How Much to Plant for a Daily Glass of Juice

Start with the glass, not the seed packet

Here is the anchor number: about 1 pound of fresh produce makes one 8-ounce glass of juice. Softer stuff like cucumber gives up a little more, dense roots like carrot a little less, but 1 pound per glass is the number to plan around.

So a glass a day is about 7 pounds of produce a week. That is the target. Every plant count below is just that 7 pounds divided up across the crops you actually want in the glass.

A classic mixed glass splits roughly like this: 3 pounds of carrot, 3 pounds of cucumber, and 1 pound of greens each week. Sweet, crisp, and a little earthy. We will size the garden to hit exactly that.

• 1 pound of produce = one 8-ounce glass.
• One glass a day = about 7 pounds a week.
• Sample split: 3 lb carrot + 3 lb cucumber + 1 lb greens.

The 3-crop plan, plant by plant

Now divide those 7 pounds by what each plant gives you. All of these yields come straight from the crop data, so you can check the math.

Cucumbers first. A slicing cucumber plant gives about 1 pound a week while it is producing. You want 3 pounds a week, so 3 pounds divided by 1 pound per plant is 3 plants. Plant 4 for a buffer against a slow plant or a bad week.

Carrots next. Each carrot root is about 0.2 pounds. You want 3 pounds a week, and 3 divided by 0.2 is 15 carrots a week. Carrots are a single harvest, so you sow them in blocks. A 3-week block is about 45 carrots. At 2 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart, that block takes about 8 square feet.

Greens last. Kale gives about 0.15 pounds per plant per week and keeps cutting all season. You want 1 pound a week, and 1 divided by 0.15 is about 7 plants. Plant those 7 once and cut from them for months.

• Cucumbers: 3 lb/week at 1 lb/plant = 3 plants. Plant 4.
• Carrots: 3 lb/week at 0.2 lb/root = 15 roots/week, sown in ~45-root blocks (~8 sq ft).
• Kale: 1 lb/week at 0.15 lb/plant = about 7 plants, cut all season.

Keeping the glass full all season

One planting will not carry you. Two of these three crops need a rhythm, or the supply dries up mid-summer.

Cucumbers are productive for only about 5 weeks each. Four plants will not last the whole season on their own. Start 2 new plants every 3 weeks, and you always have plants coming into their prime as the old ones fade.

Carrots are a one-and-done harvest, so you sow a fresh 45-carrot block every 21 days. Each block takes about 68 days from seed to pull, so start your first block early, well before you want the first glass. That timing gap is the part people miss.

Kale is the easy one. Plant your 7 kale once, cut the outer leaves, and it comes back for roughly 16 weeks. No succession needed.

• Cucumbers: start 2 new plants every 3 weeks (each plant lasts ~5 weeks).
• Carrots: sow a new ~45-root block every 21 days; first block is ready ~68 days after sowing.
• Kale: plant once, cut all season (~16 weeks).

What not to grow, and the honest cost

Celery looks like a juicing must-have, and it is the one classic juice crop most people should not grow. It takes 110 days to mature and wants steady, fussy watering the whole time. For the space and babysitting, buy your celery and grow the rest.

If you want to swap beets into the mix, that is easy. Each beet root is about 0.4 pounds, so 1 pound of beet juice a week is about 3 roots a week. Beets are a single harvest like carrots, so sow a fresh block every 14 days to keep them coming.

Be honest about money, too. Year one rarely beats store prices once you count soil, seed, and your time. The win the first year is flavor and knowing exactly what is in the glass, not the grocery savings. Those show up later, once the beds are built and paid for.

And know what you are signing up for. A true daily-glass garden is a real commitment, roughly 2 sowing sessions a month just for carrots. If that sounds like a lot, an every-other-day glass halves every number on this page.

Plan it backward from your glass

You do not have to do this math by hand. PlotToTable works backward from what you want to eat, or drink. Set how often you want carrot, cucumber, and kale in the glass, and it hands you the plant counts, the square footage, and the sow dates, including the succession blocks so you never run dry mid-season.