Square foot gardening.

[IndigoElectron]

I've nearly finished double digging my plot (what a job that was!) and am nearly ready to mark out my squares and start planting. I found the gardeners.com kitchen garden planner really useful for planning what I was going to do, along with a list of companion plants from the gardens ablaze website. Can't wait to get started :-)

[.commander]

Has anyone has success doing this not in raised beds?

[Bigmallly]

There is no reason at why it cannot be done on open ground. The raised beds are immaterial unless you go down the road of mixing the bed ingredients as suggested by the main man.

[IndigoElectron]

So - I have planned my SFG taking into account the space I have, and companion planting.

Now I come to crop rotation and I am a bit stuck!

I have a small border, approximately 12 ft by 2-3 ft (the width varies along the border) that I will be using as my square foot garden.

The SFG book says not to worry too much about crop rotation as it will take care of itself. I was planning however to make note of what is going where, to make sure I do have some sort of rotation system. The thing is, the SFG uses raised beds, whereas I won't be using these for the moment, so all the veg will be in the same soil.

My question is, how far away does a crop have to be from its original location to count as being 'rotated'? My plot is quite small so the crops will be fairly close together wherever I put them. I was looking at the Seedaholic website and found this dire warning:

Remember: Rotate your crops!
Planting brassicas, of any kinds, in the same ground more often than once every four years runs the risk of club root infestation and once you have it, the ground is useless for up to a decade. Don't take needless chances, even with "catch crops" of radishes.

I wasn't even aware that radishes were a brassica!

So, instead of my original plan, would I be better to put all of the brassicas in one part of the border (e.g. the first quarter), and the onions and roots in another (e.g. the second quarter)? Then I could move them along every year (I don't have any potatoes or tomatoes in the border). This does still leave me with a problem regarding my corn, beans and peas, because these are all being grown at the back along the fence, there isn't anywhere else to put them.

How do other people manage to rotate their SFG?

Am I worrying too much about this?

[Bigmallly]

Sounds like you are overworrying it IE...........Put crop rotation out of your head when it comes to Sq Ft growing. Once a square becomes available just plant it up with something different to what came out even if it's flowers.

[Penellype]

I agree that you are over worrying, especially about club root. Either you have it, in which case getting rid of it is nigh on impossible (spores can live in the soil for about 20 years) or you haven't, in which case planting seeds is not going to make any difference. What might make a difference is if you import brassica plants + soil from elsewhere and plant them in your garden, or walk on infected soil and transfer the disease to your garden on your boots.

[IndigoElectron]

That's really helpful, thank you both. I am completely new to this so don't know much about diseases etc, it just got me a bit worried!

[IndigoElectron]

I'm back with another question :-)

My Square Metre Gardening book has arrived at the library, hooray! I've only flicked through it so need to sit down and have a proper read, but one thing that jumped out at me was this: Mel says that you should always plant each adjacent square with a different crop, so you don't end up with a glut of any one thing.

This makes sense for smaller plants, e.g. if I planted two squares of carrots at the same time, I would get 32, which is too much for our small family of 2 adults and a toddler. But what about bigger plants like broccoli and cauliflower? I was planning on planting 2 squares of each, so that when each matures I would have 2 of each plant (I assume they won't be ready at exactly the same time). It doesn't seem excessive to have 2 broccoli or 2 cauliflower ready around the same time. Also, these take a long time to grow, so if I only plant 1 square of each, surely I will be waiting a long time for the second crop? Or is the idea that some crops grow quickly (e.g. spinach), so after that is harvested I could then use that square for more broccoli or cauliflower? I am basing this on the assumption that each plant will only give me one head, although I may have completely misunderstood!

Also, what about sweetcorn? I was under the assumption that you need at quite a few plants in order for it to pollinate properly. I currently have 3 squares devoted to corn, i.e. 6 plants.

So - do people generally stick to Mel's 'rule' about only planting 1 square for each crop? Can someone please explain the benefits to me, as I don't think I have properly understood this?

Thanks!

[Bigmallly]

This makes sense for smaller plants, e.g. if I planted two squares of carrots at the same time, I would get 32, which is too much for our small family of 2 adults and a toddler.

Either just plant 1 square or just lift one square at a time.

But what about bigger plants like broccoli and cauliflower? I was planning on planting 2 squares of each, so that when each matures I would have 2 of each plant (I assume they won't be ready at exactly the same time). It doesn't seem excessive to have 2 broccoli or 2 cauliflower ready around the same time.

Yes they will be ready at the same time unless you plant them at different times or plant different varieties.

Also, these take a long time to grow, so if I only plant 1 square of each, surely I will be waiting a long time for the second crop? Or is the idea that some crops grow quickly (e.g. spinach), so after that is harvested I could then use that square for more broccoli or cauliflower?

Don't plant Brassicas where you have just lifted one, you want to avoid disease.

I am basing this on the assumption that each plant will only give me one head, although I may have completely misunderstood!

Use succession planting so that your crops will be ready at different time or grow different varieties that will be ready at different times..

Also, what about sweetcorn? I was under the assumption that you need at quite a few plants in order for it to pollinate properly. I currently have 3 squares devoted to corn, i.e. 6 plants.

You should be able to grow 4 corn to a square. They prefer block panting as opposed to being grown in rows.

So - do people generally stick to Mel's 'rule' about only planting 1 square for each crop? Can someone please explain the benefits to me, as I don't think I have properly understood this?

Yes, use one square per crop then replace with a different type. Don't forget to include flowers. If you used one square for mixed crops then the square would never be empty. Unless of course you wanted to grow this way, try it

I hope this helps. I'm so glad you came back with only one question..........

[NicolaD]

Hi, I am a newbie to gardening and also the forums. Keeping that in mind am I crazy to be planning the following for my two patches? (See picture).

Big thanks to Bigmally who said hello to me when I first joined and pointed me in the direction of this thread. I found the PDF on post 1 really interesting and wish to used this method for my veg patches. I have two raised beds which after measuring them I now know to be 3ft by 4ft each. So I will get 12 squares in each patch. I will be planting in a partially shaded area so have researched what plants cope well with this and tried to incorporate them into the plan as seen in the picture I've made.

Can anyone see any problems with the plan so far? I am able to make all the changes necessary to get a successful crop so any comments are welcome. Also where I have not put numbers of plants I need advice as to how many to plan in that sq ft.

Many thanks,
Nicola

P.S. If anyone is interested in reading about my on going vertical herb garden project I have a thread which I am posting pictures to and asking advice on which can be found here: http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...-garden-2.html

[AllInContainers]

Nicola, is the "front" South facing?
Also, brocolli is very large and will create shade. Kale is large too

[NicolaD]

Hi AllInContainers, yes the front is south facing and the 'back' is not far from the fence. In terms of the kale and broccoli would moving them back a square towards the peas help, or should they be avoided.

This is a funny spot for a veg patch but it is the only space I have spare. I need to check what sun its gets in the early morning as I haven't seen any sun for a while with this bad weather at the right time so don't have a full picture of what it gets in the early hours of the day. I know early afternoon it gets some from the east (if that's right) then the sun hides behind the front of the house until it appears in the south, some of this sun is taken away by a neighbours tree and then its gets some more at the end of the day. I'm still tracking the sun and will do so as we get into summer when I think it might get more when the sun is higher (??).

[Bigmallly]

I've made a couple of suggestions:
I'm also assuming that your wall is at the North side of the bed. If so then your tallest plants go there as you have with your Beans. Your smallest stuff will then be at the front.

Turnip - 9
Spinach - 1
Kale - 1
Pak Choi - 4
Onions - 9
Radish - 16
Spring Onions - 36
Peas & Beans will only take up about 6" so you could put something else with them - ? Marigolds.
Where's yer Leeks?.................

[NicolaD]

Those are the missing numbers I needed - thanks! I've updated the plan and will continue to if things need changing.

Leeks! I love them but they did not come up on my research for veg growing in shade? Do they do ok?

[Bigmallly]

I would give them ago plus you should fit 16 in a square........don't forget to try & keep your lowest plants to the front if poss & squeeze some flowers in as insect attractors.