Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

How much should I plant?

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED APR 13, 2020

How many of each of these seeds to plant? It depends on your family's tastes, and how much time and space you have. Also, the pepper seeds really should have been planted awhile ago; they're notoriously slow to germinate, so try to find transplants now. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Some guidelines for estimating a garden you'll eat

What to plant? That question is on the mind of every vegetable gardener right now.

Think before you buy seed – or dig. You’ll thank yourself later.

The UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County have this advice:

“It is tempting to try growing a large variety of vegetables. A better approach might be to consider what you and your family like to eat.”

Poll your family members. Will they really eat a whole row of daikon radishes? What about okra? Or beets?

“Then consider the space that you have available,” add the master gardeners. “Plant only as large a garden as you can easily maintain, as there is a time commitment (thinning, weed and pest control, irrigation, fertilization). A smaller, properly tended garden will be more productive and satisfying than a larger garden receiving minimal attention.”

Right now, it seems like you may have all the gardening time in the world. But will that be true when life returns to relative normal?

Also consider how much your family will actually eat when those veggies are ready for harvest. Some crops – such as tomatoes – can be readily preserved. But lettuce? Those heads need to be eaten fresh, not frozen.

Garden Gate Magazine came up with a vegetable calculator with estimates per person and for a family of four. Find it here: https://bit.ly/2V2BUIK

Some estimates seem pretty high (such as 24 lettuce plants per person), but that consumption depends on the size of the heads at harvest – and how much you like salad. Also, that lettuce harvest may be spaced year-round, not just one season.

For summer favorites, here are estimates of how much to plant this month for two people:

Beans (bush) – 30 plants

Beans (runner) – 20 plants

Corn – 24 plants

Cucumbers – Two vines or bushes

Eggplant – Three plants

Melon – Two plants

Onions – 40 sets

Peppers – Six plants (mixed varieties)

Squash – Two plants

Tomatoes – Four plants

Zucchini – Two plants

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

UCCE master gardeners seeds tomatoes Sacramento small space gardening spring planting corn gardening planning vegetables summer vegetables summer squash

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Local News

Thanks to our sponsor!

Sites We Like

Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!