Comprehensive Plant Database
Search and filter by soil pH, sunlight, functional traits, ecology, and safety, covering every plant type.
| Name | Scientific | Family | Form | Height | pH | Zones | Sun | Water | Difficulty | Conservation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spinach, English Spinach, True Spinach, Leaf Spinach | Spinacia oleracea | Amaranthaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 6-12 inches vegetative; 24-30 inches when bolting | 6.5–7.5 | 2a-11b; grown as a cool-season annual | Full Sun, Partial Sun, Partial Shade | Provide 1-1.5 inches of water per week. Keep soil evenly moist but not saturated. | Easy | NE |
| Stevia, Candyleaf, Sweetleaf, Sugarleaf | Stevia rebaudiana | Asteraceae | subshrub | 1-3 feet (30-90 cm) | 6–7.5 | 9a-11b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Keep soil evenly moist but never waterlogged; shallow root system requires consistent shallow watering. | Moderate | LC |
| Showy Stonecrop, Ice Plant, Autumn Stonecrop, Live-Forever | Hylotelephium spectabile | Crassulaceae | succulent_leaf | 1.5-2 feet | 6–7.5 | 3a - 9b | Full Sun | Water deeply upon planting until established; mature plants require no supplemental irrigation except during unprecedented droughts. | Easy | LC |
| Garden Strawberry | Fragaria × ananassa | Rosaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 15-30 cm (6-12 inches) | 5.5–6.8 | 3a-10b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Provide 2.5-4 cm (1-1.5 inches) of water per week; drip irrigation is preferred to keep foliage dry. | Moderate | NE |
| Common Sunflower, Annual Sunflower, Mirasol | Helianthus annuus | Asteraceae | herb_non_graminoid | 5-12 feet | 6–7.5 | 2a - 11b | Full Sun | Water regularly during germination and early stem growth (1 inch/week). Drought tolerant once established, though consistent moisture yields larger blooms. | Easy | LC |
| Sweet Basil, Common Basil, Genovese Basil, Great Basil | Ocimum basilicum | Lamiaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 12-24 inches (30-60 cm) | 6–7.5 | 10a - 11b (Perennial); Annual elsewhere | Full Sun | Water when the top 1-2 inches of soil are dry. Avoid overhead watering to prevent foliar diseases like downy mildew. | Easy | LC |
| Sweet Corn, Sugar Corn, Table Corn | Zea mays | Poaceae | herb_graminoid | 5-8 feet (150-240 cm) | 5.8–7 | 2a-11b | Full Sun | Critical watering during silking and tassel emergence (1.5 inches/week); drought stress at silking causes missing kernels. | Moderate | LC |
| Sweet Pea, Garden Sweetpea | Lathyrus odoratus | Fabaceae | climber | 6-8 feet | 6.5–7.5 | 2a - 11b (Annual) | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Maintain consistent root-zone moisture; water deeply at the base early in the day to prevent powdery mildew spores from germinating on foliage. | Moderate | LC |
| Sweet Potato, Camote, Kumara | Ipomoea batatas | Convolvulaceae | climber | 0.5-1 feet (15-30 cm) | 5.5–6.5 | 9a-11b | Full Sun | Provide moderate, consistent moisture early in the season. Taper off watering 2-3 weeks before harvest to prevent root splitting and decay. | Easy | LC |
| Sweet Woodruff, Master of the Woods, Waldmeister, Sweet-scented Bedstraw | Galium odoratum | Rubiaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 6-12 inches (15-30 cm) | 5.5–7 | 4a-8b | Partial Shade, Full Shade | Maintain even moisture; foliage may scorch or enter premature summer dormancy if soil dries out completely. | Easy | LC |
| Swiss Chard, Silverbeet, Rainbow Chard, Mangold | Beta vulgaris | Amaranthaceae | herb_non_graminoid | 1-2 feet (30-60 cm) | 6–7 | 2a-11b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Consistent moisture (1 inch per week); avoid soil drying out to keep stalks crisp and prevent premature bolting. | Easy | LC |
| Switchgrass, Tall Panic Grass, Prairie Panic Grass | Panicum virgatum | Poaceae | herb_graminoid | 3-6 feet (90-180 cm) | 5.5–7.5 | 3a-9b | Full Sun, Partial Sun | Deep, infrequent watering during establishment; thrives on natural rainfall thereafter. | Easy | LC |
Beans: Soil pH, Planting Depth and Spacing (Green, Bush, Fava)
The three bean records in this database, green bean, bush bean and fava (broad bean), all sit in the same narrow soil window: pH 6.0 to 7.0, well-drained, and neither waterlogged nor droughted through pod fill. That window is not a preference, it is a biological constraint. Rhizobium nodules (the reason a bean feeds itself) stop fixing atmospheric nitrogen below about pH 6.0, and fava shows aluminium and manganese toxicity on acid ground before the common beans do. Lime to 6.0-6.5 if a test comes back under 6.0, then re-test: the correction takes months, not weeks.
| Bean | Sow depth | Spacing | Soil temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green bean | 1–1.5 in (2.5–4 cm) | 3–4 in in-row, 18–24 in apart | 60°F (16°C) or warmer |
| Bush bean | 1–1.5 in (2.5–4 cm) | 3–4 in in-row, 18–24 in apart | 60°F (16°C) or warmer |
| Fava bean | 1–2 in (2.5–5 cm) | 4–6 in in-row, 24 in apart | 40–50°F (5–10°C) |
Depth. Sow bean seed at about three times its own thickness and no deeper: 1 to 1.5 inches for green and bush bean, 1 to 2 inches for the larger fava seed. Sowing shallow is the safer error. Common bean will not germinate in soil still below 60°F (16°C) (seed sits and rots instead of swelling) while fava is the opposite and goes in four to six weeks before the last frost, which is why it also works as an autumn sowing. Neither wants a presoak: hydrate the bed, not the seed.
Spacing. Bush types are determinate and stop growing on their own, so 3 to 4 inches within the row and 18 to 24 inches between rows gives a canopy that closes without crowding; thinned stands dry out and crack their pods. Fava is taller and stiffer, so it takes 4 to 6 inches in the row with 24 inches between rows, and it benefits from a stake on exposed ground. Pole types are a different question: they need the trellis before the seed goes in.
After sowing. About an inch of water a week, held evenly through flowering and pod set: a dry week at first bloom drops the flower set, and a waterlogged week at harvest splits the pods. Inoculate seed if the bed has not grown a legume in the last four years, keep fresh manure out of the hole (it delays nodulation) and feed phosphorus and potash from a soil test rather than by habit. Full sun for all three. For the pH side of that, start from the soil pH by crop reference table and work out the rate with the lime requirement calculator.