Inputs
Shade house footprint
Interior usable length.
Interior usable width.
All calculations normalize internally.
Clearance on each side.
Tomato Volcano bed layout
Typical 5–8 ft per bed.
Clear aisle between beds.
Common 8–14 depending on trellis.
Auto fits beds by width.
Yield & water assumptions
lbs/plant per cycle.
1–3 depending on climate & system.
gallons/day per plant (avg).
Used for gal/week.
Shade cloth & structure
Planning recommendation only.
Extra on each side for fastening.
Include side walls cloth estimate
Adds cloth area for 4 sides (height below).
Use 0 if not estimating sides.
% extra for overlaps/cuts.
Note: This is a planning calculator for layout + sizing.
If you want, we can add a materials BOM mode (pipe length, connectors, anchors, roll sizes, drip emitters).
Results
Auto-fit rows + beds per row using diameter + gap and interior walkway.
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Volcano beds
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Total plants
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Projected yield (lbs/year)
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Water demand (gal/day)
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Water demand (gal/week)
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Shade cloth area
Layout & materials (planning)
| Item | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Usable interior (after walkway) | — |
| Rows across width | — |
| Beds per row (along length) | — |
| Plant spacing (around ring) | — |
| Drip line length (approx) | — |
| Stake/trellis points (1 per plant) | — |
| Recommended shade | — |
— plants / 100 sqft
— lbs / sqft / year
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How we calculate
- Usable interior = house dimensions − 2× perimeter walkway (each axis).
- Pitch (bed diameter + gap) determines how many beds fit across and along.
- Plants = beds × plants per bed. Yield = plants × yield per plant × cycles/year.
- Water = plants × gallons/day per plant. Weekly uses watering days/week × daily.
- Shade cloth top area = (L + 2×overhang) × (W + 2×overhang), plus optional side walls.