Thoughts on Container Spacing?

[Kraky]

I see in-ground recommendations are usually around 2 ft in a row, and 3-4 ft between rows. I usually put my 20 gal containers side by side and they've been fine (they grow into each other eventually but I don't mind). This is when I had only a couple of rows but this year I am thinking of going 4-5 rows so I'm worried about blocking the sun. Should I also consider elevating them off the ground? Eg. using pavers.

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum!

First, is it tomatoes you are growing? And what are you supporting them with? I grow a lot of tomatoes in Earthboxes and other SIPs, so the plants are closer (with 2 in the pots) than I would put in a row in the ground, and I soon learned that if I put the boxes very close to each other, the plants would be very crowded on the trellis. So the next year I spaced them about 4' from each other (meaning the plants are about 5' from the plant in the next pot), then I could just work the plants away from the closer ones in the same pots, and towards the free area, in between. For cukes this isn't necessary, since they don't spread like that, and eggplant containers can go a little closer; though some are quite large, they don't vine out, like indeterminate tomatoes.

I looked around (had to look back to 2019!) for a photo showing what I mean about spacing. You can see how far apart the containers are, and how large the plants are getting already, and this is the middle of June! Imagine how they got when I put them close to each other!
Tomatoes, June 16, before fruiting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

[bower]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
If your in-row spacing is working for you, I wouldn't change that.
With regards row spacing, depends on the orientation and how large your plants normally get. I keep changing my rows around in the greenhouse, often doing short rows running N to S, but last year I had two long rows E to W with determinates on the south side and indets in a second row 'behind' them sunwise, about 5 ft between them and that worked fine.

[Kraky]

Thank you both! Excited to find this community

Welcome to the forum!

First, is it tomatoes you are growing? And what are you supporting them with? I grow a lot of tomatoes in Earthboxes and other SIPs, so the plants are closer (with 2 in the pots) than I would put in a row in the ground, and I soon learned that if I put the boxes very close to each other, the plants would be very crowded on the trellis. So the next year I spaced them about 4' from each other (meaning the plants are about 5' from the plant in the next pot), then I could just work the plants away from the closer ones in the same pots, and towards the free area, in between. For cukes this isn't necessary, since they don't spread like that, and eggplant containers can go a little closer; though some are quite large, they don't vine out, like indeterminate tomatoes.

I looked around (had to look back to 2019!) for a photo showing what I mean about spacing. You can see how far apart the containers are, and how large the plants are getting already, and this is the middle of June! Imagine how they got when I put them close to each other!
Tomatoes, June 16, before fruiting. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Ah, yes I'm mostly growing tomatoes in grow bags. I tried staking last year and pruned to only 2-3 main stalks but it was a lot of work and I eventually got too lazy to do it towards the end of the season. I think I'll go back to caging this year.I do like how you did a trellis, but 4 ft is more than I can afford with my small yard and big ambitions!

Hi and welcome to the forum.
If your in-row spacing is working for you, I wouldn't change that.
With regards row spacing, depends on the orientation and how large your plants normally get. I keep changing my rows around in the greenhouse, often doing short rows running N to S, but last year I had two long rows E to W with determinates on the south side and indets in a second row 'behind' them sunwise, about 5 ft between them and that worked fine.

That's interesting, I always assumed I would have the rows "facing" the sun so its E to W but now that you mentioned it I see a lot of recommendations online to to N to S. I usually don't pay much attention to determinate vs det but I'll try putting the indets farther north this year. Thanks for the tips.

[bower]

Yeah, mine are in a greenhouse with shade on the north side so row spacing is limited by that. The generous space between two rows last season seemed to give full sun to the whole plant in the 'back' row, but if the front row were taller, that might not be the case.
@pepperhead212 I really like your spacing by the way. One year I did a scaled back grow, and I put lots of space between. It was great, so little work! You definitely get the most tomatoes as well, when the plants are fully spaced out with enough sun everywhere.
Then again, California Bay Area @Kraky you probably get lots of sun. Sometimes a tight spacing is great for getting the right amount of shade too. Why we never stop experimenting.

[Kraky]

@Bower yeah we get a decent amount of sun and it doesn't get terribly hot most of the year, that's a good point about shade. I am now thinking it might be more space efficient to do N to S and put the containers mostly side-by-side, with 2-3 ft of spacing between rows.