What happens if you plant veg too close together?

splodger_seedswapper

if you use grass clippings or straw - i doubt you will be able to use that bed for anything else this season - as it won't rot down that quickly (although i guess you could scrape it off and compost it it afterward)

[Deleted User]

I really do like the potato ideas re planting in blocks. I have had a half allotment for 7 months now and the first thing we ever did was start a compost heap and build two more bins. One bin is almost full and I think we will have three good heaps by next spring so I am going to be decisive about where to put the compost ie on at least one raised bed of potatoes and maybe two. I have a rotation going so every bed will eventually get compost but I`ll have to buy in for the fruit and comfrey. I might see if I can get a bale of straw and use compost and straw and that will then do 3 raised beds. I like it, thank you

valk_scot

If you have chicken muck + straw and fresh grass clippings you could mix it 60:40. Far too fresh to use as a dressing or mulch on growing veg but it would make fabulous compost in six months, I bet. You could get some big black bags (the type you use for wheelie bins) and make it in there? Or wire three pallets together for a cubic metre bin. You can never have too much compost!

tenuissent

I plant potatoes in short rows across beds about 1/2 a metre wide too, fairly deeply, and cover them with anything to hand, including grass cuttings and annual weeds and spare compost - keeps moisture in (very important just now in south east) and smothers weeds until canopy is thick enough. I plant closer together than the usual advice as well, and always get a huge crop.

Primrose

I don't have as much veg growing space as I would like, so I manure & compost my soil well and grow everything, including climbing beans & tomatoes much closer together than rcommended. What happens? Nothing terrible. I always end up with good crops. My tomato stakes are only about 10 inches apart. My bean poles are only 6 inches apart. As long as your soil is very well manured or fertilised, your plants should be OK. However, do try to separate the tall growing plants from the low growing ones. I find that plants that are heavily shaded out by their taller growing neighbours do less well than plants that are closely planted but have adequate light levels and good soil.

katholicos

Primrose wrote: »

I don't have as much veg growing space as I would like, so I manure & compost my soil well and grow everything, including climbing beans & tomatoes much closer together than rcommended. What happens? Nothing terrible. I always end up with good crops. My tomato stakes are only about 10 inches apart. My bean poles are only 6 inches apart. As long as your soil is very well manured or fertilised, your plants should be OK. However, do try to separate the tall growing plants from the low growing ones. I find that plants that are heavily shaded out by their taller growing neighbours do less well than plants that are closely planted but have adequate light levels and good soil.

Much like Primrose, I grow my veg quite a lot closer together than recommended, however, I do use raised beds which allows for deep rooting of veg and hence, in theory, closer planting.

I also echo Primrose' advice to plan your bed/growing space, giving consideration to the width and height of each veggie at it's peak of growth. Overshadowing larger/taller growing veg will not allow smaller veggies to get the sunlight it needs if incorrectly placed. In other words, be aware of how the sunlight hits your garden and plant accordingly.

xrjtg

fimonkey wrote: »

Also if they do 'bolt; is it not just a case of remove the flower head?

Bolting produces chemical changes in the plant that will, for example, make lettuce and spinach go bitter.