Yield is part of our discussions here at Plant to Plate. Most gardening facts articles have a yield section for the plant being discussed.
For example, our Growing Tomatillos article contains this statement:
For tomatillos, how many are produced per plant (also called the yield) largely depends on the type of tomatillo and, at times, the variety.
Most tomatillo varieties produce 60-200 fruits per plant.
What is yield? How can you calculate it? Read on to find out.
Jump to: What it is | How to calculate it | Where to find it
What is Yield?
Put simply, yield is how many usable crops are produced.
Many agricultural sources list yield on a per-acre or per-bushel basis since they are intended for large-scale farmers. Here at Plant to Plate, we mainly speak to home gardeners, homesteaders, and small-scale farmers. So our yields are almost always provided in per-plant terms.
For some plants, such as in the tomatillo example above, the yield is the amount of fruits produced per plant.
Other plants' yields are measured in seeds per plant. These measurements may be in quantity, volume, or weight. For example, the Growing Quinoa article states, "On average, quinoa plants yield 1-6 ounces of seed per plant."
Herbs, leafy greens, and other plants may list the number of leaves per plant or per stalk. For some of such plants, the number of leaves depends on the size of the plant. The size of the plant depends on its age, health, and growing conditions as well as how much room its roots have.
So if a particular plant's yield is not listed on our site or elsewhere, how can you calculate it yourself?
How to Calculate Yield
If we haven't covered the yield for a plant on Plant to Plate, you may need to calculate it yourself.
The best way to do this is to grow a small amount of the species 1 growing season in anticipation of growing a larger amount the next growing season. This will allow you to see how the plant does in your microclimate.
Growing a small amount of the species can also help you track how many useful crops each plant produces. This is your yield per plant.
I strongly encourage you to track your plants' production from year to year. You can do this throughout the growing season through this Garden Notes journal that I designed.
You may also enjoy totaling the production of each plant after the growing season is over. I like to enter the total into the "additional notes" field of this Garden Analysis journal that I also created for each plant I grew that year. This makes for a quicker reference when I'm planning next season's garden.
Tracking production is the best way to estimate production for future years. This is because it takes your unique garden site and circumstances into account. From there, you can plan your next garden with more intention, allowing you to get the most out of your gardening efforts.
Speaking of garden planning, why not grab a FREE printable garden planner?
If you need to estimate your yield more quickly, you can research the agricultural yield per acre. Next, divide the number of square feet in an acre (43,560) by the number of square feet the species will take up in your garden. Finally, use that number to estimate the production of the species in your garden.
You may be able to estimate a plant's yield by finding pictures of the plant online or in a seed catalog.
For perennial plants, especially herbs, expect a small harvest the first year. If the plant does well, it will continue to grow larger each year, resulting in a larger and larger harvest.
Where to Find Yield Information
Many of our gardening facts articles contain a section that discusses yield.
You can access it by going to an individual plant's gardening facts page. From here, you can click on "Yield Per Plant" from the "jump to" menu at the top of the page.
You can also scroll down to the section itself, which answers how many or how much is produced per plant. For example, this one for broccoli is entitled "How Much Broccoli is Produced Per Plant?"
If we have not covered the yield for the plant, use one of the methods in the previous section to calculate it.
Read More
Check out these articles about more of the categories listed on our gardening facts pages:
- How Often to Water Plants
- How Much Sun Does My Plant Need?
- What Does "Full Sun to Part Shade" Mean?
- Choosing the Right Planter for Your Container Garden
- Companion Planting Basics
- What is a Heat Zone?
- How Temperature Affects Plant Health
- Soil Conditions and Plant Health