One thing you can do is to weigh the mature fruits you get from a plant, a few do that but I just estimate if a variety is a good yielding variety based on experience with many varieties b'c as you noted there are many many variables that play into tomato growth and yield.

To date I've grown about 3,000 varieties and for many years have kept data notebooks in which I record time of first blossoms, plant habit, fruit set, first mature fruits and color and size and shape and taste, type of foliage, and anything else that I feel is important, and just an estimate of yield b'c no way was I going to count fruits, which is misleading since numbers of fruits varys depending on fruit size, so not a good way to estimate yeild.

Carolyn

"Yield per plant" is something that seems to interest only those who grow only a few plants. But it just isn't logistically possible to count and weigh when there are a great many plants, much less when there are many varieties being picked at the same time. So estimates and low/medium/high production ratings are what you find most of the time.

Dave

The world record is more than 300 pounds per plant.

I do track the yield for my tomatoes (I don't have that many). For what it's worth, my best yielding plants get over 25 pounds of tomatoes per plant. Certainly no record. I'm still new to growing and have a lot to learn about growing tomatoes. I also think I plant mine too close together for instance.

I'm outside Chicago, fwiw.

Our extension office for WA state says 4# for paste types & 5# for slicers in our western WA climate. I know lower than most of you here. I'm happy when the plants survive and produce any fruit. My goal is 5 trusses of fruit per plant. I plant more plants to make up for it. If I get them large enough by late July to get those 5 trusses I will have ripe tomatoes in late August through September. Any fruit set after mid-August ripen for us in our clearing in the woods. I stop watering in August & cut off tops of plants by Labor Day to encourage ripening. It's hard to stop the plants from growing when they could be capable of setting more fruit, but those won't have a chance to develop to breaker stage to ripen indoors.

Our season is short with cool temps at beginning & end of season. Microclimates abound, but generally tomatoes can go out by mid-May with protection & 1st frost is mid October. The plants don't really start growing much until mid-June when temps rise to 70 degrees or so. Nights are in 50s unless we have a western WA style heatwave then we have 60 degree nights. In the next week we have highs of 84 and lows in 50s with one night forecast 48.

Some of you might be able to relate to the cool temps. Others of you might be envious for that cool weather right about now. I enjoy this forum to hear of climates having summer ahead of me and seeing those pics of ripe ones!

? The world record is more than 300 pounds per plant.
Ok lets all just grow one of these then. What variety is this ?

I don't remember which variety, but I think the mans name was Charles Wilber who liked indeterminate hybrids. Plant yield is directly related to plant size.

Of the ones I've grown on your list, I'd put some money down on Pruden's Purple if you go by weight, and especially if you get good weather through September. For example, I would expect it to outproduce Brandywine by at least 3-1 in my garden.

I'll weigh my harvest by type and then give you an average. I am growing 10 Varieties, Cherokee Purple only 1 plant, 7 San Marzano Redortas, 3 Homer Fikes Yellow Oxheart, 3 Sungold, 3 Super sweet 100's and 6 of each for the following: Stupice, Chocolate Stripes, Giant Belgium, Italian Heirloom and Dagma's Perfection.

End of the season is Octoberish though, so you have to wait it out till then. LOL

CH

Thanks for the feed back - I knew there wasn't going to be a pat answer. I was just curious what peoples expectations were. I am going to try to track mine this year. Checking the plants closely today I think every type I am growing has at least one obvious tomato on it. Early Girl, Purple Russian and Genovese Roma (which I expected to be a plum shaped tomato - but it isnt) are way ahead of the rest.

Corrine 1, My growing season is a similar length, but we get hotter than you in July - hot enough 2 weeks ago that I know some of my fruit aborted.

300lbs. of tomatoes is way more than I expect from all 16 of my plants!

Last year I had 15 tomato plants -- some in containers, some in raised beds -- a mix of sizes and varieties. I harvested 200 pounds of tomatoes.