Last Updated on October 8, 2026
How Much to Plant per Person: Vegetable Garden Chart and Calculator
Plant about 2 to 4 tomato plants, 3 to 5 pepper plants and 10 bush bean plants per person for each planting, then multiply by the number of people you feed. Those numbers come from Virginia Cooperative Extension, whose home garden planting guide gives a per-person count for 38 vegetables. For a family of 4 that is 8 to 16 tomatoes, 12 to 20 peppers and 40 bush beans per planting. Pick your crops below to get plants, row feet and square feet.
Household:
Crops:
For 4 people, one planting of 10 crops takes about 107-187 feet of row. At my square foot spacing that is 118-211 squares, about 4-7 beds of 4×8 feet.
| Crop | Plants per planting | Plantings a year | Plants for the year | Row feet per planting | Squares per planting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broccoli | 12-20 | 2 spring/summer, 3 fall | 60-100 | 12-20 | 12-20 |
| Bulb onions | 80-120 | 1 spring/summer | 80-120 | 14-20 | 20-30 |
| Bush beans | 40 | 4 spring/summer | 160 | 7 | 5 |
| Carrots | 40-120 | 1 spring/summer, 2 fall | 120-360 | 6-18 | 3-8 |
| Cucumbers | 8-16 | 2-3 spring/summer | 16-48 | 8-16 | 4-8 |
| Garden peas | 80-120 | 2 spring/summer | 160-240 | 17-25 | 9-14 |
| Head lettuce | 20-40 | 3 spring/summer, 3 fall | 120-240 | 10-20 | 5-10 |
| Peppers | 12-20 | 2 spring/summer | 24-40 | 12-20 | 12-20 |
| Summer squash | 4-8 | 3 spring/summer | 12-24 | 9-18 | 16-32 |
| Tomatoes | 8-16 | 2 spring/summer | 16-32 | 12-23 | 32-64 |
Each child counts as half a person. Ranges run from the low to the high end of the extension numbers. Row feet use the extension’s transplants per 10 feet of row, or the middle of its in-row spacing for seeded crops; squares use my square foot gardening chart.
Family of 4: the math behind the numbers
The calculator opens on 4 people and ten common crops. Here is how three of those rows are worked out.
- Tomatoes. Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) gives 2 to 4 plants per person per planting and 2 spring/summer plantings. For 4 people that is 8 to 16 plants per planting and 16 to 32 for the year. VCE gives about 7 tomato transplants per 10 feet of row, so 8 plants fill about 12 feet of row and 16 fill about 23. My chart gives an unpruned tomato a 2×2 block of 4 squares, so 8 to 16 plants need 32 to 64 squares. I prune indeterminate tomatoes to a single stem on a stake or string, which fits one per square: 8 to 16 squares.
- Bush beans. 10 plants per person per planting, 4 plantings. That is 40 plants each time and 160 for the season. At 2 inches apart, 40 plants need about 7 feet of row. At 9 per square, they fit in 5 squares.
- Carrots. 10 to 30 per person per planting, with 1 spring and 2 fall plantings. That is 40 to 120 carrots per planting. At 16 per square, that is 3 to 8 squares.
All ten crops come to 118 to 211 squares for one planting of each, about 4 to 7 beds of 4×8 feet. Tomatoes and summer squash alone take 48 to 96 of those squares. Spring and fall plantings are usually not in the ground at the same time, so the fall rounds of broccoli, carrots and lettuce can go into space your spring crops have finished with.
Plants per person chart: 38 vegetables
Every number below except the last column is from Table 5 of VCE publication 426-331, Virginia’s Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide, by Shawn Jadrnicek and Alex Hessler (expert reviewed, May 2025). VCE writes that the table recommends the number of plants to grow per person for each vegetable based on expected yield. The last column is the spacing from my square foot gardening chart.
| Crop | Plants per person, per planting | Plantings spring/summer | Plantings fall | Yield per 10 ft of row | Seed or transplants per 10 ft of row | Spacing in the row | My chart, per square |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asparagus | 5-10 | 1 | 0 | 3-4 lb | 10 crowns | 12-18 in | not on my chart |
| Baby salad lettuce | 10-15 ft of row | 2 | 3 | 2-4 lb | 1/4 oz seed | 0.2-0.4 in | sown by the foot |
| Beets | 10-20 | 2 | 2 | 8-10 lb | 1/8 oz seed | 2-3 in | 9 |
| Broccoli | 3-5 | 2 | 3 | 4-6 lb | 10 transplants | 12-24 in | 1 |
| Brussels sprouts | 2-5 | 0 | 1 | 3-5 lb | 7 transplants | 18-24 in | 1 |
| Bulb onions | 20-30 | 1 | 0 | 7-10 lb | 60 transplants | 2-4 in | 4 |
| Bush beans | 10 | 4 | 0 | 3-5 lb | 1 oz seed | 1-3 in | 9 |
| Cabbage | 4-8 | 1 | 2 | 10-25 lb | 10 transplants | 12-18 in | 1 |
| Carrots | 10-30 | 1 | 2 | 7-10 lb | 1/20 oz seed | thin to 1.5-2 in | 16 |
| Cauliflower | 3-5 | 1 | 2 | 8-10 lb | 10 transplants | 12-24 in | 1 |
| Chinese cabbage | 6-8 | 1 | 2 | 20-30 lb | 10 transplants | 4-30 in | not on my chart |
| Collards and kale | 3-7 | 1 | 2 | 4-8 lb | 10 transplants | 12-24 in | 1 |
| Cucumbers | 2-4 | 2-3 | 0 | 8-10 lb | 10 transplants | 12-18 in | 2 (on a trellis) |
| Eggplant | 1-3 | 1 | 0 | 10-12 lb | 7 transplants | 18-24 in | 1 |
| Garden peas | 20-30 | 2 | 0 | 2-6 lb | 1/2 oz seed | 2-3 in | 9 (on a trellis) |
| Head lettuce | 5-10 | 3 | 3 | 2-4 lb | 20 transplants | 6-10 in | 4 |
| Kohlrabi | 3-6 | 1 | 2 | 4-8 lb | 30 transplants | 4-6 in | 4 |
| Leeks | 10-12 | 1 | 1 | 5-10 lb | 1/10 oz seed | 4-6 in | 9 |
| Lima beans | 4-8 | 1 | 0 | 4-6 lb | 1 oz seed | 3-6 in | not on my chart |
| Muskmelon | 2-3 | 2 | 0 | 15-25 lb | 5 transplants | 24-36 in | 1 per 4 squares |
| Mustard greens | 5-10 | 1 | 2 | 3-6 lb | 1/10 oz seed | 1-2 in, thin to 6 in | not on my chart |
| Okra | 3-5 | 2 | 0 | 5-10 lb | 15 transplants | 12-18 in | 1 |
| Peppers | 3-5 | 2 | 0 | 5-18 lb | 10 transplants | 12-24 in | 1 |
| Pole beans | 3-5 | 2 | 0 | 6-10 lb | 1 oz seed | 4-12 in | 8 |
| Potatoes | 10 | 1 | 0 | 10-20 lb | 1 lb | 10-18 in | 2 |
| Pumpkin | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10-20 lb | 1/20 oz seed | 2-4 ft | 1 per 4 squares |
| Radishes | 2 ft of row | 2 | 4 | 3-5 lb | 1/8 oz seed | 3/4-1 in | sown by the foot |
| Rutabaga | 10-20 | 0 | 1 | 8-12 lb | 1/8 oz seed | 3-6 in | 4 |
| Southern peas (cowpeas) | 20-30 | 1 | 0 | 5-18 lb | 1 oz seed | 3-4 in | not on my chart |
| Spinach | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4-6 lb | 1/8 oz seed | 0.5-1 in, thin to 4 in | 9 |
| Summer squash | 1-2 | 3 | 0 | 20-80 lb | 1/10 oz seed | 18-36 in | 1 per 4 squares |
| Sweet corn | 15-20 | 3-5 | 0 | 7-10 lb | 1/2 oz seed | 6-12 in | 4 |
| Sweet potato | 5 | 1 | 0 | 8-12 lb | 15 slips | 9-12 in | not on my chart |
| Swiss chard | 3-5 | 1 | 2 | 8-12 lb | 1/5 oz seed | 6-12 in | 4 |
| Tomatoes | 2-4 | 2 | 0 | 15-45 lb | 7 transplants | 18-36 in | 1 per 4 squares |
| Turnips | 10-20 | 1 | 1 | 8-12 lb | 1/8 oz seed | 2-3 in | 9 |
| Watermelon | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8-40 lb | 3 transplants | 3-4 ft | 1 per 4 squares |
| Winter squash | 1-2 | 1 | 0 | 10-80 lb | 1/10 oz seed | 2-4 ft | 1 per 4 squares |
“Per planting” means one sowing or one set of transplants. Multiply by the number of plantings to get the year. Baby salad lettuce and radishes are given in feet of row per person, not plants. VCE also notes not to harvest asparagus in its first year.
How to read the ranges
- Low end or high end. VCE says how much to plant depends on what vegetables you like, the size of your garden and the time you can give it, and that the age, lifestyle and cooking habits of your family matter too. Use the low end for a crop you eat now and then and the high end for one you eat most days.
- Plantings. Some crops give a steady harvest all season and others are picked once or twice. For those, VCE suggests several plantings spaced every two to three weeks during the planting window, or varieties with different days to maturity. My vegetable days to maturity chart shows how many days each crop takes to mature.
- Your season. The planting counts were written for Virginia’s planting windows. If your frost-free season is shorter, you may fit fewer rounds. Look up your frost dates by zip code, then use my seed starting calendar to see which weeks each crop goes in.
From plants to square feet
My square foot chart converts seed packet spacing to plants per square: 3 inches apart is 16 per square, 4 inches is 9, 6 inches is 4 and 12 inches is 1. Big plants like squash, melons and unpruned tomatoes get 1 plant per 4 squares, a 2×2 foot block. The calculator divides your plant count by the plants per square and rounds up.
- Tomatoes. As my tomato plants per square foot page explains, a tomato pruned to one stem fits 1 per square, while an unpruned one takes 4 squares. The calculator uses the unpruned number, so divide the tomato squares by 4 if you prune.
- Climbers. Cucumbers at 2 per square and peas at 9 assume a trellis. Pole beans are 8 per square on my chart.
- Crops not on my chart. Asparagus, lima beans, Chinese cabbage, mustard greens, southern peas and sweet potato have no square foot spacing on my chart, so the calculator gives row feet only and leaves them out of the square total.
- Row feet. For transplants, crowns and slips, these use VCE’s count per 10 feet of row: 7 for tomatoes, 10 for peppers and cucumbers. That count usually sits at the close end of VCE’s in-row spacing, and for tomatoes a little closer: 7 in 10 feet is about 17 inches apart, against 18 to 36. If you space plants wider, you need more row. For seeded crops, VCE gives seed by weight, so row feet use the middle of the in-row spacing, or the thinned spacing where VCE gives one: 2 inches for bush beans (1 to 3).
To fit a crop list into a real bed shape, use my square foot garden calculator.
Crops the table leaves out
VCE’s table has no garlic, strawberries or herbs. For garlic, start from how many bulbs your kitchen uses: one clove grows one bulb, and my garlic calculator adds seed for next year. For strawberries, my strawberry plants per square foot page puts a family at a 4×4 bed of 16 plants, one per square, which gives a good picking every couple of days in June.
Quick questions
How many tomato plants per person?
Virginia Cooperative Extension gives 2 to 4 tomato plants per person for each planting, with 2 plantings in spring and summer. That is 4 to 8 plants per person for the year, or 8 to 16 per planting for a family of 4. Grow more if you plan to can or freeze tomatoes.
How many cucumber plants per person?
2 to 4 per planting, with 2 to 3 plantings in spring and summer, from Virginia Cooperative Extension. For a family of 4 that is 8 to 16 plants per planting. On a trellis they fit 2 per square foot, so 4 to 8 squares.
How big of a garden do I need for a family of 4?
For ten common crops (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, bush beans, summer squash, head lettuce, carrots, bulb onions, broccoli and peas), one planting of each takes about 4 to 7 beds of 4×8 feet. That is 118 to 211 squares at square foot spacing, or 107 to 187 feet of row: each per-person count from Virginia Cooperative Extension multiplied by 4.
Are per-person numbers enough for canning?
Treat them as a base for fresh eating. Virginia Cooperative Extension says you may want to grow more of a crop if you plan on canning or freezing it, so add to the count for anything you put up.
Do children count as a full person?
No. Virginia Cooperative Extension suggests children may need half the amount of vegetables adults do, so the calculator counts each child as half a person. Two adults and two children plan like 3 people.
Let the planner place them
You know how many plants you need; now put them in your beds. Plan My Garden is free to start: enter your zip code and it finds your frost dates, draw your beds, pick your crops, and it places each plant at square-foot spacing and builds a planting schedule with start indoors, transplant and direct sow dates.
Related: Square Foot Gardening Chart · Square Foot Garden Calculator · Days to Maturity Chart · How Much Garlic to Plant · 4×8 Raised Bed Layout · Charts and Tools
