Spacing Plants

fourpinkmonkeys · April 27, 2009

I have 3 different varieties of heirloom , open pollination plants. How far should the be spaced from other plants that may be hybrid(wintersown.org)? Should the heirloom be separated from eachother?

Thanks!

dice · April 27, 2009

Spacing has more to do with not crowding each other for
root space, nutrients, water, and sunlight than genetics.
(Rows need to be something like 150' apart to keep bees
from carrying pollen from one to another, according to some
research from Canada decades ago.)

3' works for pretty much anything. Some people plant closer
together along a row with more distance between rows, so that
it is easier to navigate between rows to pick once the plants
are full grown. Depends somewhat on whether one prunes them
to one or a few stems or not, too (pruned plants need less space
between plants and rows to avoid crowding than unpruned
plants).

Even with plants of different cultivars that close together and
no restraints to keep bees from the flowers, we only see a few
percent of crossed seeds on average (most seeds result from
self-pollenation of the flowers).

Generous spacing reduces disease problems, too, by allowing
the foliage to dry out more quickly after a rain.

April 27, 2009	#1
fourpinkmonkeys Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: PA Posts: 9	Spacing Plants I have 3 different varieties of heirloom , open pollination plants. How far should the be spaced from other plants that may be hybrid(wintersown.org)? Should the heirloom be separated from eachother? Thanks!

April 27, 2009	#2
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Spacing has more to do with not crowding each other for root space, nutrients, water, and sunlight than genetics. (Rows need to be something like 150' apart to keep bees from carrying pollen from one to another, according to some research from Canada decades ago.) 3' works for pretty much anything. Some people plant closer together along a row with more distance between rows, so that it is easier to navigate between rows to pick once the plants are full grown. Depends somewhat on whether one prunes them to one or a few stems or not, too (pruned plants need less space between plants and rows to avoid crowding than unpruned plants). Even with plants of different cultivars that close together and no restraints to keep bees from the flowers, we only see a few percent of crossed seeds on average (most seeds result from self-pollenation of the flowers). Generous spacing reduces disease problems, too, by allowing the foliage to dry out more quickly after a rain. __________________ -- alias