Plant Spacing Calculator
Enter your bed size and crop to see how many plants fit on a raised-bed grid, with the per-crop layout spelled out.
This is grid spacing for an intensive or raised-bed layout, where you reach in from all sides. Row gardens need walking paths between rows, so the packet's row-spacing number will give you fewer plants per bed than this.
How it works
Enter your bed's length and width in feet, pick a crop (or type in your own spacing), and the calculator lays out a simple grid: it figures out how many plants fit along the length, how many fit along the width, and multiplies the two. This is the intensive, raised-bed style of spacing, where you plant in a grid and reach in from all sides rather than walking between rows.
Worked example: an 8 by 4 foot bed planted with tomatoes at 24 inches apart. Along the 8 foot length, 96 inches divided by 24 gives 4 plants. Along the 4 foot width, 48 inches divided by 24 gives 2 plants. Multiply those and you get 8 tomato plants total, arranged 4 across by 2 down. Switch the crop to carrots at 3 inches apart on the same bed and the count jumps to 256, because the grid packs in far more small plants than large ones.
The spacing numbers built into the tool come from what most seed packets and extension offices recommend for that crop, but they're editable. If your variety or your garden wants something tighter or looser, type in your own number and the plant count updates.
FAQ
Why is this different from the spacing on my seed packet?
Seed packets are usually written for row gardening, where you leave a walking path between rows so you can weed and harvest without stepping on beds. A raised bed or intensive garden skips those paths since you reach in from the edges, so plants can sit closer together on all sides. That's why a packet's row spacing often looks wider than what this tool suggests.
Should I really plant this tight?
For most vegetables, yes, tight spacing on a grid works well and even helps by shading out weeds once the canopy fills in. The exception is anything that gets genuinely large and needs airflow to avoid disease, like zucchini and tomatoes, where crowding raises the risk of powdery mildew or blight. Stick close to the recommended spacing for those.
What if my bed isn't a clean rectangle?
Break it into rectangular sections, run each one through the calculator separately, and add up the totals. It won't be perfectly exact around curves or corners, but it gets you close enough to plan a seed order.
Does this account for companion planting or interplanting?
No, it's a single-crop grid. If you're tucking radishes between slower-growing crops or interplanting lettuce under young tomatoes, treat this number as a starting count for the main crop and add extras by eye.
For more on spacing by crop, see plant spacing for vegetables. If you're still deciding how big to make your first bed, read how big should your first vegetable garden be, and if you're weighing containers against a raised bed, see container, raised bed, or in-ground.