A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum The Tomato Forum Tomato Yields & Transplanting

I started Big Boys and Romas on Monday, 2/9. I planted 72 cells of each, thinking that with my luck I would have about half of them not come up. My Romas have already sprouted. And out of the 72 cells, all but 3 have sprouts, and most of the cells have 2 (I planted 2 seeds per cell).

Can I transplant the "extra" sprouts when I thin them into their own cells and expect them to do any good? Or would it most likely be a waste of time? Also, I haven't been able to find out what kind of yield I can expect from the Romas. I heard that the Big Boys will give me approximately 1 bushel/plant (53 lbs?) under good conditions, but can't find that info for the Romas. Anyone know? I'm also trying to find out how much sauce the Romas will make.

If all of these plants survive, I'm going to take any extras that I don't have room for to the farmer's market and sell them. I could sell just a few for very little and more than make my money back this year! So if I CAN replant the thinned ones, it will increase my cash later.

Thanks for any advice!

Annette

I started 24 cups Paper cups) of different kinds of tomatoes this morning and I have some more started that are about 2 inches tall in a small pot-- I plted 3-5 seeds in each cup

Annette, I would go ahead and plant the sprouts, you have nothing to loose.My old landlord always did the romas and they must have had 60-70 plants. I helped them 1 year canning and we were at it all day and they had more qt size jars than I could count, dont know if that tells you what you wanted to know but it will give you a rough idea of what to plan for with all your plants. Last year I planted heirloom beefsteak and WOW what great sauce they made. This year I'll be planting 15 different variety's, I cant wait to get started next month.
Christine

You should be able to transplant the sprouts and most should do fine. Just be careful not to injure the stem if real small.
I don't want to be the one to dampen expectations and I don't know your area but will say if you averaged 35 lbs you will be doing great. The other thing is pounds picked and pounds of useable fruit. Which can be way different. I plan on 15 pounds per plant and usually pick more than 30 pounds on several tomatoes but if I have ten plants of a variety and average over 20 I feel good. I have done better and also have done way worse. I know in some areas the conditions are better than mine. I saw one experienced grower recently say on the roma type he never planned on more than ten pounds per plant of useable fruit on an average. I have scales and can weigh all of mine easily. Found when weighing them that my previous guesses had been way high. Best wishes for a great 09 season. Jay

Thanks, Jay and Christine! That helps a good bit. I was thinking about trying to replant the thinned sprouts anyway...you're right, it can't hurt anything.

Anyone on the number of pounds needed to make a quart of sauce? LOL I could also use a good tomato sauce recipie, as this will be my first attempt at making it! I go through close to a gallon of sauce each week. There are very few weeks that go by that I don't use it in some kind of recipie. If I can get anywhere near what I go through out of these plants, it will be well worth it to me. Feeding a family of 5 in today's economy just about demands one to produce as much as they possibly can on their own land!

I need to go find a thread on bell peppers now...

Annette

Oh my! I now have a total of 133 Roma sprouts (counting the ones that have 2 sprouts in a cell)! I also have 35 Big Boys so far, and 1 eggplant. Still no peppers.

I figured out the question on how many pounds it takes to make a quart of sauce. 2 1/2 to 3 1/2. So I'm gonna say 3 on average. Now I can figure out how many plants that I will need to make the amount of sauce I want to make. I'm going to err on the side of more plants, just in case some don't make it after transplanting, or don't produce for whatever reason. Since I have the space for it and because I go through so much in one whack, I think I'm going to can the majority in 1/2 gallons.

Big Boys are supposed to be good for canning too, right? That's what the lable said anyway...

Annette

peppers normally take longer. Some varieties take longer also. And peppers germinate better if warmer. I usually germinate my peppers setting in my bathroom which I keep real warm. Or put a heating pad under them if you aren't. But I would worry any till after 2-3 weeks. By then they should be sprouting. With the warm temps mine are usually up in 10-14 days but if a little cooler will take longer. Jay