First Time Square Foot Gardening

[hangin'witthepeeps]

So I ordered the book, but want to plant my squash and tomatoes this weekend. Do tomatoes go in 1 square and squash in every other square? Can I plant something in the square between the squash? I have tried gardening in the ground and with containers. I hope SFG works for me. I have two 4 x 8 boxes and want to add two more.

I have an excel spreadsheet with plant placement, but don't know how to show you guys on here. TIA, Melissa

 

[SaltyMomma]

Hi!

I'm a 1st time sq foot gardener myself... and I've got my book right here with me.

For the tomatoes... yes, one per sq foot.

For the squash... one per 16 inches if they are a vine type of squash AND if you plan on growing them vertically. If they are a bush variety then one per 3 foot square. (3' x 3')

BTW, this is the book I have...

Hope this helps! Have FUN! :happy_flower

ETA: Forgot to answer your "in between the squash" question. If you're planting the vine variety, and training them to grow vertically, then I don't see why you couldn't plant something small in the soil in between where the vines grow up. I just wouldn't plant too much so that the roots aren't competing for nutrients, water, etc. But, like I said... I'm new to this as well so maybe somebody else has better advice.

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

Glad to know there are others out here like me, lurking and soaking up all good advice. I think I'm going to plant my yellow squash some place else. Got any good ideas? Directly in the ground?

 

[SaltyMomma]

LOL! When I first posted here about my "1st timer" gardening plan ETG member 'old fashioned' told me all about squash and what a VERY prolific plant it is. So, I'm guessing you can plant them however you want... just give them a bit of good soil, water... all the other usual stuff and get ready to eat a lot of squash!

 

[digitS']

I'm not a square foot gardener, Mr. Bartholomew would never allow me to call myself such. However, things often get real "tight" out there. I like it that way since it holds down the weeds and allows me to limit the amount of fertilizing and soil amending.

Also, because of an arid climate and cool nights - warm-season plants, especially, often don't grow very large. Still, 1 square foot for a tomato plant!! I've wondered what I would plant in a single square foot. Or, if I'd just stake a standard tomato and prune to a single cordon.

Really, I'd like to try some of the tree and dwarf types sometime. I've only grown 1 dwarf - the Husky Red Cherry. It must not have liked my climate very well. The plants, which were absolutely loaded, barely ripened their fruit before frost. It was discouraging realizing that we were only a few days away from frost and here was this supposed 65 day tomato NOT ripening! It did tho' and the fruit was great.

The "tree-types" seem to have been more popular a long time ago. At least, they aren't common now and representatives go way back. The "New Big Dwarf" is, like, 100 years old! The name is so strange . . . and it may actually be too late maturing for my garden . . . that I just haven't tried it.

I'll have Lunch Box again this year - it is quite a small plant. A cute little, wonderful cherry, Sweet Baby Girl, is considered a "compact." I sure liked that one but, I'm not going to "micro" unless it is on a winter windowsill . . .

. . . just thinking out loud here . . .

Steve

 

[Ladyhawke1]

I have the NEW Square Foot Gardening book and I started my garden last year. I will not repeat my experience, but for a beginner I am extremely pleased with what I was able to do. I now have three beds and more in the works.

This has been the most positive experience I have ever had with gardening. I need the structure of it and no one says that you cannot do things differently if you want. I have good soil and it drains fast, however, I like doing the compost mix to the specifications in the book. It drains and holds the moisture and feeds the plants and is easy to replace. I can cover the areas easier for cold periods and protection against bugs. For the flying bugs, I am going to experiment with tullea material that I can buy at a fabrics store.

On one of the new beds I have not use the sectioning with the slatsI ran out of material and I will hold off to see how that goes. I do suggest for those of you that have gophers or voles that you do use the hardware cloth under the box. My veggies grew just great with that. If you are going to do carrots, your boxes will have to be deeper. It is always better to have some help when doing this. I had no help at all and I was able to do all of this by myself. Ta da! row

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

I started a new thread because I have questions about specific plants. I just can't wait for my book to get here.

 

[desertgirl]

I started my raised bed last year, and had amazing success. We've now built two more, and there has been talk about maybe just one more.....

Tomatoes,herbs,lettuce,radishes,spinach have so far been my successes. I actually planted up to 4 tomato plants per square last year, and they actually did well-all set tons of tasty fruit. But by midsummer everything was getting tangled up and it was getting to be a real pain to tend to, so this year we decided to space things out (am going with one plant per square, hence the addition of multiple planters. Love them 'maters!).

The biggest dissappointment was the cucumbers, which vined out like mad but tasted like butt. I am going to try them in containers this year, and trellis them right off the bat. Same with melons (please,someone tell me I can grow melons in a large container!!!!). I can't wait to see what the elders say about squash...I was just going to ask this!

Can't wait to hear your raised bed stories!

 

[Beekissed]

Plant radishes around your squash...supposed to repel squash bugs and, when you harvest them, just drop another seed to keep succession plantings going. They say to leave some growing, even let them go to seed, just as long as they are there to protect your squash.

Try planting some carrots in your tomato square...they don't compete for root space and they are supposed to make great companions. Also will shade the soil to prevent weed growth.

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

Thanks so much for those suggestions. I will be planting some this weekend!!! I can't wait, got my boxes put together and the top soil was delivered yesterday. I'm so excited. I will post pictures on Monday.