How Many Cucumbers per Square Foot?
Two per square, according to both published charts that give a number - Clemson Extension and Phipps Conservatory. The Square Foot Gardening Foundation calls cucumbers a basic crop but publishes no per-square figure for them. And our own planner counts one, because its grid can only hold 1, 4, 9 or 16 plants in a square. Here is how to plan for the real number.
Data reviewed: . Every figure and quote on this page was read from its primary source on this date. Counts are calculated from the same data the planner uses.
The short answer
- 2 per square, at the base of a trellis on the north edge of the bed.
- Our planner counts 1 per cucumber square. Double it when you buy seeds or plants.
- Bush cucumbers: none of the charts gives them a separate figure.
What the published charts say
Plants per square foot, exactly as each chart states it, next to what our planner counts. These are the same three charts we compare for every crop on our spacing comparison page.
Cucumber
- SFG Foundation
- no figure given
- Clemson Extension
- 2
- Phipps Conservatory
- 2
- Our planner
- 1
In their own words
Quoted from each source as published, so you can check our reading. Where a source is a table, the row is shown with its columns separated by a bar.
Square Foot Gardening Foundation
"Square Foot Spacing" (2024)
Once you are well-versed in the techniques of Square Foot Gardening, you might want to expand beyond basic crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans.
Square Foot Gardening Foundation
"What to Plant in Spring" (2024)
You'll need to wait to plant tender crops like melons, squash, cukes, tomatoes, and peppers until after your last average frost.
Clemson Cooperative Extension
"Small-Scale Gardening" (2022)
Cucumbers | 2
If planting a vegetable that climbs, place a trellis at the north side of the raised bed and orient those crops in that location.
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
"Square Foot Gardening Guide" (2020)
Cucumbers | 2 | Short (tall if trellised)
If you're going to use a trellis, mark where it will go. A trellis should go on the north or west side of the bed. Put climbing plants, such as pole beans, cucumbers or peas at the base of the trellis.
Cucumber (2) Early-May | Cucumber (2) | Radishes (16) Late-March | Beets (16) Late-March | Parsley (2) Early-March
Why the sources differ
Two charts agree, one is silent
Clemson's sample planting guide and the Phipps planting chart both say 2. The Foundation names cucumbers among its basic crops on the same page as its spacing chart, but never gives them a number.
Trellis or ground
Phipps marks cucumbers "Short (tall if trellised)" and tells you to put climbing plants such as cucumbers at the base of a trellis on the north or west side of the bed. Its own sample plan, though, grows cucumbers at 2 per square in the front row of a bed with no trellis. The figure is the same either way. The trellis decides whether the vines stay inside their squares.
The planner is the odd one out
Our planner can only put 1, 4, 9 or 16 plants in a square, and 2 is not one of them, so cucumbers are stored at 1. The planner's own note says so: cucumbers are often grown 2 per square on a trellis. Every cucumber count on this page shows both numbers.
Cucumber spacing by type
Cucumbers, on a trellis
2 per square
North edge, on a trellis
Who gives this figure
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, "Small-Scale Gardening" - cucumbers
- Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, "Square Foot Gardening Guide" - cucumbers, trellised or not
What we recommend
2 per square, along a trellis on the north edge. Both charts that publish a figure agree on it, and a cucumber trained upward stays inside its own square instead of spilling into its neighbors'.
If you let them sprawl on the ground instead, the charts still say 2 per square. Give them the front (south) row, as the Phipps sample plan does, so the vines can spill over the edge of the bed rather than onto another crop.
In the planner, paint the squares you want and double the cucumber count before you buy seeds or plants.
In the planner
The planner counts 1 cucumber per square; the charts say 2. Every cucumber count on this page shows both.
How many cucumbers fit in your bed
Calculated for every bed size we publish plans for. Tap a bed size to see finished layouts for it.
| Bed | Squares | Along a north-edge trellis, at the charts' figure2 per square | The same trellis, as the planner counts it1 per square |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2x4 | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| 3x3 | 9 | 6 | 3 |
| 2x8 | 16 | 16 | 8 |
| 4x4 | 16 | 8 | 4 |
| 3x6 | 18 | 12 | 6 |
| 4x6 | 24 | 12 | 6 |
| 5x5 | 25 | 10 | 5 |
| 4x8 | 32 | 16 | 8 |
| 4x12 | 48 | 24 | 12 |
Counts assume the long side of the bed faces north, with the trellis along it.
A bed plan built around cucumbers
Cucumbers on a north-edge trellis
4x4 bedCucumbers climb the trellis across the north edge, with the traditional companions from our dataset - nasturtium, bush beans, marigold, dill and radish - in front of them.
What that plants
- Radish - 2 squares32
- Bush Bean - 2 squares18
- Spinach - 2 squares18
- Lettuce - 3 squares12
- Cucumber - 4 squares4
- Marigold - 1 square4
- Dill - 1 square1
- Nasturtium - 1 square1
- Total plants90
Cucumber: the planner counts 4; at the published 2 per square it is 8.
Loads every square into the free planner. Change anything, add your frost date for sow dates, then print it or copy a share link. Nothing to sign up for.
Cucumber in our other bed plans
Every ready-made plan on this site that already includes cucumbers, and how much room it gives them.
- The family summer bed (4x8 bed)cucumber: 2 squares, 2 in the planner, 4 at the published figure
- The summer mixed bed (3x6 bed)cucumber: 1 square, 1 in the planner, 2 at the published figure
- The everyday family bed (4x6 bed)cucumber: 1 square, 1 in the planner, 2 at the published figure
- The herb and tomato strip (2x8 bed)cucumber: 1 square, 1 in the planner, 2 at the published figure
- The full-season family bed (4x12 bed)cucumber: 2 squares, 2 in the planner, 4 at the published figure
- The 25-square summer bed (5x5 bed)cucumber: 1 square, 1 in the planner, 2 at the published figure
Good neighbors, and ones to keep apart
Traditional good neighbors
The planner warns when these touch
These pairings are traditional companion-planting guidance, not settled science. Our companion planting chart says which ones have research behind them.
Read the companion planting chartWhen to plant
- Season
- Warm season, full sun
- Planner sow date
- 1 week after your last spring frost
- Days to harvest
- 50-70 days (typical range; check your seed packet)
- Planner note
- Direct sow 1-2 wks after last frost when soil is 65F+, or start indoors 3 wks early. Often grown 2/sq ft on a trellis; tool uses 1.
The Foundation's spring planting guide lists cucumbers ("cukes") among the tender crops that wait until after your last average frost, which matches our planner's sow date.
Questions about cucumbers
How many cucumbers per square foot?
Two, in both published charts that give a figure: Clemson Extension and Phipps Conservatory. The Square Foot Gardening Foundation gives none. Our planner counts 1, a limit of its grid rather than a different opinion.
How many cucumber plants fit in a 4x8 raised bed?
Up to 16 if you give the whole 8-foot north edge to a cucumber trellis at 2 per square. The planner will show 8 for the same squares.
Do cucumbers need a trellis in a square foot garden?
Not strictly - Phipps's own sample plan grows them on the ground at 2 per square. But Phipps and Clemson both put climbing crops on a trellis at the north side of the bed, and a trellis is what keeps the vines inside their squares.
How many bush cucumbers per square foot?
None of the three charts gives bush cucumbers their own figure; the only published number is 2 per square, for cucumbers in general. If your seed packet gives a thin-to distance, the Foundation's rule converts it: 12 inches apart is 1 per square, 6 inches apart is 4.
What should I plant next to cucumbers?
Our dataset lists nasturtium, radish, corn, bush bean, dill and marigold as traditional companions, and the planner warns when cucumbers touch potato and sage. It is traditional guidance, not settled science.
Sources
- Square Foot Gardening Foundation, "Square Foot Spacing" (2024). View the source (read 2026-09-26)
- Square Foot Gardening Foundation, "What to Plant in Spring" (2024). View the source (read 2026-09-26)
- Clemson Cooperative Extension, "Small-Scale Gardening" (2022). View the source (read 2026-09-26)
- Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, "Square Foot Gardening Guide" (2020). View the source (read 2026-09-26)
- Every quote on this page was read from the raw text of the source page or PDF, not from a search summary or a secondary blog. Curly quotes and long dashes were straightened to plain characters; nothing else was changed.