Spacing
Sweetcorn spacing
The short answer
Plant sweetcorn in a grid, not a single row, 34 to 45cm apart in each direction (RHS). Sweetcorn is pollinated by the wind, and a block gives every plant several near neighbours whichever way the wind blows. Garden Organic plants 30 to 45cm apart in blocks of at least four.
Sweetcorn is the one common vegetable where the shape of the planting matters more than the distance. A long single row can give cobs with gaps where kernels should be.
The spacing
| Crop | In the row | Between rows | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweetcorn | 34cm to 45cm each way | Grid, same both ways | (RHS) |
How many fit in a bed
Worked out with the same method as the plant spacing calculator, for three common bed sizes.
Why this spacing
- Wind pollination. In a grid, each plant is surrounded by near neighbours, so the chance of successful pollination is much greater, whichever way the wind blows.(RHS)
- Poor pollination shows in the cob: sparsely filled cobs with missing kernels.(RHS)
- Blocks of at least four for good wind pollination.(Garden Organic)
Baby corn, mixing varieties, and what a block gives
Put your beds on a plan, free
Add each bed with its size and what is growing in it. Vercro draws the plan to scale, keeps the record, and shows what each empty bed could take next.
Keep going
Where this comes from
Every spacing figure comes from the crop's RHS grow-your-own page, or Garden Organic where RHS gives none, linked beside the figure. The Vercro app's catalogue holds no spacing, so none of these numbers come from it. Reviewed 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Sweetcorn, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Sweetcorn growing sheet, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.