Spacing
Vegetable spacing chart
The short answer
Two numbers per crop: how far apart plants go in the row, and how far apart the rows are. Small crops like carrots and radish go a few centimetres apart; potatoes 30 to 37cm in rows 60 to 75cm apart; courgettes and bush squash 90cm each way. Sweetcorn goes in a grid, not a row. To turn a figure into plants per bed, use the plant spacing calculator.
Every figure below is from the crop's RHS grow-your-own page, or Garden Organic where RHS gives none, and links to it. Where they disagree, the note says so.
Onion family
More detail: onion family spacing.
Potatoes
More detail: potatoes spacing.
| Crop | In the row | Between rows | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Potatoes (first early) | 30cm | 60cm | (RHS) |
| Potatoes (second early) | 30cm | 50cm to 60cm | (Garden Organic) |
| Potatoes (maincrop) | 37cm | 75cm | (RHS) |
Roots
Leaves and salads
Cabbage family
More detail: cabbage family spacing.
| Crop | In the row | Between rows | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kale | 30cm to 60cm | 45cm | (RHS) |
| Cabbage (spring) | 30cm | 30cm (no source figure; assumed) | (RHS, Garden Organic) |
| Cabbage (summer and autumn) | 30cm to 45cm | 30cm to 45cm (no source figure; assumed) | (RHS) |
| Cabbage (winter and savoy) | 45cm to 50cm | 45cm to 50cm (no source figure; assumed) | (Garden Organic) |
| Broccoli (calabrese) | 30cm to 45cm | 45cm | (RHS) |
| Broccoli (sprouting) | 60cm to 80cm | 60cm to 80cm | (RHS) |
| Cauliflower (summer and autumn) | 45cm to 60cm | 60cm | (RHS) |
| Cauliflower (winter and spring) | 70cm | 70cm | (RHS) |
| Cauliflower (mini) | 15cm each way | Grid, same both ways | (RHS) |
| Brussels sprouts | 60cm | 60cm | (RHS) |
Peas and beans
| Crop | In the row | Between rows | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peas (tall) | 7.5cm | 30cm | (RHS) |
| Peas (dwarf) | 7.5cm each way | Grid, same both ways | (RHS) |
| Broad beans | 15cm to 23cm | 45cm | (RHS) |
| Runner beans (climbing) | 15cm to 30cm | Double rows 45cm to 60cm apart; 150cm between pairs | (RHS) |
| Runner beans (dwarf) | 30cm | 50cm | (RHS) |
| French beans (dwarf) | 15cm each way | Grid, same both ways | (RHS) |
| French beans (climbing) | 15cm | 45cm | (RHS) |
Squash family
More detail: squash family spacing.
Others
Notes and disagreements
- Onions (from seed): RHS spaces rows 20 to 30cm apart for sets and direct-sown seed, and 25 to 30cm for module-raised transplants.
- Potatoes (first early): Garden Organic gives 50 to 60cm between rows; RHS gives 60cm.
- Potatoes (second early): RHS gives second earlies the same spacing as first earlies. Garden Organic gives 30cm in rows 50 to 60cm apart.
- Potatoes (maincrop): Garden Organic gives 40cm apart in rows 70cm apart; RHS gives 37cm and 75cm.
- Cabbage (spring): RHS sows 10cm apart and thins to 30cm in late winter, eating the thinnings as spring greens.
- Cabbage (winter and savoy): Garden Organic gives 50cm; RHS gives up to 45cm for larger varieties.
- Broccoli (sprouting): RHS gives 60 to 80cm between plants and "a similar distance" between rows.
- Peas (tall): Tall peas go in a double row, the two rows 30cm apart, with a gap equal to the height of the crop before the next double row.
- Peas (dwarf): Dwarf peas go in three staggered rows in a 15cm-wide trench, 7.5cm apart, with a gap equal to the crop height before the next trench.
- Broad beans: Broad beans can also go in double rows: 23cm between the pair and 60cm between pairs.
- Runner beans (climbing): Climbing runner beans go in a double row of canes, the two rows 45 to 60cm apart. RHS leaves at least 1.5m between one double row and the next.
- French beans (dwarf): Dwarf French beans are planted in blocks or double rows so the plants hold each other up.
- Tomatoes (outdoor): Garden Organic gives 30 to 45cm for outdoor tomatoes; RHS gives 45 to 60cm depending on their eventual size.
- Cabbage (spring): The sources give the spacing along the row only, so rows are spaced the same distance apart.
- Cabbage (summer and autumn): The sources give the spacing along the row only, so rows are spaced the same distance apart.
- Cabbage (winter and savoy): The sources give the spacing along the row only, so rows are spaced the same distance apart.
- Tomatoes (outdoor): The sources give the spacing along the row only, so rows are spaced the same distance apart.
Raised beds and square metres
In a raised bed you can plant a little closer. The RHS Campaign for School Gardening's crop planner suggests allowing a 20 per cent reduction in spacing, because a raised bed needs no paths between rows. That is a rule of thumb from an educational sheet, not a figure from each crop's page, so the calculator offers it as an option rather than applying it.
Plants per square metre. We found no UK source that gives these as figures. RHS gives area per plant only for the big ones: about a square metre each for courgettes, at least a square metre for bush pumpkins. For everything else, the worked counts for a raised bed do the arithmetic.
Square foot gardening is an American planting system, not RHS guidance, so its per-square counts are not used here.
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.
- Garlic: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Onions: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow shallots, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Leeks, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Potatoes: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Potatoes, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.
- Carrots: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Parsnips, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Beetroot: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow radishes, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Lettuce: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow spinach, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Chard: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Kale, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Cabbages, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Cabbage - spring, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.
- Cabbage - winter and savoy, Garden Organic. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Calabrese, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow broccoli, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Cauliflower, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Brussels sprouts, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Peas: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Broad beans: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Runner beans: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow French beans, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Courgettes: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Pumpkins: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow Sweetcorn, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Tomatoes: grow your own, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- How to grow strawberries, Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.
- Vegetable crop planner (Campaign for School Gardening), Royal Horticultural Society. Read 19 September 2026.