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Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 12:58
| I live in the Central Valley just outside of Sacramento and would love to find a Garden Web member in my location to learn from. My DW is into trying Square Foot Gardening and I am in charge of sowing seeds and transplanting. I am getting ready to presoak some bush bean seed. The book published by Bartholmew,the fellow credited with this gardening method, implies I can plant 9 seeds per 1'x1' square with no need to thin. Feed back from anyone who has done so is appreciated. Best and happy Easter to all who celebrate. |
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| Which variety are you growing? You should check the packet to see how big the plants get. I have had problems in the past with growing bush beans too close together because of diseases spreading. But if the plants don't get really big, and/or if the variety has disease resistance then it might not be a problem. Have you asked you question on the container gardening forum? |
This post was edited by annew21 on Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 13:23
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| You'll want to check out the Square Foot Gardening forum here for planting tips since the folks that practice it regularly hang out there and can give you practical advice. Personally I can't imagine planting more than 4 plants in 1 sq. foot and even that would be crowded. Dave |
Here is a link that might be useful: Sq Foot gardening forum
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- Posted by theforgottenone1013 5b/6a MI (My Page) on Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 15:04
| I've always wondered/had issues about the 9 per square foot recommendation for bush beans. The 9/sq. ft. would imply that they are spindly plants, maybe they are if you plant them that close, but given space they are anything but spindly. I space the seeds 2-3 inches apart in a row and space the rows 1 foot apart. That would equal 5-6 seeds per square foot. At the 1 foot row spacing, I can put 3 rows down a 3 foot wide bed and the bean leaves will completely fill out the bed. The plants are a bit crowded so I definitely wouldn't try to fit more in. Rodney |
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| I did the 9 in a square foot with bush beans and got pretty poor results-plus I ended up not liking the flavor of the bush beans. So I don't grow beans anymore. Snow peas do great though and they can be planted at least 9 to a square foot. |
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- Posted by bdot_z9_ca Z9 CA (My Page) on Sat, Apr 19, 14 at 18:25
| Hi billyp3, I am outside of sacto as well, but i am a newbie too! I hope you can find a mentor in your neighborhood. We are building our raised beds this weekend. You can sow a new square of bush beans every 2 weeks, so why not try both ways? Do you listen to Farmer Fred on the radio? AM 650 and 1530, two hours on each station every Sunday starting at 8am. He also has a website with a great planting calendar so you know what to plant, and when, for this area. So nice we can grow veggies year round here! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Sacramento Planting Guide
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| The first year I tried SFG, I planted 9 bush beans per square. The plants were healthy and production was fairly good BUT I will never plant that close together again. 1) The vegetation was so thick you could not find the bean pods without a lot of effort bent over searching among the plants. 2) You can't see an insect invasion until they have taken over the whole bed/square. 3) We have heavy dew every morning and the plants are so close together that they won't dry out until later in the day. Last year I did 5 per square and still didn't like it. I have now switched to pole beans because it is a lot less back braking work and you can spot the pods easier. I am trying rattlesnake beans because I think they will be easier to spot the bean pod. |
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| I did nine last year, aside from the few that were shaded out by my broccoli crowding over it's square, they did quite well, lots of production. I did find it hard to find all the beans amid the mass of plants. |
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- Posted by feethanddooth 5 (My Page) on Sun, Apr 20, 14 at 0:09
| i do sweet peas and do 4 per square. any more would be a mess |
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- Posted by sweetwilliam89 5b (My Page) on Sun, Apr 20, 14 at 8:40
| In the past I've planted well over 9 seeds per square for beans and have gotten excellent results. It really turned the area into a jungle of beans. I wouldn't recommend doing more than 9 seeds per square, but I've really been poor at thinning in the past (still not my strongest area). But, we did get a number of large harvests. One of the things about intensive gardening you do likely get less per plant than what you likely would get if you didn't plant intensively, but because you have more plants in a given area you often get more from the area. That said, intensive gardening does require the soil to be in really good shape and to give proper care to the plants. Also, don't expect to be taking many photos of your harvest and having large sized items. Intensive gardening and giant pumpkins don't go together. |
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