Tomato Profits
 

I'm trying to get a good average price on the income of growing tomatoes. I read the analysis from different states, but none have a consistent listing of the number of tomatoes to grow per acre. They usually list varieties that are for long life rather than taste. And I'm always reading in these forums about the yeild per plant, which can range from very low to very high.

I have noticed the growers in my area and that they do quite well as a part time summer jo selling home grown tomatoes. They rarely have more than a couple of hundred plants but all say they make several thousand dollars on them. One guy had gross sales of $4,000 last year on 130 Goliath plants. He sells them for $1.00 a pound at a roadside stand. In 2010 he had around 120 plants and made slightly more money. They grow their own seedlings, or either buy them from the Amish at great prices, and have had their own land for years to grow them on.

I would not get into the tomato business from scratch. But I already have the land to plant as many as I want to and I usually plant 50 tomatoes a year anyway. I have all the equipment needed, and I even have part time help if necessary. It's just a matter of me deciding whether to try it or not.

I've read that 1,000 plants per acre is really not a lot, but if a person can average $30 a plant like my friend did last year then an acre would be quite lucrative.

So, what are some of the factors I'm leaving out? Even at $10 per plant, a thousand plants on one acre would be a good extra income for the summer.

I'd like to get the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions from those who have tried this.

Don

Hi Don,


Whatever you decide... Let me wish you best of fortunes.

I have not done this but I have done extra income work in evenings, nights and weekends from time to time as an IT Contractor for extra income. As you contemplate this I suggest a few key things need to be examined...

First is "Supply and Demand". Is there market/outlet with sufficient demand for all those tomatos? It needs to be there and it can't have too many barriers to entry. Sometimes a market has to be developed and that can take a little time.

Second is motivation. Is the money sufficient motivation to sustain you when you are faced with dealing with all those tomatoes? If not, do you have another motivation that will? I often observe that successful entrepreneurs are driven to do what they do. Making a profit while doing it is just a necessary part that enables them to do it.

______________________
George

[QUOTE=TomatoDon;255461]
So, what are some of the factors I'm leaving out?[/QUOTE]

Weather!

I only grow out about 500 plants but the last two years I would be lucky if I managed 10 cents/hour for my troubles. After starting seeds, potting up, transplanting to field, managing the plants and harvest along with selling I had many many hours invested (and $$). Poor crop from bad weather yielded few "sellable" toms. Many I was able to bulk out really cheap for those wanting to work at cutting them up and making sauce but it was very disappointing.

My results equal Granite26's, however we're in the same part of the country, so similar weather the last two years. I grew over 100 tomato plants the last two years and between the weather, birds and animals I didn't end up with enough for just our family.

But hope springs eternal, and this year I'm planting out 2 or 3 times as many and planting mostly earlier varieties, but in case it's a good weather year I'm hoping to press the kids into helping by offering them a cut of profits. Here's to hoping there are some!

Now, I do it strictly for fun and to have a reason for growing as many things as I do. I spend my days staring at a computer screen, gardening is my escape from that.

For a cash crop, the demand for superhots is crazy, but you'll almost certainly have to ship to sell many. By the pound some of the growers I know where getting $30-40 per pound from restarants and bars doing the hot food challenges and such. Last year I sold USPS small flat rate boxes with superhot assortments like the picture here for $20 each, it worked out to an average of $1 per pepper + shipping.

[IMG]http://www.onthemarksolutions.com/images/Peppers/AaronsBox.JPG[/IMG]

Interesting. Do you think these would grow well in a hot humid climate? I'm in Texas, japalenos go crazy here, I wonder how this stuff would do?

All the superhots are tropical, so I would expect they'd do great. I know PepperMania grows in Stafford, TX.

Thanks, Stafford is right down the road from me. Pardon my ignorance, but is PepperMania a type of hot pepper? Any others you might reccomend?

PepperMania is a specialty pepper seed company.

The biggest demand is always for the latest king of the hill, last year you could name your price for the Butch T, this year it will likely be the TS Moruga. (I saw TS Moruga seeds offered for 2.50 each this morning!) Another one that is an up and comer is the Douglah. Then there are almost infinite variations in different strains.

Thanks a bunch! I'll check them out.

The Douglah is an stunningly vicious pepper. I'm suprised that the TS Morouga Blend has surpassed that on the Scoville scale. I grow all of these varieties and it has been my experience that the Douglah packs a harder punch than any of them.

Keger,
If you want some seed to try for yourself, send me a PM. I have about 65 varieties of pepper that I am growing this year. Some I don't have a lot of seed for but I can set you up with some good peppers.

I gave some cherrys to a friend of mine last year.One of his neighbors owns a restaurant and was amazed at the taste and varietys I had and contacted me about the possibility of supplying him some maters for his high end restaurant here in Miami.So this year I grew 100 extra cherry plants for him.having the containers and poles already I made a deal with him.He made a mistake by telling me he was buying cherrys at $4.00/pint at Whole Foods.So i said OK I will do the same.So I managed to get him 1000 pints so far this year.Each plant was averaging about 15 pints.So at my earnings of $4000.00 was whittled down minus $600 for pro mix,$200 for algoflash tomatoe fert.$100 water and twine(trellising).So now I am at$3300.For the 4 months I spent about 20 hours per week maintaining.that comes to 320 hours.That came in at $10.31/hour.So to make my regular rate at $30.00/hour I would have to grow 3 times the amount.Not really worth it.I grow in containers in my screened in enclosure(pool)

Growing the large rounds would limit the time and need to get rid of them since they seem to ripen at the end of season and you have so much to sell all at once.The cherrys come in during a longer picking time so cash will come in at a steady flow.The restaurant owner I mentioned sends someone to the house and he picks them with me and takes them in bulk.He is really happy caus his customers like the freshness and varietys.The deal I made with him is all cash sales(no checks)IRS!But the greedy owner is already talking about me packaging and starting his own garden.And wanting me to help him set up.I will give my secrets to anyone else but to a greedy business owner.Greed is not good be happy with what you got.

[QUOTE=mikeinsc;256211]The Douglah is an stunningly vicious pepper. I'm suprised that the TS Morouga Blend has surpassed that on the Scoville scale. I grow all of these varieties and it has been my experience that the Douglah packs a harder punch than any of them.

Keger,
If you want some seed to try for yourself, send me a PM. I have about 65 varieties of pepper that I am growing this year. Some I don't have a lot of seed for but I can set you up with some good peppers.[/QUOTE]

My thoughts echo yours. I grew both of those last year and the Douglah was just monterously hot. I compare the sensaction of eating the Douglah to picking up a burning coal out of the fire and trying to eat it. The guy who can taste anything sweet and smoky in that pepper must not have functioning pain receptors.

I think there is a flaw in the purely chemical analysis, in that different capsaicinoid compounds have different effects. Anyone who's played with peppers much knows that some vareities just hit harder than others even if their Scoville ratings are similar.

Most of my sauces have peppers as the main ingredient, the one I made with the Douglah last year had the peppers as the 7th item on the ingredients list by weight. I think there were 16 seeded Douglah peppers in a gallon of sauce and it's still too spicy for most people.

Back to the main topic:

I think one of the issues with growing a lot of heirloom tomatoes for sale is that they pretty much need to be picked daily during the heat of the summer, and all of that adds up to a lot of time. If I look at the hourly return, I'm far better off doing one more small contract than growing anything, but I'm trying to involve my kids in it. When I was their age my parents let my sister and I sell berries and produce out of the garden once we'd put up everything we needed for the year. I'd be happy if I could install a little entrepreneurial spirt in them and show them there are other ways to make money besides working for someone else.

mark,

I hear what you are saying, my grandfather was from Italy, and where he was from in the country they raised everything themselves, so I basicall started learning how to grow stuff and get the knack for it since I was 3. One thing people tell me here, I basically am in Houston, is that they arent too concerned about the variety, they just want home grown taste and care. I guess thats one advantage being right next to a monster city. As for how it works, we'll see. But I do like your idea with the kids, that can be something that stays with them forever, it did with me. In my opinion learning a work ethic is about the most important learning there is.

Thanks Kurt, of course, I'de love to hear what you have to say. I am thinking of using smaller varieties so I can plant more and get more. The return is what the return is, and thats ok. The idea is to build for the long term, so I'm all ears. Please pm if you would like, I would love to hear your ideas!

I am intrigued with the CSA (community supported agriculture) model that has really taken off down here. For an upfront fee (running about $250 - $300 for 16 weeks) people pickup weekly baskets of what is ripe. They share the bounty (& the failures) with the grower. People are mad for the weekly baskets of produce (though I saw friends get baskets over flowing with greens they did not eat or even freeze & then nothing but jalapenos but they signed up again LOL). Seems like maters, peppers, eggplant, squash & basil would do well in this manner.

Having consumer pick up is vital so you aren't schlepping product all over & may result in better insurance coverage for you (selling on your property versus trucking it about).

i grow produce for a living and have at least some experience with pretty much everything in this thread thus far.

random thoughts:
heirloom tomatoes- i'm growing far less this year than i have in the past- they were a great income producer for a few years but the supply has caught up to the demand in my market at least. 3 years ago they were difficult to find at farmer's markets locally, now there are probably 15 vendors at my markets with them. couple this with the fact that they store so poorly and that the plants are generally not the strongest out there and the figures cease to add up.

my tomatoes for 2012 are going to be san marzano's, juliets, and a variety of cherries and grapes with only a few larger tomatoes in the mix.

superhot peppers- loads of money to be made with these provided you are willing to ship them. as mark said, you can get darn near a buck a pepper online for them. i'm growing roughly 1500 plants of superhots this year out of roughly 4000 pepper plants in total spread over 100+ varieties. i also agree that the douglah is the hottest thing i have ever been exposed to- much moreso than the bhuts or scorpions- tastes like hell though in my opinion.

csa's- i operate a csa from my farm- money early in the season is fantastic to have but it has it's drawbacks as well. i think i tend to overcompensate to my csa customers when things go poorly on the farm. it is difficult to truly make them share in the failures- this is likely just misplaced guilt on my part. i also tend to get tired of the csa as the season nears it's end- money has been spent months ago but you are still providing product- gets to be like being an indentured servant.

[QUOTE=Keger;256239]mark,

I hear what you are saying, my grandfather was from Italy, and where he was from in the country they raised everything themselves, so I basicall started learning how to grow stuff and get the knack for it since I was 3. One thing people tell me here, I basically am in Houston, is that they arent too concerned about the variety, they just want home grown taste and care. I guess thats one advantage being right next to a monster city. As for how it works, we'll see. But I do like your idea with the kids, that can be something that stays with them forever, it did with me. In my opinion learning a work ethic is about the most important learning there is.[/QUOTE]

Both of my parents were from rural farm families of 9 kids each, putting up their own food was just what you did there, so I grew up that way as well. In my 20's and early 30's I worked as a chef, and really got to appreciate the difference good ingredients made, so I started gardening as soon as I had a place to plant something.

Where I am the season is so short local heirloom tomatoes aren't available for long at all, so I'm trying a new approach this year putting out mostly midseason varieties under low tunnels a month earlier than normal. I figure if it works I may have tomatoes available several weeks before average, and get a jump ahead that way, plus I should have a longer season to work with. We'll see if it works.

[QUOTE=stormymater;256268]I am intrigued with the CSA (community supported agriculture) model that has really taken off down here. For an upfront fee (running about $250 - $300 for 16 weeks) people pickup weekly baskets of what is ripe. They share the bounty (& the failures) with the grower. People are mad for the weekly baskets of produce (though I saw friends get baskets over flowing with greens they did not eat or even freeze & then nothing but jalapenos but they signed up again LOL). Seems like maters, peppers, eggplant, squash & basil would do well in this manner.

Having consumer pick up is vital so you aren't schlepping product all over & may result in better insurance coverage for you (selling on your property versus trucking it about).[/QUOTE]


CSA memberships that serve Chicago are charging $650 per share for 18 weeks. There used to be one that I really liked which included the option to work the farm. For a slight reduction in costs you took part in weeding, harvesting, soil preparation etc. I loved it because it gave my kids a real taste of what farming was and it was a lot of fun hanging with fellow members as we worked. I wish there was something like that now. I would join in a heartbeat for the social aspect. The produce would be a bonus.

[QUOTE=biscgolf;256274]
superhot peppers- loads of money to be made with these provided you are willing to ship them. as mark said, you can get darn near a buck a pepper online for them. i'm growing roughly 1500 plants of superhots this year out of roughly 4000 pepper plants in total spread over 100+ varieties. i also agree that the douglah is the hottest thing i have ever been exposed to- much moreso than the bhuts or scorpions- tastes like hell though in my opinion.
[/QUOTE]

That's a lotta peppers! ;) The post office is going to love you. I'll be interested to hear how the venture works out for you.

I was planning on growing primarily for pure seed this year with isolation cages and starting to sell seeds in the fall, but it's sure tempting to start a hundred each of the ones with big numbers that everyone is going to be looking for now, it's not much later than I started everything last year. Problem is the kids act like they're handling radioactive waste when I ask them just to bring me a bucket with peppers in it, I can't imagine them actually picking them. Although if prices are what they were last year I think that might motivate them...

I'm thinking about starting to grow some of the superhots this season. For those who grow them, please recommend some seed sources. I checked out peppermania.com, but did not see all of the superhots mentioned in the above posts.

Also, what superhot pepper varieties are your big sellers? Thanks!

[QUOTE=marktutt;256319]That's a lotta peppers! ;) The post office is going to love you. I'll be interested to hear how the venture works out for you.

I was planning on growing primarily for pure seed this year with isolation cages and starting to sell seeds in the fall, but it's sure tempting to start a hundred each of the ones with big numbers that everyone is going to be looking for now, it's not much later than I started everything last year. Problem is the kids act like they're handling radioactive waste when I ask them just to bring me a bucket with peppers in it, I can't imagine them actually picking them. Although if prices are what they were last year I think that might motivate them...[/QUOTE]

i'm going in the seed biz in the fall as well. i can isolate about 10 varieties geographically by planting on the fringes of corn fields on the farm and am going to cage as many varieties as i can through the course of the season as well- i've been building cages this winter out of pvc and am going to cover them with shade cloth until i run out of it and then window screen.

dehydrators will run 24/7 from july through november most likely. window for shipping fresh pods is probably only september-mid november but dried pods can go all winter long. i also have a wholesale outlet for a big chunk of the fresh pods- $20/lb is the likely price there.

the guy i used to be in business with has 5 kids under the age of 11- last summer they came out and all 5 wound up with jolokia oil on them somewhere... everyone was screaming when they got in the van to leave including my former partner... hilarious.

[QUOTE=whistler;256320]I'm thinking about starting to grow some of the superhots this season. For those who grow them, please recommend some seed sources. I checked out peppermania.com, but did not see all of the superhots mentioned in the above posts.

Also, what superhot pepper varieties are your big sellers? Thanks![/QUOTE]

whatever is the "hottest" at the moment will always be in demand so the trinidad scorpion moruga blend will be this year's darling although rumor has it it won't stay on the perch for long. i had very good luck selling both trinidad scorpions and bhut jolokias through various forums online last fall. none of them sell particularly well at farmer's markets or to restaurants beyond the novelty factor- you definitely need the broader audience you can reach online.

seed vendors:
oldbarnnursery.com is a reputable seller with reasonable prices. although i have not ordered from them personally i have heard their service is excellent. they are currently running a deal where you can purchase the moruga seed and they throw in "brain strain" seed for free. (there is currently debate over whether the 2 are one and the same so they want people to be able to grow them out and see for themselves)

pepperlover.com has a huge selection of the trinidad peppers and good prices and a reputation for excellent service. she also tends to toss in some freebies when you order.

refiningfirechiles.com is the guy behind the testing of the morugas- he has a very good selection and excellent service but his prices are higher than most.

i would also gladly send you out some seed of varieties i have if you like- no morugas here (put them all in the dirt) but plenty of scorpions, seven pots, bhuts, and nagas... pm me your address if you want.

[QUOTE=whistler;256320]I'm thinking about starting to grow some of the superhots this season. For those who grow them, please recommend some seed sources. I checked out peppermania.com, but did not see all of the superhots mentioned in the above posts.

Also, what superhot pepper varieties are your big sellers? Thanks![/QUOTE]



[url]Www.thehippyseedcompany.com[/url] Neil has loads of video reviews on youtube. Typically one video per pepper.

[url]Www.semillas.de[/url]

[url]Www.pepperlover.com[/url]

New Mexico State University Chili Pepper Institute

AjiJoe ( member of [url]www.thehotpepper.com[/url]) quite a large selection, well known. I've purchased from him.

Bisc,
What are some of the varieties of tomato that you grow?

I have quite a few varities that I am growing again this year that I am mostly growing for seedling sales. Around here, I believe that most people are only wanting a round, red tomato. However, I am close enough to Charleston that I think heirlooms would sell easily.

For the bulk of my roadside sales I am going to be counting on BHN 640, red cherry, black cherry, purple russian, genovese costoluto and brandywine to be the tomatoes that will have people stopping. Do you have experience selling any of these?

IMAO the Chile Pepper Institute is the best place to get seeds for Bhut Jolokia because they're the people who brought the variety to the USA from India, and you can tell people "this is the authentic original."

[url]http://www.chilepepperinstitute.org/cart/seeds/other_varieties/[/url]

[QUOTE=biscgolf;256335]whatever is the "hottest" at the moment will always be in demand so the trinidad scorpion moruga blend will be this year's darling although rumor has it it won't stay on the perch for long. i had very good luck selling both trinidad scorpions and bhut jolokias through various forums online last fall. none of them sell particularly well at farmer's markets or to restaurants beyond the novelty factor- you definitely need the broader audience you can reach online.

seed vendors:
oldbarnnursery.com is a reputable seller with reasonable prices. although i have not ordered from them personally i have heard their service is excellent. they are currently running a deal where you can purchase the moruga seed and they throw in "brain strain" seed for free. (there is currently debate over whether the 2 are one and the same so they want people to be able to grow them out and see for themselves)

pepperlover.com has a huge selection of the trinidad peppers and good prices and a reputation for excellent service. she also tends to toss in some freebies when you order.

refiningfirechiles.com is the guy behind the testing of the morugas- he has a very good selection and excellent service but his prices are higher than most.

i would also gladly send you out some seed of varieties i have if you like- no morugas here (put them all in the dirt) but plenty of scorpions, seven pots, bhuts, and nagas... pm me your address if you want.[/QUOTE]

I'll second pepperlover.com, she's active on the pepper forums and has a great selection and good service.

One seller on ebay who is actually quite good is Dave Stehnike of Dave's Dragon Dust. He sells under the name asiasgarden. One thing I have noticed about the things I've gotten from Dave is he seems to be selecting for productivity. Lots of these pepper varieties are not terribly stable or uniform, some of the stuff I've gotten from well known hobby growers may be closer to the original landrace varieties but the 7-pots I got from him last year blew away most of the others I've grown in terms of pepper size and and number of peppers set per plant.

I guess you can select like that when you measure your pepper patch in acres. :lol:

Many years ago I was a pepper head. Now you all are sending me back that direction. Seems to be a much broader variety out there these days. Its learning peppers all over. And here I thought I was done buying seeds for this year! Geez thanks...I think :)

The gold rush mentality with the new record holder is a bit infectious. I've read about so many people starting loads of TS Morouga seeds I keep going downstairs and estimating how many seeds I have. Then I remember that I'd have to pick and process all of them myself in addition to the varieties I already have started and I put the seeds back on the shelf. I did go buy 20 more seed starting inserts yesterday though, so I'm still toying with the idea.

I hope y'all will keep in mind, there's still an enormous untapped potential for medium-hot and so-called ornamental peppers. (I dislike the term "ornamental" because it implies the peppers have no culinary value, which is usually far from the truth.)

The Chile Pepper Institute's selection of ornamentals is quite good, and if any part of one's projected income includes selling starter plants for transplanting, one would do well to take a look.

I'm hoping to try growing Hot Portugal for the first time this year. Found some inexpensive HP through Ebay. I think I'm going to get something like a cross between a New Mexico pod type and a "large thick cayenne" type, IOW maybe even a NM pod type that's hotter than Barker's Hot, if a bit slimmer. That would be something a lot of gardeners could, like, you know, actually[I] cook[/I] with.