There are giants among Douglas Kirkland's 600 tomato plants. The York County,
Penn., farmer has his favorites, but pound for pound, nothing beats the Big Zac.
"I had 13 of those in a flat for market, and the flat weighed 211/2 pounds,"
says Kirkland. And he even sent us a picture of one fruit that tipped the scales
at 41/4 pounds. "Now these guys aren't 'pretty' like the ones in stores, but
they are tasty!"
Big Zac wasn't exactly what we had in mind when we planned a story on the best
yielding tomatoes, but pound for pound it qualifies. Fact is, there are some
varieties—determinate and indeterminate and in all different sizes of fruit—that
are just built for yield.
Then there's Big Zac. Kirkland says the first fruits of this indeterminate
variety—a cross-pollination of two heirlooms—are the biggest. "Some are so big I
have to put coffee cans under the fruit to support it, so the branch doesn't
break," he says.
He's right that they're not pretty. And sometimes one side of the monster first
fruit will ripen while the other side stays green. "They're great for chopping
up for salads," Kirkland says, "and for winning first prize at the fair." The
later fruit is smaller, but it's still often large enough for a one-slice tomato
sandwich.
The all-time yield champ
If you're looking for something a little more manageable size-wise, consider the
half-pounders you can get from Celebrity. "About 20 years ago, starting with
Celebrity, tomato breeders developed what is called a semi-determinate plant,"
says Chuck Marr, a tomato expert and retired horticulture professor from Kansas
State University. "The plant is shorter and less sprawling than a traditional
tomato plant."
Marr says these semi-determinates produce an abundance of fruit for about a
seven-week period. What makes Celebrity such a strong contender is its excellent
disease-resistance package, along with the fact that the smaller plant needs
less water and fertilizer to produce more fruit.
Carnival, a sister variety to Celebrity, produces a little earlier than its
champion counterpart, but readers report high yields from it as well. "We tried
many different tomatoes and now plant only Carnival," says John Willenbrock, a
grower in Hayden, Ala. "Most plants produce five or more 8-quart baskets."
Small but potent
You may not get the raw poundage from the small to tiny varieties like Romas and
cherries, but you'll get a lot of the little fruit. "Cherries are
prolific—hands-down more fruit on them than any other type," says Cindy Martin.
She and husband, George, run a plant business called The Tasteful Garden in
Chulafinnee, Ala.
And there's real taste in that small package. Even Douglas Kirkland of the
4-pound-plus Big Zac has his favorite tiny varieties. "Oh, the black cherry," he
says. "It's like eating candy off the vine." And they're easy to grow. Cindy
Martin says The Tasteful Garden lists black cherry tomatoes on its web site as a
top seller and one of their favorites.b
See page 2 for growing tips!
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Growing tips
Douglas Kirkland gives the Big Zac plenty of room to grow. "With a big tomato,
you want to grow them 4 to 5 feet apart, with 5 feet between rows," he says.
"They need good air circulation."
The high-yielding varieties set the most fruit "when the temperatures are in the
55- to 85-degree range," says Cindy Martin. "Once they go above or below that
range, the flowers may just fall off." She says planting once temperatures are
about 45 to 50 degrees every night will ensure that they have ample time to set
the most fruit.
Since a longer growing season is key to yield, you can trick the plants into
thinking it's warmer or cooler by working with soil temperature. "You can plant
a bit earlier if you have a way to warm up the soil and can protect the plants
at night from a late frost," says Martin. "Black plastic over raised beds and
Wall-O-Water—those connected tubes of water—act as a greenhouse and help protect
young plants." (For more on that, see "Find it here.")
When it gets too hot—upper 80s or 90s—you can protect your plants from the worst
of the heat. "You can't shade them as that will decrease productivity, but the
roots are still your biggest concern," says Martin.
Adding rich compost and digging it in deeply to loosen heavy soil will allow the
roots to grow deeper into the ground where it can be 20 degrees cooler than the
surface temperature.
Adding a drip system or just a soaker hose will get moisture to percolate deep
down, which encourages roots to grow deeper. Finally, a nice thick blanket of
mulch will shade and protect the soil and keep it cooler and happier, Martin
says.
Kirkland says pruning is key to getting the most out of indeterminate varieties.
Indeterminate plants can get unwieldy, but Kirkland controls them carefully.
"As the plant grows, I snip off the suckers at the bottom of the plant," he
says. "Do this up to the sucker directly below the first set of blossoms and
leave that one. This will form a nice 'Y' in the plant."
Don't prune the leaves, since some foliage helps protect fruit from sun. But
keeping a nice two-stem system allows the indeterminate plant to put its energy
into fruiting rather than foliage.
As a result, Kirkland doesn't go in for all the caging and weaving techniques to
control the plant. "A single stake is enough," he says. Place the stake in the
ground at the same time as the plant to keep from damaging roots.
