Grow food in small spaces, by the numbers

Crops & herbs

• Tomatoes

  Bush vs vining types, spacing, stakes and cages, timing, pests and disorders.

• Peppers

  Sweet vs hot, soil-temperature timing, spacing, containers, blossom-end rot and sunscald.

• Lettuce

  Spring and fall timing, succession sowing, heat and bolting, containers.

• Spinach

  Cool-season sowing dates, day length and bolting, containers, overwintering.

• Kale

  Spring and fall timing, cold hardiness, containers, cabbage pests, row covers and trap crops.

• Carrots

  Types by root length, soil and container depth, slow germination, thinning, harvest and rust fly.

• Radishes

  Days to harvest by source, sowing temperatures, spacing, containers, flea beetles, root maggots and trap-crop use.

• Bush beans and pole beans

  Bush vs pole habit, soil temperature for sowing, spacing and supports, containers, heat and flower drop.

• Peas

  Shelling, snow and snap types, early sowing and soil temperature, spacing, trellis heights, containers and the fall-crop question.

• Cucumbers

  Trellis vs ground spacing, soil temperature, slicing, pickling and seedless types, container sizes, pollination and cucumber beetles.

• Zucchini and summer squash

  Types, soil temperature and planting dates, spacing, container sizes, male and female flowers, hand pollination and squash vine borer.

• Potatoes

  Seed pieces, soil temperature, depth and spacing, hilling, 10–30 gallon containers and grow bags, harvest, curing, storage and greening.

• Basil

  Night and soil temperatures for planting, seed starting, spacing, containers, where to pinch, cold damage, downy mildew and resistant varieties.

• Parsley

  Why seed takes 2–5 weeks to come up, soaking and sowing, start dates, spacing, 4–6 gallon pots, cutting, the second-year seed stalk and swallowtail caterpillars.

• Cilantro

  Why it bolts in heat and long days, spring and fall sowing dates, re-sowing every 2–4 weeks, spacing, 1–3 gallon pots, leaf harvest and coriander seed.

• Microgreens: trays, seed rates and food safety

  Sprouts vs microgreens vs baby greens, trays and media, seed per tray and days by crop, and FDA and CDC food-safety guidance.

• Aphids: identification, natural enemies, water sprays and soaps

  Identification, life cycle, when to ignore them, natural enemies, water sprays, insecticidal soap, oils and neem.

• Tomato hornworm: identification, parasitic wasps and hand-picking

  Tomato vs tobacco hornworm, droppings, life cycle, parasitic wasps, hand-picking, tilling, Bt and spinosad.

• Squash vine borer: timing, barriers and resistant squash

  Moth flight dates and degree-days, eggs at the stem base, row covers and stem wraps, less-susceptible squash, rescuing a wilted vine, sprays.

• Cabbage worms: imported cabbageworm, looper and diamondback moth

  Imported cabbageworm, cabbage looper and diamondback moth: ID, timing, thresholds, row covers and netting, hand-picking, Bt, trap crops.

• Slugs and snails: traps, barriers and baits

  Slugs and snails: ID, when they feed, habitat fixes, hand-picking, board and beer traps, copper barriers, iron phosphate and other baits.

• Flea beetles: row covers, trap crops and timing

  Flea beetles: ID, shot-hole damage, spring timing, sealed row covers, radish and mustard trap crops, action levels and insecticide notes.

• Garden pest guides

  Every pest guide on one page: identification, timing, barriers, traps, hand-picking, sprays and baits, compared across extension sources.

Planting times & zones

• USDA hardiness zones

  What zones measure, every zone's temperature range, what changed on the 2023 map, and why a zone is not a frost date.

• Planting calendar by frost date

  Enter two frost dates; get sow, transplant and fall cut-off dates for 25 crops.

• Frost dates: where to find them, how to read them

  Where the numbers come from and what "average" means.

• USDA zone 5

  Average winter low −20 to −10°F; frost dates and season lengths for six zone 5 cities.

• USDA zone 6

  Average winter low −10 to 0°F; frost dates and season lengths for six zone 6 cities.

• USDA zone 7

  Average winter low 0 to 10°F; frost dates for six cities from Philadelphia to Boise.

• USDA zone 8

  Frost dates for six cities from Dallas to Eugene and fall and winter cool-season planting dates.

• USDA zone 9

  Freeze dates and odds for six cities from New Orleans to Seattle and the fall and winter vegetable season.

• Seed starting indoors: timing, lights and hardening off

  Weeks before last frost by crop, containers and mix, warmth and lights, feeding, hardening off and damping-off prevention.

• Seed starting calculator: count back from transplant day

  Enter a transplant or last frost date; get sow-indoors dates, germination windows and hardening-off dates for 19 crops.

• Succession planting: re-sow intervals and fall planting dates

  How often to re-sow lettuce, radishes and bush beans, and the count-back formula for the last fall sowing date.

• Season extension: row covers, cold frames and low tunnels

  How much warmth row covers, low tunnels and cold frames add, how many weeks they gain, and how to fit them to pots and small beds.

Containers, beds & layout

• Companion planting chart, with the evidence

  Common pairings with the evidence rating for each.

• Raised bed soil calculator

  Length × width × depth to cubic feet, cubic yards and bags.

• Container sizes for vegetables

  Minimum gallons, depth and spacing for 25 crops, three extension charts compared.

• Square foot gardening spacing

  Plants per square foot for 35 crops from three charts.

• Growing tomatoes in containers

  Pot size, compact cultivars, water, support, blossom end rot.

• Types of gardens for small spaces: four garden types compared

  Raised beds, containers, in-ground and vertical side by side.

• Miniature and dollhouse gardens with kids

  A one-pot project for children, with plants that stay small.

• Balcony gardening: sun, weight, wind, containers and rules

  Sun hours by crop type, weight and wind, container materials, railing planters, lease and HOA rules.

• Grow bags: fabric vs plastic pots, sizes and potatoes

  Fabric bags vs plastic pots: sizes by crop, drying rate, root temperature, air pruning and potatoes in bags.

• Vertical gardening: trellises, stakes and cages

  Trellises, stakes, the stake-and-weave and cages: build numbers, which crops go on which support, and where to put them.

• Watering containers: how often, how much and self-watering pots

  How often by pot size and weather, finger and lift tests, how much to apply, mulch, saucers and self-watering containers.

• Drip irrigation for containers: parts, emitters, timers and gallons-per-hour math

  Parts in order from the faucet, emitter sizes, timers, a gallons-per-hour run-time calculator and tuning by measured drainage.

• Soil testing for small gardens: sampling, labs, results and lead

  How to take a soil sample, which lab to use, reading pH, P and K ratings, and a soil lead chart for urban gardens.

Backyard homestead

• Gardening with kids: tasks by age and easy crops

  Tasks by age and crops that reward short attention spans.

• Backyard goats: space, fencing and zoning basics

  Space, fencing, shelter and an example city ordinance.

• Backyard chickens: the short version

  Typical city rules, coop space, feeding, hygiene.

• Farm stand rules: produce, cottage foods and where to check by state

  What applies to selling produce and home-made foods, with a state table.

• Herbs for chickens: 15 herbs and what the evidence says

  Life cycle, sun, height, pot size and the thin poultry evidence for 15 herbs.

• Going full-time: planning a move to homesteading or market gardening

  Land, costs, income sources, rules and USDA/SBA help.

• Composting in small spaces: bins, tumblers, worm bins and what to leave out

  Bins, tumblers and worm bins by space, the browns-to-greens mix, pile size, timing, fixes and what not to compost.

• Worm bins and vermicomposting: bin size, worms, bedding and feeding

  Bin size per pound of scraps, worms needed (calculator), bedding, what to feed, harvesting methods and fixes.

How this site works

The More One Sows is a reference database, not a blog. Pages are written in a neutral voice and built from US extension services, federal agencies, state statutes and peer-reviewed or institutional publications, each listed under "Sources" at the end of the page. Where sources disagree, both figures are shown. Read more on the about and methodology pages.