Planning tool

Seed Spacing and Thinning Planner

Use catalog spacing data to separate tight-sown greens, roots, and cover crops from wide-spaced vines and transplants; source notes below explain the vegetable and indoor-start guidance behind the spacing checks.

Inputs

Catalog in-row spacing
Each catalog entry stores a spacingIn value so final plant spacing can be checked beside seed depth, start method, and maturity.
Catalog row spacing
Each catalog entry stores a rowSpacingIn value so row layouts can be compared with raised beds, paths, trellises, and wide-vining crops.
Start method and thinning
Direct-sown rows often need thinning after emergence; indoor cells usually need weaker seedlings removed before transplanting.
Bed style
Close-row or block spacing is different from traditional rows; use source notes and bed access before tightening rows.

What it returns

Planning guidance

Uniform rows
Mark rows and furrows carefully; UMN warns that uneven furrows can cause uneven emergence, especially for small-seeded vegetable crops.
Close-row caveat
CSU describes equal-distance spacing for block or close-row beds, then limits the closer spacing to improved soils with 4-5% organic matter.
Chart orientation
Clemson chart spacing is between-row x in-row, so keep row spacing and plant spacing separate when translating chart values into a bed plan.
Indoor thinning
For trays, UMD says to sow thinly and uniformly, then thin to allow the strongest seedling to grow before seedlings crowd each other.
Air and access
Wide-spaced crops need room for air flow, harvest access, trellises, hills, or sprawling vines; do not compress them only to increase plant count.
Catalog boundary
The spacing candidates come from the full catalog, while the source notes are vegetable and indoor-start guidance for interpreting spacing choices.

Tight-spacing candidates

Wide-spacing candidates

Supporting planning paths

Source basis