[cadalot]

OK I've been kinda interested in this for a little while, and as I now have more seeds that allotment plus I finally have my last two small beds No 15 & 16 made which are  1.2x1.4m and 1.2x1.2m. I was thinking of having ago next year. I have bought a book on ebay on the subject, but was wondering how many people do it or have tried it on here and how was it or is it better that growing in rows?

Pros vs Cons and all advice welcome.

 

[Goosegirl]

I'm not going to be a lot of help here (ok - nothing unusual there) but I've never done it. I just wonder if growing in rows was just the thing to do so it all looked orderly and also you can walk and weed between them more easily. Give it a try!

[compostqueen]

It's good!  It's interesting and it's fun.  I saw the beds they did at Harlow Carr, and they published their findings on what varieties were most suited to this.  i usually grow in blocks on the plot not just on raised beds.  you are trying to fit a quart into a pint pot so you have to be aware that yields will be smaller.  You have to think about what you sow or plant with what as you could get foliage flopping over everything else, so lots to think about. 

I had copious typed notes of my research  but my niece has them so I can't go into the specifics re varieties but RHS HC might still have the info online.  My niece did it last year at home on raised beds, with her husband and little boy, and they did very well.  Carrots were fab☺

[moose]

I've tried it. It can work well but you do have to choose your plants carefully. The system was devised in America in an area that has much better light conditions than here in UK. I found it easy to end up with some things not growing well as a result of shading. No need for the Mel's mix (I assume you have his book). Crop protection was a big issue.
If you have some crops that need pollination and some that need covering(carrots/cabbage etc) you have to keep them in separate beds. I do find that his spacings are pretty good overall and as I have moved to having a lot of small raised beds because arthritis rules out digging I have a covered bed for carrots which I sow a two squares at a time which gives me a nice continuous supply. Do the same with other crops, so I am in a way using the square foot system but not as advocated in the book.

[JaniceB]

I have a few raised beds that are 1m x 1m.
I squashed 9-12 celery plants into one and they did really well - the close proximity kept down weeds and kept the moisture in.
Another success was parsnips where I scattered seed and again, the foliage kept down weeds and the raised bed gave them a chance against the clay. I did carrots in a similar way.
My garlic didn't like being in the raised bed and got horrid rust, perhaps as they were close together and it spread easily from leaf to leaf.

I have a larger raised bed and sowed/planted in rows with spare plants and seeds and it was a disaster as it dried out quickly with the exposed soil between the rows.

[LotuSeed]

Here are some prod and cons...

http://baltimoregardener.com/my-lovehate-relationship-with-square-foot-gardening/

I agree with what moose said about figuring out how to protect certain crops from pest, but not needing to do that with all of them. I think it would also be difficult to do crop rotation. But, I think sfg is more suited to people with limited space to begin and with little gardening knowledge or experience. I don't think that audience would be worried about crop rotation. The soil mix gets expensive and some people have difficulty sourcing vermiculite. It could be a way to get non gardening folk interested in gardening, but I think if you're really interested, have the space and inclination, sfg by the book would soon go by the wayside. Good for limited spaces but on a large scale it's just not economical.   

[flopsy]

Hi
Tried this  2 years ago, I made eight 3 foot square raised beds and divided them into 9 1 foot squares with string and then planted one plant in the middle of each square, or 1/2 dozen peas around a cane or 3 climbing beans around a cane. I set one going every week for eight weeks and by the time the last one was planted we were picking from the first one, which was then planted up again.
We kept this going for about 20 weeks until it got to cold and the light levels dropped.
was fun to do but as already said on the blog you have to pick which plants to plant together.

On a different note, have you tried the three sisters method of growing, that was fun to.
Cheers Pete

[surbie100]

It's not SFG, but I do plant in blocks in my raised beds and mostly it works really well.

[Dave NE]

I always thought it was one way to help newbie gardeners to learn their plant spacings, when using deep beds etc, Dave

[Madame Cholet]

Yes I block plant and broad cast sow in my no dig beds

[Beetroot Queen]

We did a square foot herb bed, it sort of worked till some died and othes refused to stay with their square or the neighbouring square. We will be re-jigging it this year

[peapod]

Its not a foolproof method for large cropping by any means, but it has its place (in a northern back yard for example )

 I like it for kids as it can be linked to key skills. Maths for amount of plants/planning layout. English lang for a diary of sowing and growing. Science for pH etc.

 

[Beekissed]

Using a SFG method and also having rows is not mutually exclusive.  I use it to maximize space in my garden rows so as to have more food yield for the space.  I tuck sweet onions in with tomatoes, beans in with corn, melons in the corn as well, lettuces in and around other plants that can provide more shade for them to slow down their wanting to bolt....basically anything I can fit into a square foot that doesn't interfere with the other plant's root systems and feeding levels, as well as block too much sun from them, is fair game. 

At the same time I try to utilize a companion planting method so as to not just plant things at random....so being mindful of which plants benefit one another, I'll tuck these in to normally wasted space, but not try to overcrowd.  That's where the SFG method really helps as it helps me keep proper spacing between plants.   Utilizing these methods together has been a great success for me and I still do it with a traditional row style garden. 

This year I intend to be even more organized with my planting and keep careful track of what is planted where so when I pull or pick something from an area, I can immediately reseed it or seed an equally beneficial veggie in its place.  I've got a tupperware style box from the dollar store and put index markers in it so I can keep my seeds filed and easily accessed and will also keep index cards stapled to each seed packet so I can mark down where and when I planted those seeds in the garden. 

[Tenhens]

This may be of interest if you have copies of Gardeners World magazines to hand. The April issue has an article - Your Summer Plot which is based on a plot 1 meter square.

[solway cropper]

About 6-7 years ago I realized that planting in rows is fine in commercial agriculture but it's a bit of a waste of space in a small garden. I plant in blocks which is a variation of the square foot method but you do need a fertile and relatively weed free soil for it to work well. I also sow 'little and often' so that I never have to deal with everything maturing at the same time and always have seedlings available to fill any gaps. It's like most things in life: if it works for you then go with it.