| Giving an oz. of seed per Xfeet figure makes it easier to do the math than if they gave a figure in pounds, so even though they may not sell seed by the ounce, that's why they give that figure I'd bet. Since you already know how much yield you want and how many feet you need to get it, simply use the oz. per Xfeet Johnny's gives you to figure it. For instance, if you know you need 200 feet of something and Johnny's says it takes 3 oz. seed to plant ten feet, then:
1. First figure out how many of the given unit (3 oz.) you'll need ~ 200 (number of feet you need) divided by 10 (number of feet the given unit will plant) = 20. You need 20 of the given unit to plant 200 feet of row.
2. So multiply 20 times the given unit (3 oz.) = 60. 60 oz. of seed is what you'd need.
3. To convert that answer into pounds, divide by 16 (number of oz. in a pound). 60 divided by 16 = 3.75 ~ that's how many pounds you need. Be sure to overbuy a bit to account for spotty germination, some plants not doing as well as expected, etc. If they give a fraction of an ounce per Xfeet, like "1/8 oz. per ten feet of row", then before you do the above math, convert that into a "regular" number by dividing the top number by the bottom number. 1/8 = 1 divided by 8 = 0.125 Use 0.125 as the "given unit" to do the math above. You may already know the following, so if you do, I apologize. Just disregard and let it stand for others' benefit... When it comes time to make those rows and plant, keep in mind that most yield figures are for regular thin rows of single plants in a line. If you are planting wide rows, then when you actually get out there to plant them you won't have 200 feet of wide row planted when you run out of seed (for instance, if you're planting 30" wide beds, you'll probably be planting the equivalent of three thin single-plant rows squished together, so you'll only have about 67 feet of row done when you've planted all your seeds). But for calculating on paper, these figures should line up and give you fairly close amounts of seed needed to get the pounds of veggies you want. Of course nothing will give you exact figures to make you end up with exactly how many pounds you need at the end of the season as there are too many variables when growing them out, but this will help you get close, again provided you buy and plant a little bit more to make sure. Experience will help you get closer to exact amounts needed, so keep a detailed garden journal (something I need to do myself *sigh*). For lurkers' benefit (Hi, lurkers! ;), if you want to know how to find out yields per foot, go Googling for something like "vegetable crop yields per foot" or "vegetable row crop yields" and you'll find websites that will give you the average yield per foot (again, this is for thin single-plant rows). It's best if you get one tailored to your area, but here's one from Virginia's Coop Extension to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. |
