[shokkyy]

I think the commercial growers long ago realised they could make more profit if they grew smaller veg planted closer together. And it's something I've always tended to do as well. I've only got two mouths to feed so if you grow really big cauliflowers, for example, it's easy to end up wasting some. I'd rather grow smaller veg so they're just the right size for two.

[DD.]

We visited the Eden Project in Cornwall, last year and apparantly a lot of the Cornish growers put 4 onion sets to a station.

Slightly small onions result, but overall a heavier crop. Didn't have the courage to try it myself - maybe next year!

[1st time veg grower]

I think the commercial growers long ago realised they could make more profit if they grew smaller veg planted closer together. And it's something I've always tended to do as well. I've only got two mouths to feed so if you grow really big cauliflowers, for example, it's easy to end up wasting some. I'd rather grow smaller veg so they're just the right size for two.

Yeah me too - a smallish space, plus liking to grow as big a variety of veg that I can, inevitably means cramming stuff in a bit but there is (usually) only me to feed so it doesn't matter. I'm sure others do this too but I grow too much of stuff where you can eat the thinnings - so beetroot are fab because you can eat the leaves, so I deliberately sow the seeds too close. I've also eaten lettuce and Chicory thinnings this year. If my carrots actually grow this year then hopefully I'll have some small carrots to harvest between the ones I let grow on. Doing the same with leeks - so I have baby leeks before the larger ones are ready and I've harvested some small overwintering onions this week (golf ball sized) partly because a recipe I had called for small onions, and so that I could give room to some others to grow a bit bigger.

[viettaclark]

I ram my raised beds with the stuff that can be eaten as thinnings; garlic, leeks, pak choi, roots, salads, greens. Dwarf and broad beans and sugarsnap peas are also planted closely and I'm probably growing my toms,  peppers and squash closer than recommended.
The only ones I don't compromise on are potatoes, rhubarb and fruit.
My yields are good because I maintain the soil condition, mulch well and water/feed regularly.

[New shoot]

Beetroot in cell trays though, what about root disturbance??

And climbing Beans up sweetcorn?  :blink:  Now that IS a new one for me!

As for beans up sweetcorn, my understanding is that it comes from the native american three sisters planting of squash, corn and beans - there are lots of threads about it on here and generally on the internet. I have never tried the beans up sweetcorn as my understanding was that in this country the beans grow faster than the sweetcorn, but I do plant my squash/pumpkins together.

I find the beetroot I plant out don't suffer at all from being started in cell trays 

The 3 sisters idea is fairly well known, but I've always done climbing beans up other veg.  I plant a couple of bean seeds at the base of the sweetcorn once it gets to about 2 foot high.  Once my greenhouse toms get to about the same height they also get a bean or 2 to keep them company.  Think it was some daft notion I had when I started veg growing that the beans would fix nitrogen and feed the other veg - probably totally wrong but it worked crop wise and I just carried on doing it.

I have tried the squash at the base as well, but found it a pain to then get to the sweetcorn and the beans, so I now have a big squash patch like you 1st time veg grower.  They all tangle round in a heap and I throw any escaping tendrils back in the heap.  I get as much fruit as when I used to neatly space them.  I've just emptied a couple of compost bins onto the plot for them to grow in this year 

[Hampshire Hog]

I have just planted out my runner beans on a munty frame (cross fingers) and planted sweetcorn underneath as there's no where else for them to go. I have some french beans germinating and think I may interplant those among the sweetcorn   once they are big enough in a few weeks from now. Assuming they survive I also have some butternut squash(only 4) that I am thinking of putting at the corners of the munty frame and letting them have a tour! (Does this count as a 2.5 sisters set up!?)

Cheers HH   

[lancashiregardeninggal]

I start some of my peas off in pots and when I have done my final earthing up of potatoes (the ones I am growing in bags) I plants the strong growing peas with the potatoes

[Growster...]

I ram my raised beds with the stuff that can be eaten as thinnings; garlic, leeks, pak choi, roots, salads, greens. Dwarf and broad beans and sugarsnap peas are also planted closely and I'm probably growing my toms,  peppers and squash closer than recommended.
The only ones I don't compromise on are potatoes, rhubarb and fruit.
My yields are good because I maintain the soil condition, mulch well and water/feed regularly.

What about carrots Vietta?

I always stare at my rows of carrots, wondering when to thin them, and still can't make my mind up...

[Kristen]

I find the beetroot I plant out don't suffer at all from being started in cell trays 

Me too. I grow 3 or 4 around a 3" pot, and plant out when the plants are quite well developed, never had a problem with them being transplanted.

[viettaclark]

Me too Growster!
Thinning too early means no size to the baby carrots and they could've grown some more. Patience.....
I remember one year we ate them all and not one was longer than my thumb and I really regretted not waiting!

[Growster...]

Me too Growster!
Thinning too early means no size to the baby carrots and they could've grown some more. Patience.....
I remember one year we ate them all and not one was longer than my thumb and I really regretted not waiting!

That's not difficult Vietta!

I'm amazed at how long the 'test thinning' carrot roots are, especially as I've been having to water them most days, and was fearing that they'd favour the top of the soil...

I suppose I'll still be peering at them in a few week's time, by which time we might have had some rain!

[1st time veg grower]

And climbing Beans up sweetcorn?  :blink:  Now that IS a new one for me!

As for beans up sweetcorn, my understanding is that it comes from the native american three sisters planting of squash, corn and beans - there are lots of threads about it on here and generally on the internet. I have never tried the beans up sweetcorn as my understanding was that in this country the beans grow faster than the sweetcorn, but I do plant my squash/pumpkins together.

The 3 sisters idea is fairly well known, but I've always done climbing beans up other veg.  I plant a couple of bean seeds at the base of the sweetcorn once it gets to about 2 foot high.  Once my greenhouse toms get to about the same height they also get a bean or 2 to keep them company.  Think it was some daft notion I had when I started veg growing that the beans would fix nitrogen and feed the other veg - probably totally wrong but it worked crop wise and I just carried on doing it.

I have tried the squash at the base as well, but found it a pain to then get to the sweetcorn and the beans, so I now have a big squash patch like you 1st time veg grower.  They all tangle round in a heap and I throw any escaping tendrils back in the heap.  I get as much fruit as when I used to neatly space them.  I've just emptied a couple of compost bins onto the plot for them to grow in this year 

Sorry my post should have read 'but I do plant my sweetcorn and squash/pumpkins together'! That's really interesting about your technique with the beans though and that it works - may be its something to think about for another year.

Me too Growster!
Thinning too early means no size to the baby carrots and they could've grown some more. Patience.....
I remember one year we ate them all and not one was longer than my thumb and I really regretted not waiting!

I do have this problem too - the tops of a couple of rows of mine look really good and I'm dying to pull a couple up and have a look, but from the past know I'll just be disappointed if I do it now...must...hold...off!

[shokkyy]

I just brush away the soil with my fingers so I can have a look without pulling it up.

[Endymion]

We grow most of our veg quite close, in staggered rows so that each plant has a wide gap around it, but the 'rows' are the same distance apart as the individual plants in each rown. (Does that make sense?)

I have tried the squash at the base as well, but found it a pain to then get to the sweetcorn and the beans, so I now have a big squash patch like you 1st time veg grower.  They all tangle round in a heap and I throw any escaping tendrils back in the heap.  I get as much fruit as when I used to neatly space them.  I've just emptied a couple of compost bins onto the plot for them to grow in this year 

Out of interest, how far apart do you plant your squashes?

We've got more plants that we expected, and more cucumbers and courgettes too, so need to squeeze them in as tightly as possible.

We've thought of growing them vertically, because there's a fence next to where they're going, but we're not sure what to use as a support.

[DD.]

We grow most of our veg quite close, in staggered rows so that each plant has a wide gap around it, but the 'rows' are the same distance apart as the individual plants in each rown. 

You mean like this, where the distance between each "x" or plant is the same horizontally or vertically, but greater on the diagonal. It's the way I plant & I'm sure a lot of others do as well.

x   x   x   x   x   x   x   x
  x   x   x   x   x   x   x