Deep Roots: The Rough Math of Growing Tomatoes

You need two tomato plants. You want 20. The packet comes with 40 seeds. Late winter, in your basement, you plant what you want, with 2 seeds per cell, expecting middling germination. But 38 germinate. You transplant the extras to cells of their own.

However! You also bought packets of five other varieties, because restraint isn’t one of your strengths. 38 x 5 = 190. Or 188 more than needed. 170 more than wanted. Seeds, trays, liners and media come to $51. Four hours of labor at minimum wage (a little over $8) would be $29. So, materials + time = $80.

Since 188 beautiful tomato plants are impossible to waste, you pot them up into quarts. For these, materials + time = $105. Your kid brings them inside and out for light and warmth, so no labor cost added—child labor laws disregarded. Total now = $185. 

You rent a plot with space for 10 plants at the urban farm. You till in 10 bags of manure and plant 20 plants. Rental, time, materials = $206. Total now at $391. 

Quick recap. A pair of plants at home, 20 at urban farm. 190 – 22 = 168 excess plants. $391 spent. 

Related Article: Niki Jabbour's Favorite Cherry Tomatoes

You find two plastic garbage cans blowing in the road. Cost: Nothing! You cut the tops off and repurpose them into containers for the front porch. Room for two plants each. Pleased with the results, you buy two more garbage cans and turn them into containers for the driveway. Five hours, more media, 26 stakes = $100. Total = $491. 160 plants still in reserve. 

Neighbor recognizes their garbage cans on your front porch. Replacements cost $50. Total $541.

You see a silver maple seedling growing in your gutter and consider replacing it with a tomato. Quickly decide against that. 

You offer plants to friends, neighbors (except the one who is no longer speaking to you), co-workers and some random strangers at the grocery store. Homes found for eight plants. 152 still to go. You bump them to one-gallon pots. Time and materials: $140. New total = $681.  

You come home one day to find that the spouse vetoed the garbage-can containers. They’re at the road for pickup. Plants and media nowhere to be seen. A week later, your kid “forgets” to water the 152 extra plants 2 days straight. Extra plants now at 0, 2 plants at home, 15 (down 5 from overcrowding) at the urban farm. 17 total plants. 

Jump forward to October. Totals: 17 plants x 4 tomatoes per day x 120 days = about 8,000 tomatoes. Spouse, child and you ate about 700. 200 given away. Spouse refused to can even a single jar. 8,000 tomatoes – 700 eaten – 200 given away – 0 canned = 7,100 tomatoes for compost and critters. 

Cost per consumed tomato: $0.75. BLTs and burgers with fresh slices from your own tomato plants, worth every penny. Fun, adventure, exercise, time outdoors, character building and stories? Just icing on the cake.  

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Scott Beuerlein is Manager of Botanical Garden Outreach for the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

Illustration created in Adobe Firefly with the prompt ”table of heirloom tomatoes”