How Many Tomatoes Can You Get Per Plant – Best Varieties – Determinate vs Indeterminate – Best Yiedling Varieties – Large vs Small Plants – How To Promote More Growth – How Many Kilograms – Summary – FAQ
There can’t really be a clear answer for all tomatoes about how much they can produce. A beefsteak variety will produce vastly more tomatoes in terms of quantity from one plant compared to a small cherry tomato plant. But the interesting part might be in the yield per plant you are getting.
Let’s dive deeper into the topic of how much tomatoes you can expect to get from one plant. It shouldn’t deter you from growing certain varieties just because they might yield less than others. The important part is that you grow something you think is tasty and delicious.
How Many Tomatoes Can You Get Per Plant
The average amount of tomatoes you can expect from one plant will be between 10 to 30 pounds per plant. The upper end of that being from varieties such as beefsteak tomato or san marzano. Two varieties that are sort of known for producing large quantities of tomatoes for the space and attention they require.
The smaller plants like cherry tomatoes or sungold will yield smaller harvests. But like we said previously, the flavor you get from these varieties are just as tasty and delicious as the larger varieties. It really is just a preference game when choosing the variety of tomato that you want. Either larger and high yielding plants or smaller and more manageable ones.
What Are The Best Tomato Varieties
In terms of flavor and getting a good and bountiful harvest then there is no better than the san marzano variety. This one can provide you with great harvests. The flavor is rich and sweet. It might just be the best one for making homemade tomato sauce. All in all a great beginner option since the attention it requires is pretty slim too.
The second favorite we have is the sungold tomato. This is a yellow variety that has a very sweet and slightly acidic flavor profile. They are the best snack tomato variety we know of. They ripen quickly and early on, but continue growing new ones throughout the whole season.
Determinate vs Indeterminate Plants
The difference between the determinate and indeterminate plants are more or less the size of them. The determined tomato varieties were shown in an experiment to be able to yield higher amounts per plant compared to indeterminate ones.
The experiment was done in a greenhouse where the temperatures remained elevated and the water was well kept. But it all really comes down to specific varieties and not the group of tomatoes you are grouping them into.
A plant that might begin to flower very early on in the season will generally speaking get more tomatoes growing throughout the one starting to flower later on. So a cherry tomato plant could outpace a larger beefsteak tomato in theory.
Best Yielding Tomato Varieties
Generally speaking one of the best yielding tomato varieties is the san marzano one. It has the capacity to provide almost 30 pounds of tomatoes throughout its lifetime. That means it might be one of the best options compared to smaller cherry tomatoes for example.
The reason we say the san marzano and not beefsteak tomatoes is that this one has a more consistent yield during the year. We have often found that beefsteak tomatoes have all of it coming at the same time, whilst san marzano can provide an almost daily harvest.
Large Tomato Plants vs Small Plants
We have mentioned the impact the size of the tomato plant has in terms of the amount of tomatoes you will get from them. The larger plants often have a really large harvest since they are able to grow more. But the smaller and more bushy tomato varieties are instead yielding a consistent harvest almost every day throughout the season.
We like a mix of both. The biggest advantage of growing smaller tomato plants is the flexibility they offer. We can move them around the garden to get them the best amount of sunlight each day. That normally means the flavor and aroma of the fruit will be so much better.
How To Get More Tomatoes Per Plant
There are many different qualities that affect the amount of tomatoes that you can expect to get. Let’s look at some of the things we ourselves can help the plant get and in turn have a healthier plant life.
Soil
The soil is incredibly important since that will decide the amount of nutrition the rest of the plant is able to take up. We strive to keep the soil slightly damp in order to prevent the risk of overwatering and damaging the root system instead. That can otherwise have detrimental effects like drowning the roots and causing rot to spread.
Light
This is incredibly important since it will help the tomatoes ripen properly but also lets the leaves perform photosynthesis. That is a vital process where the leaves take up the sunlight and turn it into energy for the rest of the plant to use up. It helps growing the plant and ensures the continuation of the plant.
Fertilizing
Getting the most from the soil is very important like we mentioned, but sometimes it’s necessary to give it a push in the right direction. We like to every month or so use some fertilizers to help boost the amount of nutrition the plant is able to get. Too much should be avoided though to prevent harming the roots instead.
Pruning
This is our secret weapon to making the plant grow even better. It helps with getting bigger and better harvests too. We prune the stems and leaves which are vital to the health of the plant. Stems which has not developed any flowers aren’t really needed. Pruning them will lead the energy and nutrition to the tomatoes instead of growing new leaves.
How Many Kilograms Of Tomatoes Can One Plant Produce
A tomato plant can produce anywhere between 4 – 12 kg of tomatoes per plant. It will all be determined by the variety though. Plants like san marzano or beefsteak are able to yield much higher weights compared to tomatoes grown in pots, like the cherry tomato one.
Summary
To summarize this article a little bit we can say that there isn’t a set amount of tomatoes a plant can yield. It will all be decided by the variety. Beefsteak tomato plants are able to produce up to 30 pounds while a cherry tomato one will be about 10 pounds instead.
Making sure the plant is getting a lot of sunlight and also nutrition from the soil will further help you get more harvest from the plants that you have growing.
FAQ
Can You Have Too Many Tomatoes On One Plant
You can’t really get too much tomatoes on one plant. You might get tomatoes that don’t have time to ripen, but that is often caused by the season ending early and the temperatures dropping quickly.
Do Tomato Plants Keep Producing
Tomato plants will keep producing all throughout the season if that is a variety you have chosen. But eventually the plant will grow tired and not develop flowers which turn into fruits.
How Much Does A Tomato Plant Yield
A tomato plant can yield anywhere between 10 – 30 pounds of harvest. But it will be decided by the variety that you have chosen. If you get beefsteak tomatoes for example then you can expect quite a large harvest for the year.
