Garden Voila gives you numbers you can plant by: spacing, planting depth, days to harvest, watering volumes and frost dates. This page explains where those numbers come from, how we check them, and what we do not claim. We do not run a physical laboratory or grow trial plots for every crop, and we will not pretend to. What we do is cross-check every figure against published horticultural sources and re-calculate our tools by hand.
Where plant data comes from
Spacing, planting depth, sowing windows and days to maturity for each plant are compared with published sources, mainly university cooperative extension guides and seed-company growing instructions. When sources disagree, we use the more cautious figure or show a range, such as 55 to 70 days. Days to harvest are averages that shift with variety and weather, and our plant pages say so. Hardiness and frost information is based on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and local frost records.
For health-related or safety-related statements, such as which parts of a plant are edible or which need cooking, we follow extension and public health guidance and keep the wording conservative.
How we check the calculators
Each calculator is checked against a worked example done by hand, then compared with the tool output. If the two differ by more than rounding, the tool is fixed before it stays live. Two examples you can reproduce yourself:
- Watering a bed. One inch of water over 100 square feet is 100 ÷ 12 = 8.33 cubic feet of water. One cubic foot holds 7.48 gallons, so you need about 62.3 gallons. The garden watering calculator uses this same conversion.
- Plants per bed. A 4 by 8 foot raised bed is 32 square feet. With a crop that takes 9 plants per square foot, such as bush beans spaced 4 inches apart in a square-foot grid, the bed holds up to 288 plants, minus walking room and any squares you leave for other crops.
Our calculators give planning estimates. Real gardens vary with soil, weather and variety, so treat results as a starting point and adjust to what you see.
What we do not claim
- We do not claim lab testing, clinical results or guaranteed yields.
- We do not take payment to rank or praise products. Where we mention a tool or product, it is because it fits the job.
- Dates and numbers are estimates for planning, not promises.
Spotted an error?
If a figure on any page looks wrong for your area or variety, post it on the community board. We review reports and correct pages when a source supports the change.