How Many Tomato Plants does a Woman/Man need?

Gardeneer · March 30, 2015

Lets say that you are a family of five. And you have another 5 relatives/friends that share
your tomatoes of ten.
Now for the sake of simplicity let us assume that you just use tomatoes fresh, slicing in salad, salsa, making sauce , cooking AND you do not can or freez.

Requirements"
You got to have cherry, red/pink, yellow/orange black/brown/purple. That is 4 categories that got to have.
Now how many plants of each would you REALLY need ?

Remember that there are roughly 10 people including yourself) who love to enjoy tomatoes out of your garden.

?

walt456 · March 30, 2015

According to my calculations you'll need 462 plants.

At least that's how the math works out in my garden.

Gardeneer · March 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by walt456

According to my calculations you'll need 462 plants.

At least that's how the math works out in my garden.

LOL.

Worth1 · March 30, 2015

50 plants should make everyone happy for the season.
Well make that 100.
Ten people can go through a lot of tomatoes.

Mind you, you cannot skip a meal without eating tomatoes.

Worth

Gardeneer · March 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

50 plants should make everyone happy for the season.
Well make that 100.
Ten people can go through a lot of tomatoes.

Mind you, you cannot skip a meal without eating tomatoes.

Worth

O' Man !

I am doing like 40. So 50 sounds reasonable . 5 plants per person ?!? hehe

Ok now. Lets say: What would be the minimum ?

ContainerTed · March 30, 2015

How are you eating them - sliced, chopped, stewed, etc. AND .... if you're making a lot of sauces and juice, how many plants does that add?

This really IS a complicated question. I eat all I can all summer long. What I can't eat, I make into tomato juice for my winter drinks of beer and tomato juice. I like about 60 quarts after doing a 40% reduction to get really thick juice.

I don't think you can predict the answer with any reliability.

joseph · March 30, 2015

One cherry tomato is too many for ten people. But if you only plant one then it might die so you have to plant two and then let the extras go unpicked.

In my garden, my slicing tomato season is about 9 weeks long (about 63 days), so if each person eats 1/2 pound of tomatoes per day then we'd need 315 pounds of fruit for the season. Slicing tomatoes in my garden produce about 20 pounds of fruit per plant, so I'd need to plant around 16 plants. But production is not even through the season. So perhaps plant twice as many to get more early production. Also a mix of early/late varieties might help.

Tracydr · March 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Worth1

50 plants should make everyone happy for the season.
Well make that 100.
Ten people can go through a lot of tomatoes.

Mind you, you cannot skip a meal without eating tomatoes.

Worth

And, if you make sauce it takes a lotta tomatoes!

Tracydr · March 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

O' Man !

I am doing like 40. So 50 sounds reasonable . 5 plants per person ?!? hehe

Ok now. Lets say: What would be the minimum ?

40-50 a person sounds about right.

rags57078 · March 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by joseph

One cherry tomato is too many for ten people. But if you only plant one then it might die so you have to plant two and then let the extras go unpicked.

one

, I can keep one cleaned off by myself

Gardeneer · March 30, 2015

OK guya, thanks.
. I am not shooting for an exact answer, cause there is none. Just a ball park number.
Lets say that you are NOT a heavy saucer but make some spaghetti sauce now and then , put few on the grill when you Bar-B-Q (once a week ?)

Hey , you are not going to survive JUST ON TOAMTOES

I was thinking like 2 to 3 plants (average) per person sould be enough. Since you CANNOT plant 2.5 plants, the do 3. hehe

rags57078 · March 30, 2015

3 for each should do it and just for giggles throw a few more in , you can always find someone to take any extras

SueCT · March 30, 2015

It also depends on how productive your plants are. I would need many more Brandywines and Hearts than Sophies Choice or Jet Star. I would throw in some determinates, which produce a lot at once and some indeterminates to prolong your harvest season. Some early and mid and large later varieties, then you divide among all the colors, lol. You need a LOT for sauce. One determinate per pot or two of sauce, lol. So which varities you plant will have a big effect on how many plants you need. I plant 12-15 plants for one person and some to can, lol. Sometimes I don't have enough to can. But I plant all heirlooms, and I choose them for mostly for taste, not productivity.

gssgarden · March 30, 2015

Do like I do...cram in as many as you can fit in your garden.....then add 10 more!!

walt456 · March 30, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by gssgarden

Do like I do...cram in as many as you can fit in your garden.....then add 10 more!!

This is known as the Tomatoville method of gardening.

March 30, 2015	#1
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	How Many Tomato Plants does a Woman/Man need? Lets say that you are a family of five. And you have another 5 relatives/friends that share your tomatoes of ten. Now for the sake of simplicity let us assume that you just use tomatoes fresh, slicing in salad, salsa, making sauce , cooking AND you do not can or freez. Requirements" You got to have cherry, red/pink, yellow/orange black/brown/purple. That is 4 categories that got to have. Now how many plants of each would you REALLY need ? Remember that there are roughly 10 people including yourself) who love to enjoy tomatoes out of your garden. ?

March 30, 2015	#6
ContainerTed Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: 6a - NE Tennessee Posts: 4,538	How are you eating them - sliced, chopped, stewed, etc. AND .... if you're making a lot of sauces and juice, how many plants does that add? This really IS a complicated question. I eat all I can all summer long. What I can't eat, I make into tomato juice for my winter drinks of beer and tomato juice. I like about 60 quarts after doing a 40% reduction to get really thick juice. I don't think you can predict the answer with any reliability. __________________ Ted ________________________ Owner & Sole Operator Of The Muddy Bucket Farm and Tomato Ranch

March 30, 2015	#7
joseph Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2013 Location: Cache Valley, N/E of The Great Salt Lake Posts: 1,244	One cherry tomato is too many for ten people. But if you only plant one then it might die so you have to plant two and then let the extras go unpicked. In my garden, my slicing tomato season is about 9 weeks long (about 63 days), so if each person eats 1/2 pound of tomatoes per day then we'd need 315 pounds of fruit for the season. Slicing tomatoes in my garden produce about 20 pounds of fruit per plant, so I'd need to plant around 16 plants. But production is not even through the season. So perhaps plant twice as many to get more early production. Also a mix of early/late varieties might help. Last edited by joseph; March 30, 2015 at 09:49 PM.

March 30, 2015	#11
Gardeneer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: NC - zone 8a - heat zone 7 Posts: 4,919	OK guya, thanks. . I am not shooting for an exact answer, cause there is none. Just a ball park number. Lets say that you are NOT a heavy saucer but make some spaghetti sauce now and then , put few on the grill when you Bar-B-Q (once a week ?) Hey , you are not going to survive JUST ON TOAMTOES I was thinking like 2 to 3 plants (average) per person sould be enough. Since you CANNOT plant 2.5 plants, the do 3. hehe Last edited by Gardeneer; March 31, 2015 at 12:12 AM.

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March 30, 2015	#2
walt456 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: VA Posts: 235	According to my calculations you'll need 462 plants. At least that's how the math works out in my garden.

March 30, 2015	#4
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	50 plants should make everyone happy for the season. Well make that 100. Ten people can go through a lot of tomatoes. Mind you, you cannot skip a meal without eating tomatoes. Worth

March 30, 2015	#12
rags57078 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: South Dakota Posts: 278	3 for each should do it and just for giggles throw a few more in , you can always find someone to take any extras

March 30, 2015	#13
SueCT Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,460	It also depends on how productive your plants are. I would need many more Brandywines and Hearts than Sophies Choice or Jet Star. I would throw in some determinates, which produce a lot at once and some indeterminates to prolong your harvest season. Some early and mid and large later varieties, then you divide among all the colors, lol. You need a LOT for sauce. One determinate per pot or two of sauce, lol. So which varities you plant will have a big effect on how many plants you need. I plant 12-15 plants for one person and some to can, lol. Sometimes I don't have enough to can. But I plant all heirlooms, and I choose them for mostly for taste, not productivity.

March 30, 2015	#14
gssgarden Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: N.C. Posts: 1,827	Do like I do...cram in as many as you can fit in your garden.....then add 10 more!!