How much do your tomato plants Cost? - Page 3

Ricky Shaw · March 8, 2016

The hobby was cool by itself, the people make it electric. You go Mitch.

bower · March 8, 2016

Hi Mitch,

I probably gave you the wrong impression in my post, but I do appreciate the bottom line, and I do grow tomatoes for the contribution to home economy, for sure... but in the end, I can only reckon all those hours as "love". If I kept track of the hours and weighed up pounds of tomatoes, I'm afraid I'd be figuring out a very low hourly wage. But growing tomatoes also means eating really excellent home grown tomatoes year round, never buying what passes for tomato in the stores here, and for certain also eating more tomatoes than I ever would have bought in the first place. They have displaced some other items from my grocery list.

I also sell seedlings to help pay for material costs. The return on seedlings is better than the return on tomatoes, without bothering to do calculations, just because the hours spent preening my tomato pets are so many. Much fewer hours for the seedlings, so better return. But as Cole says, it can be dicey. Last year I had a big pest infestation the week before market. So I sold no seedlings, AND I spent a bundle on various soaps, neems, spray bottles, mosquito dunks, mosquito bits, sticky traps... all of which had to be applied over and again. Rinse lather repeat, more hours.
I sell some tomatoes too, but that has been more a case of, who can persuade me to part with them. Even at $5 a lb, there are more requests to buy than I'm able or willing to supply. I had a lot of substandard uneven ripened tomatoes this past year, which I wouldn't sell or give to anybody, I just made sauce. So it was a hard year for the bottom line, and this can happen any year without warning, due to weather, or disease pressure, or insect pests. It's a gamble.
So... I've accepted that some years I may not even pay for material costs, let alone labour.

As regards small volume containers, IME there is a direct impact on yield, which depends to some extent on the variety but in general large indeterminates and large fruited are noticeably more productive in a bigger soil volume. Also if it's a good variety that produces over a relatively long season, the yield in a bigger container seems better to me, than the yield of two plants crowded into the same container. Bearing in mind that overcrowding also limits light in my greenhouse, I still think container size is a key factor for yield. With the exception of dwarfs, determinates, and maybe cherries. As for ferts, never stint to save money, you end up with lower yield. Depending on your soil of course, but it's a safe generalization. The well fed tomato produces more.

Best of luck, in any case, and let us know how the tomato accounting goes for you this year!

Gerardo · March 8, 2016

I'm with Ted, Loco Hillbilly's restaurant is best in Texas!!!! I believe I'll have the pastrami sandwich with a side of chilli, and some .40 cal target practice for dessert.

Merediana · March 9, 2016

I personally don't need very productive plants, I'd rather have a few good tomatoes from 15 different plants than a huge amount from 5 plants. I enjoy growing and eating different varieties that I can't get anywhere else (where I live there is really NO chance at all to buy heirlooms).

I'm growing some peppers too and I've noticed that there are quite a few guys who enjoy buying the latest technology to improve their growing methods and spend hundreds of euros for great lighting, special pots, watering systems, ventilators, etc... For me this wouldn't be an option but they just love it and think it's worth it.

March 8, 2016	#31
Ricky Shaw Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Zone 6a Denver North Metro Posts: 1,910	The hobby was cool by itself, the people make it electric. You go Mitch.

March 8, 2016	#32
bower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Newfoundland, Canada Posts: 6,794	Hi Mitch, I probably gave you the wrong impression in my post, but I do appreciate the bottom line, and I do grow tomatoes for the contribution to home economy, for sure... but in the end, I can only reckon all those hours as "love". If I kept track of the hours and weighed up pounds of tomatoes, I'm afraid I'd be figuring out a very low hourly wage. But growing tomatoes also means eating really excellent home grown tomatoes year round, never buying what passes for tomato in the stores here, and for certain also eating more tomatoes than I ever would have bought in the first place. They have displaced some other items from my grocery list. I also sell seedlings to help pay for material costs. The return on seedlings is better than the return on tomatoes, without bothering to do calculations, just because the hours spent preening my tomato pets are so many. Much fewer hours for the seedlings, so better return. But as Cole says, it can be dicey. Last year I had a big pest infestation the week before market. So I sold no seedlings, AND I spent a bundle on various soaps, neems, spray bottles, mosquito dunks, mosquito bits, sticky traps... all of which had to be applied over and again. Rinse lather repeat, more hours. I sell some tomatoes too, but that has been more a case of, who can persuade me to part with them. Even at $5 a lb, there are more requests to buy than I'm able or willing to supply. I had a lot of substandard uneven ripened tomatoes this past year, which I wouldn't sell or give to anybody, I just made sauce. So it was a hard year for the bottom line, and this can happen any year without warning, due to weather, or disease pressure, or insect pests. It's a gamble. So... I've accepted that some years I may not even pay for material costs, let alone labour. As regards small volume containers, IME there is a direct impact on yield, which depends to some extent on the variety but in general large indeterminates and large fruited are noticeably more productive in a bigger soil volume. Also if it's a good variety that produces over a relatively long season, the yield in a bigger container seems better to me, than the yield of two plants crowded into the same container. Bearing in mind that overcrowding also limits light in my greenhouse, I still think container size is a key factor for yield. With the exception of dwarfs, determinates, and maybe cherries. As for ferts, never stint to save money, you end up with lower yield. Depending on your soil of course, but it's a safe generalization. The well fed tomato produces more. Best of luck, in any case, and let us know how the tomato accounting goes for you this year!

March 8, 2016	#33
Gerardo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: San Diego-Tijuana Posts: 2,598	I'm with Ted, Loco Hillbilly's restaurant is best in Texas!!!! I believe I'll have the pastrami sandwich with a side of chilli, and some .40 cal target practice for dessert.

March 9, 2016	#34
Merediana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: germany Posts: 190	I personally don't need very productive plants, I'd rather have a few good tomatoes from 15 different plants than a huge amount from 5 plants. I enjoy growing and eating different varieties that I can't get anywhere else (where I live there is really NO chance at all to buy heirlooms). I'm growing some peppers too and I've noticed that there are quite a few guys who enjoy buying the latest technology to improve their growing methods and spend hundreds of euros for great lighting, special pots, watering systems, ventilators, etc... For me this wouldn't be an option but they just love it and think it's worth it.