How Far Apart to Plant Broccoli (Rows + Raised Bed)

Broccoli spacing in rows vs a raised bed

The number you need depends on how you garden. A row gardener measures in inches between plants and between rows. A raised-bed gardener thinks in squares.

For traditional rows, set broccoli 18 inches apart down the row, with 24 to 36 inches between rows. The wider gap suits big heading varieties and gives you a path to walk and cut.

In a raised bed you drop the between-row gap. You plant on a grid instead, with 1 broccoli per square foot. Same plant, same density, just counted a different way.

These numbers sit inside what US extension services publish. NC State Extension lists 8 to 24 inches in-row depending on the variety, and the University of Maryland Extension puts it at 16 to 24 inches with rows 24 to 30 inches apart. The site's default of 18 inches is the workable middle, and the calculator lets you nudge it.

Broccoli spacing by method

This table gives you the spacing three ways, so you can plant the same bed however you garden. Frame it against your own setup: rows for the in-ground gardener, the grid for the raised bed.

The in-row inch and the per-square count describe the same density. A plant that wants 18 inches in a row wants about a square foot in a grid, which is why broccoli lands at 1 per square. For the full crop-by-crop view, the plant spacing chart lays out in-row inches and square-foot counts side by side.

Square vs triangular layout

A raised bed gives you a choice most row gardeners never think about: how to stagger the plants. The layout changes how many heads fit.

Take a 4 ft by 8 ft bed and broccoli at 18 inches:

• Square spacing: 10 plants (5 down the 8-foot length, 2 across the 4-foot width).
• Triangular packing: 9 plants. The staggered rows give up one plant to the short edges.

Square-foot gardening counts 1 broccoli per square, which pencils out to 32 plants in that 4 by 8 bed. That is too tight for full-size heads. The per-square count is a starting point, not a law, and broccoli is one of the crops where the honest answer is to give it the room.

Why spacing matters for broccoli

Broccoli rewards air and space more than most vegetables. Get the spacing right and the heads size up. Get it wrong and you fight small heads and disease all season.

Three things spacing buys you:

• Bigger heads. Each plant needs full sun and a clear root zone to bulk up a main head. Crowd it and the head stays small.
• Airflow against disease. Broccoli leaves are broad and they hold humidity. Eighteen inches of gap lets air dry the leaves, which cuts downy mildew and other leaf diseases.
• Room to work. You harvest the main head, then side shoots for weeks. Spacing gives you a path to reach in and cut.

Common spacing mistakes

Most broccoli spacing problems come from treating it like a small crop. It is a big brassica and it acts like one.

The frequent errors:

1. Spacing by seed packet alone. Packet ranges run wide. Match the variety to the extension range and default to 18 inches for full heads.
2. Skipping the between-row gap. In rows, 24 to 36 inches between rows is not optional. Skinny rows shade the lower leaves.
3. Forgetting the plant gets wide. A broccoli plant can span 18 to 24 inches of leaf. Space for the mature plant, not the transplant.

Get the bed filled and fed first, then plant. The how much compost do I need guide covers the amendment, and broccoli is a heavy feeder that earns it.

Put your bed's numbers in

Broccoli wants 18 inches between plants and 24 to 36 inches between rows, or a full square foot each in a raised bed. The spacing is the same density, measured the way you garden. Triangular packing buys back the diagonal that a square grid wastes.

Pick broccoli and your bed size in the Plant Spacing Calculator to see how many plants fit in square, triangular, and square-foot layouts, with a grid preview for your exact dimensions.