How far apart do you plant seeds in your garden?

Question

This question is for a fourth grade science fair project. We are trying to determine the effect of overcrowding on radish seeds and we were curious to find out what real garderners do in their own gradens to prevent this problem. We aprreciate everyone who responds. Thank you!!!

Answer 1

I don't plant the seeds a specific distance apart. I plant them randomly, crowded or not. When the seedlings appear I thin them to the proper distance.The second answer is GREAT for development.

Answer 2

Once your garden is ready for planting, scatter the seeds on top of the dirt. Pat the seeds with your hand to get the seeds in touch with the dirt. Slightly cover the dirt and once the seeds germinate you will see that there are many seeds to close together. Pick the tops so that you have at least two inches between the next radish plant.

Answer 3

Water them first. Lay black plastic on the ground. Make holes where you want to plant every radish stem in the ground. Pour water in the hole. Carefully remove the whole thing from the container. To separate them, gently work them apart. This is very messy work! Lay the individual stems in the hole. I would put four together in each hole. Keep holes about a foot apart. Gently fill in the hole with fresh loose gardening soil. Be sure to save the packet. The info on back tells you when the plants are supposed to sprout, when they will be ready for harvest, how to know when they are ripe, care tips, uses, etc.
I planted a variety of seeds and kept the packages in an old scrapbook. Then I logged the 'due dates' on a calendar. It's fun to watch for the changes that take place.

Answer 4

Fertilization can compensate for a certain amount of overcrowding.

Soil density can also impact the matured veggies. Be sure that the soil contains a good amount of organic materials and provide drainage to insure that there is no standing water beyond a few minutes of watering.

Radishes grow best when you start them from seeds you sow directly in the soil. The seed package will give you the ideal spacing, normally from 1 to 3 inches, depending on the variety but, don't be concerned with spacing at this stage. You should over sow with seeds. It will also tell you how deep to cover the seeds with soil.

To help the soil retain moisture you may want to add water-holding polymer crystals to the soil before planting. The polymers absorb moisture and release it as the soil dries; they do not water log the soil. Over watering is certain failure. The polymers will provide a safe buffer. Add a time-release fertilizer to the soil before planting, which will feed plants throughout the growing season.

When most of the seeds have sprouted, you will need to thin to the suggested spacing. Select the smaller plants that are crowded and snip them off at ground level. Do not pull them up! This will disturb the surrounding soil. To make this process simpler for the children, you could add some food coloring to a milk/flour mixture and place a drop on the soil next to the plants you will be keeping and cut away the remainder.

You will want to grow them in a sunny location and provide a friendly method of pest controls.

If you have further questions at any point in this project, I have emails enabled on my profile. Please, do not hesitate to contact me. I will expedite as much information as you need to make this a positive as well as valuable learning tool for your class. I am happy to know that there are teachers out there that are willing to go beyond their own experience to insure proper techniques for modern gardening.

Answer 5

Make shallow furrows in the soil about 1/2 inch deep and a few inches apart using a stick or the handle of a rake or hoe. Then empty some seeds from the packet into the palm of your hand and closing the palm gently, turn your hand over and let the seeds fall out slowly using your thumb and forefinger to direct them into the furrow. This is a little quicker than picking up each seed and dropping it in one @ a time. Never put all the seeds in your hand in cause of accidents or mistakes. With great big seeds like peas,beans and corn, its easier to place them on the soil first to space them then, poke them into soil filling in the holes as you go along. I hope this was helpful to you.

Answer 6

It depends on the plant. Minimum plant spacing will be on the seed packet. Plants compete for space and nutrients. Overcrowding will produce smaller plants. In the case of radishes, this will mean smaller radishes at harvest. People often overcrowd plants when planting in small areas such as containers. The tradeoff is smaller plants -which can actually be beneficial in container gardening where space is at a premium.

Answer 7

Follow the direction on the back of the package that is what most home gardners do. Overcrowding will cause poor growth in the fruit or vegetable.
Good Luck with your project!

Answer 8

Wow, i'm inspired..tomatoes from seeds, I trust the others a minimum of 12-24 inches aside. confirm to save a sprint extra area to your cages. relish!! possibly in case you are able to, %. up a million or 2 flowers additionally merely for relaxing.

Answer 9

Raddishes? I'm nmot so sure. But I'd say about 3-6 inches apart, mostly cause this is fourth grade. If it was in a real garden, I'd say 5-8 inches.

Answer 10

its really not about how far apart in a row you plant. It is however about how far apart your rows are.so the plants can take in sunlight