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2008/2009 Tomato Harvest Summary

As I do each year, I kept track of the tomatoes picked in the 2008/2009 season. For various reasons, I haven't had the chance to report the yield results until now. In total, I picked 945 "good" tomatoes this season, weighing in at just under 57.5 kg. The table below summarises the "good" crop.

In addition to numbers picked, I've included the total weights of fruits picked from the individual plants. I didn't bother keeping track of the "bad" fruit - i.e. those that were diseased and thus picked early and discarded.

"Good" Tomatoes

Plant ID	Total Weight (grams)	Number picked	Average Weight (grams)
A1	745	10	74.5
A2	2235	18	124.17
A3	2090	18	116.11
A4	2325	25	93.0
A5	4050	42	96.43
B1	1645	21	78.33
B2	5115	44	116.25
B3	620	48	12.92
B4	4545	42	108.21
B5	5235	44	118.98
C0	109	9	12.11
C1	4035	37	109.05
C2	4710	55	85.64
C3	274	24	11.42
C4	4490	112	40.09
C5	2755	71	38.8
D1	1030	14	73.57
D2	2830	24	117.92
D3	1346	96	14.02
D4	3720	103	36.12
D5	3590	88	40.8
TOTAL	57494	945	60.84

This season was my second best so far in terms of total yield. At 57.5 kg, the yield was not quite as much as the yield for the 2006/2007 season (61.4 kg). The total number of tomatoes picked (945) fell well short of the total in the 2006/2007 season (1312). However, the average yield per plant was much better: in 2006/2007 I planted 42 seedlings, producing on average 1.46 kg of tomatoes per plant, while in 2008/2009 the average yield for the 21 seedlings was 2.74 kg. It's unfortunate that the heatwave in late January/early February 2009 brought the productive capacity of the plants to a premature end.

Various Seeds Planted

Today I planted various seeds in the bed #1 (refer map).

Specifically I planted the following:
* Capsicum
* Strawberry
* Chives
* Dill
* Basil

I'm using a technique that seems to have helped germinate the cherry tomatoes. After popping the seeds into the ground and watering well, I covered the area with plastic wrap - the standard food type. This should help keep the moisture in and allow me to see if/when the seeds germinate.

Planted Tomato Seedlings for 2008/2009

Today I planted tomato seedlings for the summer season of 2008/2009. I put in 20 tomato seedlings. Here's a rough plan of the tomato plants in bed #2 (refer map).

   [South]
[East] [West]
   [North]

      +-----------------------------------------------+
      |                              {Olive Tree}     |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row D |     D1       D2       D3       D4      D5     |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row C |     C1       C2       C3       C4      C5     |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row B |     B1       B2       B3       B4      B5     |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row A |     A1       A2       A3       A4      A5     |
      |                                               |
      +-----------------------------------------------+

Legend

Variety	Location(s)
Big Cherry	B3, C3, D3
Costoluto di Marmande	C1, C2, D1, D2
Grosse Lisse	A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, B2, B4, B5
Roma	C4, C5, D4, D5

Actually, this year I'm experimenting with sowing the "Big Cherry" plants directly from seed in the soil. The seeds were saved from fruit from a very productive plant from a couple of years ago. If they don't sprout "in situ", I'll probably replace them with seedlings raised separately.

All seedlings were purchased from the nursery section of my local hardware store.

I also sowed two groups of basil seeds at each end of the space between rows B and C.

2007/2008 Tomato Harvest Summary

As I did last year, I kept track of the tomatoes picked in the 2007/2008 season. So far, I've picked 542 "good" tomatoes this season, weighing in at about 33.8 kg. The table below summarises the "good" crop.

In addition to numbers picked, I've included the total weights of fruits picked from the individual plants. This year I didn't bother keeping track of the "bad" fruit - i.e. those that were diseased and thus picked early and discarded.

"Good" Tomatoes

Plant ID	Total Weight (grams)	Number picked	Average Weight (grams)
A2	36	6	6.00
A3	20	4	5.00
B1	80	1	80.00
B2	555	17	32.65
B4	4	2	2.00
B5	51	5	10.20
C0	75	1	75.00
C1	1245	17	73.24
C2	1190	16	74.38
C3	455	12	37.92
C4	4315	78	55.32
D1	265	8	33.12
D2	185	5	37.00
D3	1670	29	57.59
D4	2125	37	57.43
E1	395	4	98.75
E2	3270	22	148.64
E3	2745	17	161.47
E4	2595	14	185.36
E5	270	6	45.00
E6	3020	35	86.29
F1	1445	43	33.60
F2	1870	46	40.65
F3	1177	40	29.43
F4	1038	26	39.92
F5	880	10	88.00
F6	2120	21	100.95
G1	25	1	25.00
G2	225	7	32.14
G3	420	12	35.00
TOTAL	33766	542	62.30

This season was quite a bit shorter than both the 2004/2005 and 2006/2007 seasons. The 2005/2006 season was a write-off (see earlier posts for more details). By early March I had removed all but one plant. Despite the shortened season, the total weight of edible tomatoes picked was more than 2004/2005. However, it fell well short of the bumper harvest of last season (2006/2007).

2004/2005 Tomato Harvest Summary

I've finally got round to summarising the tomatoes harvested back in the 2004/2005 season. The weights were written down on paper, but I hadn't entered them into my computer for analysis.

The summary is nowhere near as detailed as that for later years, since I didn't keep records for each plant. Instead I just recorded the weights and the crop. As a refresher, here are the two crops I planted back in 2004/2005:

* Crop 1: Zio Pasquale's seedlings, (15: mixed beefsteak, grosse lisse, whatever) planted in September 2004
* Crop 2: Costolato di Marmande, 5 seedlings, planted in January 2005

Also I should mention that I didn't start weighing the tomatoes until a few weeks into harvesting, so I had to estimate the number picked and assume were the average weight of the weighed tomatoes.

"Good" Tomatoes

Crop	Total Weight (grams)	Number picked	Average Weight (grams)
Crop 1: Zio Pasquale's seedlings	23968	125	191.74
Crop 2: Costolato di Marmande	1960	28	70.0
TOTAL	25928	153	169.46

The average yield for each plant in crop 1 was a bit over 8 tomatoes, and 1597 grams. The average yield for each plant in crop 2 was 5.6 tomatoes, and 392 grams. The combined average yield: 7.6 tomatoes and 1296 grams per plant.

Comparison with recent years is a little distorted, due to the different varieties that made up the crops.

It's also worth noting that the harvest period went from late December to early May. This is very similar to 2006/2007, which is the best season to date on all counts: total number of tomatoes, total weight and length of harvest.

Tomato Plants - 2007/2008 Season

This season (2007/2008) I've planted about 30 tomato seedlings. Here's a rough plan of the tomato plants in bed #4 (refer map).

   [South]
[East] [West]
   [North]

      +-----------------------------------------------+
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row F |   F1      F2      F3      F4      F5      F6  |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row E |   E1      E2      E3      E4      E5      E6  |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row D |     D1         D2          D3          D4     |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row C |     C1         C2          C3          C4     |
      | C0                                            |
      |                                               |
Row B |     B1       B2       B3       B4      B5     |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row A |     A1       A2       A3       A4             |
      |                                               |
      +-----------------------------------------------+

Legend

Variety	Location(s)
Apollo	E1, E2, E3, E4
Big Cherry	A1, A2, A3, A4, B3, B4, B5
Costoluto di Marmande	E5, E6, F5, F6
Grosse Lisse	B1, B2, C0, C2, C3, C4, D1 D3, D4
Pink	C1, D2
Roma	F1, F2, F3, F4

The Big Cherry (for want of another name) seedlings were grown from seeds saved from last year's fruit. The Grosse Lisse seedlings, apart from D3 and D4, were provided by my uncle (Zio Pasquale). All other seedlings were purchased from nurseries.

The seedlings were planted in three stages: Zio Pasquale put in about nine seedlings on September 29, 2007. I put the bought seedlings in on October 22. The Cherry tomato seedlings were planted in late November/early December.

A few extra seedlings were also planted in bed #3, but we'll see how well they go. I'll be concentrating on looking after the plants in bed #4.

I've been using the same basic techniques as in previous years. For information about soil preparation, staking, pruning, fertilizing and mulching, refer to posts in past seasons.

2006/2007 Tomato Harvest Summary

For analysis purposes, I kept track of the tomatoes picked in the 2006/2007 season. All up, I picked 1312 "good" tomatoes this season, weighing in at about 61.4 kg. The first table below summarises the "good" crop, excluding the tiny Cherry Ripe tomatoes.

In addition to numbers, I've included the total weights of fruits picked from the individual plants. I also kept count of the number of "bad" fruit - i.e. those that were diseased and thus picked early and discarded.

"Good" Tomatoes

Plant ID	Total Weight (grams)	Number picked	Average Weight (grams)
A1	270	3	90.00
A3	3395	14	242.50
A4	1900	7	271.43
A5	905	7	129.29
A6	2310	19	121.58
A7	835	5	167.00
B1	6180	71	87.04
B2	5335	61	87.46
B3	3325	47	70.74
B4	1363	51	26.73
B5	460	18	25.56
B6	1520	57	26.67
C1	425	16	26.56
C2	4125	270	15.28
C3	535	20	26.75
C4	920	29	31.72
C5	1835	61	30.08
C6	420	3	140.00
D1	4003	96	41.70
D2	2073	62	33.44
D3	2364	100	23.64
D4	2060	48	42.92
E1	410	5	82.00
E2	3810	46	82.83
E3	495	16	30.94
E4	370	8	46.25
E5	465	15	31.00
G1	800	3	266.67
G3	700	2	350.00
G4	920	4	230.00
H2	675	2	337.50
H3	1010	3	336.67
H4	885	4	221.25
H5	1600	5	320.00
H6	1100	3	366.67
I3	1325	20	66.25
TOTAL	61123	1201	50.89

I've excluded the Cherry Ripe details since they would distort the average too much. More importantly, I couldn't weigh each individual tomato accurately enough anyway, since the fruit was so small. I ended up picking 111 of the tiny cherry tomatoes. Assuming an average weight of 2.5 grams, that would make the total yield 277.5 grams, which is only slightly more than the average weight of a single beefsteak tomato from plant A4!

"Bad" Tomatoes

Plant ID	Count
A3	2
A6	1
B1	12
B2	10
B3	2
B4	1
B5	1
B6	3
C2	24
C3	6
C4	7
D1	5
D2	10
D3	21
D4	5
E1	3
E2	4
E3	37
E5	1
G1	1
H1	3
H3	1
H6	1
I3	1

Mulching and Other Maintenance

Yesterday I finally took the time to apply mulch around the tomato plants. This should help keep the soil moist and cool, and help limit weeds. I also did a bit of pruning and tying of the plants that needed it.

The hot weather has helped the tomatoes mature. In the past week I've picked 7 tomatoes. I will keep a summary of tomato pickings for this season. I hope to prepare some statistics later on, and maybe compare the yield to the reasonably good harvest of the 2004/2005 season.

Plan of Tomato Plants in Bed #2

Here's a rough plan of the tomato plants in bed #2 (refer map).

   [South]
[East] [West]
   [North]

      +-----------------------------------------------+
      |                                               |
      =                                               =
      |                                               |
Row E |  E1          E2         E3       E4       E5  |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row D |  D1          D2            D3             D4  |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row C |  C1      C2      C3      C4       C5      C6  |
      |                                               |
      |                                               |
Row B |  B1       B2       B3     B4      B5      B6  |
      |                                               |
      |                                       A6      |
Row A |    A1     A2      A3      A4      A5      A7  |
      |                                               |
      +-----------------------------------------------+

Legend

Variety	Location(s)
Beef Steak	E1
Tickled Pink	E2
Super Roma	E3, E4
Pot Roma	E5
Acid Free (Roma)	D1, D2, D3, D4
Grosse Lisse	B1, B2, B3
Costoluto di Marmande	A1
Unknown/Various (supplied by Zio Pasquale)	C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, B4, B5, B6, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7