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Squash Hill Spacing Calculator

Enter the row length, hill spacing, and seeds per hill.

How it is calculated

The tool places a hill at the start of the row and then one every spacing step: hills = floor(row_length / spacing) + 1, and total seeds = hills × seeds_per_hill. Row length and spacing are in feet, so enter both in feet. Because the first hill sits at distance 0, both ends of a row that divides evenly get a hill, which is why the count is one more than the plain division. Any leftover length shorter than one spacing is dropped. Spacing must be above zero; row length and seeds cannot be negative. The right spacing depends on the variety (bush or vining), so use the seed packet as your guide.

Worked example

A garden row is 25 ft long, hills are to be 4 ft apart, and you sow 4 seeds per hill. Step 1: 25 / 4 = 6.25, rounded down to 6 gaps. Step 2: the first hill adds one, so 6 + 1 = 7 hills (at 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 ft). Step 3: 7 × 4 = 28 seeds in total, at a spacing of 4.00 ft. The last hill is 1 ft from the end of the row.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Entering the row length in metres or the spacing in inches; the tool works in feet.
  • Expecting the count to be row length divided by spacing; the tool adds the starting hill, so 24 ft at 4 ft spacing gives 7 hills, not 6.
  • Treating seeds per hill as the number of plants you will keep; growers usually thin to the strongest one or two.
  • Using the in-row spacing for a vining variety without leaving room between rows, which the tool does not check.

Sources

  • Summer Squash — Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center

About this calculator

Squash is traditionally planted in hills — small mounded clusters of several seeds spaced apart along a row, rather than a continuous line, since sprawling vines need room. The number of hills that fit is row length ÷ hill spacing (rounded down) plus one, because the first hill goes at the very start of the row — for example, a 25 ft row at 4 ft spacing gives 7 hills. Total seed need is that hill count multiplied by the seeds planted per hill (growers typically over-sow 3-4 seeds per hill and thin to the strongest 1-2 plants).

This calculator takes your row length and hill spacing in feet, and seeds per hill, and returns the number of hills that fit and the total seeds required. Home gardeners and small-scale market growers use it when laying out a vegetable bed for squash, pumpkins, melons, or cucumbers — crops that share the same hill-planting convention — to buy the right amount of seed and space vines so they have room to spread.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    The hill count is a step function, so small changes in row length matter only at the thresholds. At 4 ft spacing a 39 ft row holds 10 hills and a 40 ft row holds 11, while 41 ft still gives 11. If you are close to a threshold, a foot of extra row buys a whole hill. Which crop are you planting here, and what spacing does your seed packet suggest?

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