Visited a community garden in Portland and had a realization about plant spacing

I dropped by the community garden down on 32nd and Division last Saturday, the one run by the city. I noticed this one bed where someone had crammed like 20 tomato plants into a 4x8 plot. They were all leggy and pale, with yellow leaves at the bottom. Compare that to the bed next to it with only 6 plants, each one thick and dark green. It hit me how we often try to squeeze in more than we should, thinking it gives us a bigger harvest. But really, plants need room to breathe and stretch out roots. Has anyone else seen this happen in their own garden beds?

2 comments

2 Comments

betty_barnes18h ago

I was the guy cramming 8 zucchini plants into a 4x4 bed last June. Thought I was being smart, getting maximum yield out of a small space. By August they were all fighting for sunlight, half of them got powdery mildew, and I ended up with maybe 4 zucchinis total. The person next to me with just 3 plants had more than they could give away. Seeing your post makes me realize I need to trust the spacing guides next time instead of trying to outsmart them.

davidh8814h ago

Ngl I did the exact same thing last year. Learned the hard way too man.