2025-08-12, 1415h

Someone was asking about how to arrange a container garden with beans, corn, sunflowers, and squash. I said: I would do do beans on the north and squash on the south (the squash leaves shade the ground on the southern side, corn shades the north side and beans'll find their own way better than squash can. I think you could probably do 6-8 beans on the north side, then 2 rows of 12-14 corn each (i plant corn tight compared to most folk and never have problems), then 5-6 squash on the south side. I'd do sunflowers on the west side to give it all some afternoon shade.

That's general what that plot looks like when i garden, container or not, and just how big it is determines how many plants.

Big issue with this kinda planting can be timing of the different cultivars so things are ready when they need to be (i.e. so you squash doesn't shade out your corn too early, or the weight of beans pull over sunflowers before the stalks firm up)

that timing stuff can exacerbate nutrient issues, especially for corn which needs what it needs when it needs it, and it always needs something. one big something is nitrogen, which is why making sure your beans can actually do nitrogen fixation, which is to say, inoculating the growth media with the appropriate cultures is usually worth the effort and expense.

Consistent moisture and a good ph also help with nutrient soluability, which is where a bottleneck usually is.