many plants as possible along the row and across the rows at that spacing, then multiplies the two to get the total number of plants your bed can hold.
Number of Rows = floor(Bed Width / Plant Spacing)
Total Plants = Plants Per Row × Number of Rows
Example
A 20 ft long, 4 ft wide bed planted with carrots at 3-inch spacing converts to 240 inches long and 48 inches wide. That fits floor(240 / 3) = 80 plants per row and floor(48 / 3) = 16 rows, for a total of 80 × 16 = 1,280 carrot plants.
Common Use Cases
- Planning exactly how many seeds or seedlings to buy for a given bed size.
- Comparing yield potential between crops with very different spacing needs, like carrots vs. tomatoes.
- Laying out a new vegetable bed to avoid overcrowding or wasted space.
FAQs
- Are these spacing figures exact for every variety? No — spacing needs vary somewhat by specific variety and growing conditions. These are commonly published standard spacing figures meant as a solid general guideline; check your seed packet for the exact recommendation for your variety.
- Should row spacing and plant spacing always be the same? Not necessarily — many gardeners use wider spacing between rows than between plants within a row to leave room for walking and maintenance. This calculator uses one spacing value for simplicity, but feel free to run it twice with different values to model row spacing separately.
- What if my plant type isn't listed? Select "Custom" and enter the specific spacing recommendation from your seed packet or a gardening reference for that plant.