Planting & Growing

Seed starting, spacing, frost dates, companion planting, rotations.

21 resources

About Planting & Growing

Plants fail more often from timing and spacing mistakes than from lack of care. This section helps you plant at the right time for your zone, space vegetables so they have room to produce, pick companions that benefit each other, and plan rotations so the soil doesn't get exhausted. Use the calculators and checkers to build a planting plan before you buy seeds, not after you've already put them in the ground.

Tools 9

Companion Planting Checker Look up which vegetables, herbs, and flowers grow well together and which should be kept apart in your garden.

Crop Rotation Planner Plan a 3- or 4-year crop rotation schedule for your garden beds. Assign plant families to beds and get a color-coded multi-year rotation table.

Last Frost Date Planting Calculator Enter your last frost date and a crop to get exact dates for starting seeds indoors, hardening off transplants, and planting outdoors.

Pepper Yield Calculator: How Many Peppers Will My Plants Make? Estimate your pepper harvest in pounds and kilograms by variety type (sweet bell, sweet non-bell, jalapeno, habanero, super-hot, shishito), number of plants, growing setup (in-ground, raised bed, or container), and sun hours. Returns total yield, approximate pepper count, and preservation output (pickling pints, dried pounds, or freezer bags), with a sun interlock that flags spots that won't fruit. US + Canada units; named short-season Canadian varieties.

Plant Spacing Calculator Estimate how many plants fit in a garden bed based on bed dimensions and plant spacing.

Row Spacing Calculator Estimate how many rows fit in a garden bed or field based on area width and row spacing.

Seed Starting Calendar Calculate indoor seed starting dates based on your last frost date and the number of weeks before transplanting.

Tomato Yield Calculator: How Many Pounds Will My Plants Make? Estimate your tomato harvest in pounds and kilograms by variety type (indeterminate, determinate, cherry, paste, heirloom), number of plants, growing setup (in-ground, raised bed, or container), and sun hours. Returns total yield, family servings raw and cooked, canning quart-jars, with a sun interlock that flags spots that won't fruit. US + Canada units; named short-season Canadian varieties.

Vegetable Garden Area Planner Plan how much garden space you need based on the crops you want to grow, your household size, and how much produce you want to grow.

Guides 5

Companion Planting Basics for Beginners What companion planting actually does, the handful of pairings that work, the ones that hurt, and how to set up a beginner bed without getting lost in folklore.

How to Grow Peppers (Sweet and Hot, From Seed to Harvest) From picking a variety that fits your season (sweet bell, sweet non-bell, jalapeno, habanero, super-hot, shishito), through planting timing by 3-band climate model with the pepper-specific 65 F (18 C) soil threshold, frost-free-days math, spacing and supports, soil prep and pH, watering, fertilizing, the heat-and-stress reality for hot peppers, common problems decoded, harvest cues, and saving seeds. Named short-season Canadian varieties and US + Canadian seed suppliers.

How to Grow Tomatoes (Variety, Planting, Care, Harvest) From picking a variety that fits your season and space (Determinate vs Indeterminate, plus cherry, paste, and heirloom subtypes), through planting timing by 3-band climate model, spacing and supports, soil prep and pH, deep-watering, fertilizing, pruning Indeterminate vs leaving Determinate alone, common problems (blossom-end rot, early blight, cracking, blossom drop, hornworms), to harvest cues and saving seeds. Named short-season Canadian varieties and seed suppliers.

How to Plan a Vegetable Garden Layout A simple, beginner-friendly plan for your first vegetable garden: picking crops, mapping spacing, grouping companions, and rotating beds year to year.

When to Start Seeds Indoors How to count back from your last frost, which crops need a head start versus direct-sow, and how to harden off seedlings before they go in the ground.

Printables 7

Garden Planner Sheet Printable planner for organizing garden layout, crops, spacing, and planting schedules.

Garden Zone Planting Calendar Organize your planting schedule based on your specific garden zone for optimal growth and yield.

Pepper Variety and Yield Tracker (Printable) A printable multi-season log for tracking which pepper varieties you grew, sow/transplant and first/last harvest dates, total yield in lb (kg), heat level for hot varieties, quality 1-5 score, replant decisions, and problems / pests encountered. Garden snapshot, annual variety log, problems log, multi-year top performers summary, and quick reference card with reliable short-season varieties (Early Jalapeno, King of the North, Czech Black, Carmen), long-season varieties (Big Bertha, Habanero Red, Carolina Reaper), and US + Canadian seed suppliers including pepper specialists (Pepper Joe's, Cross Country Nurseries).

Raised Bed Planner Printable planner for garden bed dimensions, crop layout, spacing, and planting notes.

Seed Starting Planner Printable planner for organizing seed starting schedules, indoor planting, and transplant dates.

Seed Starting Tray Label Template Printable cut-and-tape label sheet for seed-starting trays. 12 labels per page with variety, sowing date, days to germinate, transplant date, and seed source.

Tomato Variety and Yield Tracker (Printable) A printable multi-season log for tracking which tomato varieties you grew, sow/transplant and first/last harvest dates, total yield in lb (kg), quality 1-5 score, replant decisions, and problems / pests encountered. Garden snapshot, annual variety log, problems log, multi-year top performers summary, and quick reference card with reliable short-season Canadian varieties (Sub-Arctic Plenty, Manitoba, Tiny Tim, Stupice), long-season varieties (Brandywine, Big Beef), and US + Canadian seed suppliers (Vesey's, Stokes, West Coast, Annapolis, Tatiana's Tomatobase, Johnny's, Burpee, Tomato Growers Supply, Baker Creek, Territorial Seed).

Frequently asked questions

How do I find my hardiness zone?

Enter your ZIP code into the USDA plant hardiness zone map (planthardiness.ars.usda.gov) or use our last-frost planting calculator, which returns both the zone and the estimated last-frost date for your area.

Can I plant seeds directly, or do I need to start them indoors?

Depends on the crop. Cool-season crops (peas, spinach, lettuce, carrots) go directly in the ground a few weeks before last frost. Warm-season crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) benefit from 6-8 weeks indoors before transplanting after frost.

How much space do vegetables actually need?

Less than traditional garden books suggest if you use intensive or square-foot spacing. Tomatoes need 2-3 feet, peppers 12-18 inches, lettuce 6-8 inches, carrots 2-3 inches. Our vegetable garden area planner enforces spacing rules automatically based on what you pick.

Does crop rotation really matter for a small garden?

Yes, especially for tomato-family crops (tomato, pepper, eggplant, potato) which share pests and diseases. A three-year rotation prevents soil-borne problems like late blight and verticillium wilt. The crop rotation planner tracks this across beds and years.

Which companion planting claims are real?

Some pairings have documented benefits: basil near tomatoes, carrots and onions (pest confusion), corn and beans and squash (the classic 'three sisters'). Many others are folklore. Our companion planting checker separates well-studied pairs from anecdotal ones.

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