There is an extravaganza of tomato varieties to choose from. To help narrow down your search, we have curated a list providing the best high-yielding tomatoes you can find.
Choosing the tomato varieties with the highest production will help to make the most of your tomato harvest. This is whether you have a large tomato patch, a small garden, or a couple of tomatoes in planters on your patio.
Many growing conditions contribute to the potential tomato yield at harvest. Ideally, choosing high-yielding tomato plants is one method of generating large harvests. Not to mention, there are lots of tips and tricks to encouraging prolific tomato harvests.
Exciting Times For High-Yield Tomatoes
Many of us may remember when you needed to sacrifice tomato flavor in favor of tomato yields.
Luckily for us, some dedicated tomato breeders have been working tirelessly over the past 20 some odd years to crossbreed some of the most flavorful heirloom tomatoes with the most successful high-yielding tomato varieties.
One Simple Trick to Choosing High-Yielding Tomato Varieties
A simple recipe is to choose early-ripening varieties on indeterminate tomato plants. In this way, the tomato plant has the longest season. Similarly, it will also make the largest plants. Certainly, this may help to create the highest-yielding potential harvest.
Do Note: There are Tomato Champions That Do Not Follow This Trick!
That is to say, some determinate varieties that ripen in mid-season have tipped the scales in tomato-yield comparisons. This may be due to the plant putting all its focus on massive production all at the same time. This may make for an easier prolific harvest as it happens all at once.
Is Bigger Really Better?
Not necessarily.
One rare heirloom Brandywine tomato may grow a few huge fruit with a total weight of 7 pounds over the whole season. Whereas a cherry tomato, on the other hand, may grow hundreds of comparatively small tomatoes, but with a total weight of almost 20 pounds.
That little cherry thereby beat out that large Brandywine. Please note, this is a fictitious scenario. There are many prolific Brandywine-style tomatoes, and some much less prolific cherry tomatoes!
For this list, we will focus on total weight of production – rather than size of fruit or number of fruit alone.
Yield Is, Of Course, Not the Only Consideration
Yes, we want lots of our favorite tomatoes! It may take growing a few different varieties to find our favorites. We all have different tastes. Furthermore, we may want to use tomatoes for different things.
Having a few large, gorgeous heirloom tomatoes with outstanding flavor may be worth a lower yield.
On the other hand, you may want a couple hugely prolific determinant tomatoes that may be harvested all at once. In this way, you can spend a wonderful weekend canning up those delicious beauties for later use.
The 10 Best High-Yielding Tomato Varieties to Grow
To establish this list, I have scoured the seed catalogs, agriculture extension services, and All-American Selection winners. This is in addition to the over 50 tomato varieties I have grown myself.
1. Stupice
This classic heirloom tomato is a heavy producer. The vigorous plant provides abundant fruit. Harvest begins early in the season. It continues throughout the growing season.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Small to medium round and flat.
Days to Maturity: 60 – 65.
Average Fruit Per Plant: 87.
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 2 inches. 3 to 6 oz.
2. Mountain Merit
This All-American Selection winner stands out for is disease resistance. This tasty, prolific tomato is a wonderful choice. Especially for folks who live in areas where disease may compromise tomato harvest yields.
Plant Form: Determinant
Fruit Form: Medium large round.
Days to Maturity: 75
Average Fruit Per Plant: 45
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 3 to 3 ½ inches. 10 to 12 ounces.
3. Black Krim
Unique looking and interesting taste! Black Krim excels in the heirloom chef market. The vigorous plants produce heavy yields of juicy, complex, smoky tasting fruit, perfect to pair with basil and balsamic vinegar.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Medium large globe heirloom.
Days to Maturity: 75
Average Fruit Per Plant: 36
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 3 to 4 inches. 8 to 12 ounces.
4. Sungold
This is a flavor favorite in my garden. Sungolds make the best gardening snack! They have a tropical sweet fruity flavor. They produce prolifically and are long lasting.
Of all the cherries I have grown, Sungold wins for flavor and usefulness. They go in the canning pot, soup pot, and make excellent dried tomatoes. The challenge is using them all.
As for yield, last season I needed to buy a comically large 25-gallon bowl. This is because my huge 5-gallon bowl couldn’t hold all of the sungolds on harvest days.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Cherry
Days to Maturity: 65
Average Fruit Per Plant: Listed as about 120 fruit per plant with 20 to 25 fruit per truss. I’m sure it is more.
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 1 inch. ½ ounce.
5. Sakura
Terrifically sweet with abundant early and continuous harvests. Sakura tolerates both cold and hot temperatures. It produces well in field as well as greenhouse conditions.
It is a prolific producer with exceptional disease resistance. Uniform sweet, delicious fruit is my runner up for cherry-style tomatoes.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Cherry
Days to Maturity: 60 – 70
Average Fruit Per Plant: 165 with a whopping 37 fruit per truss.
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 1 ½ to 2 inches. ¾ ounces.
6. Pozzano
A hybrid of the San Marzano type of roma tomato, this productive, delicious tomato has improved disease resistance. This makes it a fantastic choice for harvesting over a longer season.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Oblong paste.
Days to Maturity: 75
Average Fruit Per Plant: 60 to 80.
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 3 ½ inches long and flat along one side. 4 to 6 ounces.
7. Jaune Flamme
Jaune Flamme, or yellow flame is a remarkably productive French heirloom with gorgeous glowing orange skin and flesh. Its flavor is bright and citrusy making it a lovely salad tomato.
Jaune Flamme also makes a perfect dried tomato, retaining its bright orange color.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Salad heirloom.
Days to Maturity: 70 – 80.
Average Fruit Per Plant: Unknown. Determined by length of season.
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 2 inches. 3 to 4 ounces.
8. Carmello
Carmello is a great choice for the home gardener looking for excellent taste and high productivity.
Carmello stands out as a perfect tomato that doesn’t ship or store well. In other words, if you want it, you probably need to grow it yourself!
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Red Round Slicer.
Days to Maturity: 70.
Average Fruit Per Plant: 70+
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 4 to 5 inches. 10 to 12 ounces.
9. Big Beef
The quintessential slicing tomato, famed as an All-American Selection winner in 1994. This hybrid tomato really brings it to the table with large size and great flavor.
It is an easy to grow, vigorous, and productive plant. Equally important, Big Beef is essential for the beginner and experience tomato grower.
Plant Form: Indeterminant
Fruit Form: Large slicer.
Days to Maturity: 73
Average Fruit Per Plant: 30
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 5 to 6 inches. 8 to 12 ounces.
10. Celebrity
Celebrity is an outstanding tomato grown for its productivity, disease resistance, and adaptability.
It won the All-American Selection Award in 1984. Additionally, it is an excellent tomato for cooking.
Celebrity can withstand the variable summers of the Northern states and Canada. At the same time, Celebrity excels in the heat of Florida, California, and Texas.
Plant Form: Determinant
Fruit Form: Round, medium.
Days to Maturity: 70
Average Fruit Per Plant: 30 to 40
Average Fruit Size & Weight: 3 to 4 inches. 7 to 10 ounces.
The best high-yielding tomatoes can make your tomato harvest thrilling.
Plant these high yield tomato varieties and you can look forward to overflowing the canning pot and stocking the canning cupboard – even after weeks of delicious salads, salsas, and sauces!