ROI - Return On Investment for Plants

Gotta love financial planning lingo. I saw a post recently in which the person said they were done planting broccoli because of its low yields (which I concurred) which got me thinking: what plants offer the most bang per plant?

I'm sure it's been done before, but do people want to post which plants gave them the highest yields and lowest yields? I'm still in my first year of SFG so my list is not long... though I've heard one zucchini plant can provide for a neighborhood.

HIGH YIELDS: Siam Queen Basil, Cherry Tomatoes, Swiss Chard
DECENT YIELDS: Diamond Eggplant
LOW YIELDS: Broccoli

jkahn2eb wrote:Gotta love financial planning lingo. I saw a post recently in which the person said they were done planting broccoli because of its low yields (which I concurred) which got me thinking: what plants offer the most bang per plant?

I'm sure it's been done before, but do people want to post which plants gave them the highest yields and lowest yields? I'm still in my first year of SFG so my list is not long... though I've heard one zucchini plant can provide for a neighborhood.

HIGH YIELDS: Siam Queen Basil, Cherry Tomatoes, Swiss Chard
DECENT YIELDS: Diamond Eggplant
LOW YIELDS: Broccoli

This is interesting. Not sure if it is exactly what you are looking for.



http://thriftyliving.net/2010/08/20/vegetable-harvest-yields/

It's so very hard to calculate this. My tomatoes had a terrible year. I got one red tomato from eight plants, and not a single one from my three cherry tomato plants. It was just too hot to set fruit. Of course, they're setting tons of fruit now, but the days are too short to ripen anything. Will I plant tomatoes next year? You bet, because one of the ROIs is flavor, and nothing in the store can beat my homegrown. I'm betting on this year being a fluke and not a "new normal." I sure could be wrong!

Radishes have a high yield potential, because they have a short growing cycle and can be grown 16 to a square. However, it doesn't make sense for me to grow them in quantity, because I'm the only one who eats them, and I have my limits to how many I can eat in a sitting!

There are also plant variety differences. While regular broccoli makes one head (and possibly some side shoots) and takes so long to mature, there's a variety called "sprouting broccoli" which never forms a solid head. It grows faster and can be succession planted much more easily, making its ROI much higher.

I think it differs if you are eating the produce or selling it.

Being my first year, I would say that zucchini and eggplant ran neck and neck-we ate so much that I may not plant either next summer!

But, I must stand up for the broccoli! (I love broccoli)



Paid .25 for each plant.

Planted 8 plants, $2.00 invested.



At the grocery a head runs about $3.00 X 8 is $24 minus the $2. that's a profit of $22, then you still have the side shoots(those are free!)



I chose fall to plant the broc. so most of the garden is empty. Broccoli 1 per square, lettuce, radishes, green onions, spinach, planted around the edge of each square, which probably will be eaten before the broccoli is ready.



I guess Brocccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, head collards, make the least food per square, but they are so tasty!

When the bean counters get involved, tomatoes and herbs are typically at the top of the ROI list if the priority is money.

When nutritionists get involved, winter squashes and brassicas lead the list as best return of healthy calories per square foot.

When favorite homegrown foods of the gardener is the focus, tomatoes always lead the list of what should be grown in a limited space.

If you're managing a CSA, weight of harvest per square might be your priority, and...I don't know what veggie produces the greatest harvest weight per square per season...but I'm sure somebody does.

Sweet corn is probably the worst return on everything except the satisfaction of eating it backyard freshly picked.

Nice diversity in answers. I dig it (no pun intended).

Littlejo... I will transplant those broccoli seedlings sitting under the lamps. By golly I'll do it.

Everything in live is all about perspective and relativity, and for most of us no 2 people are ever the same!

I grew corn this year and I made corn relish, ate some and really enjoyed just watching the process!! It was so awesome!

Next year...eh, I'm not so excited to grow corn. I wanna try something else. Shrug. Plant what makes you happy. My garden (this is just me) isn't about money, it's about the joy it brings me. If I eat a veggie or two that tastes good in the process WHOOOPIE! This could all evolve and change over time for me...but for now it's all about fun, learning and joy.

I know I am an odd duck. Some do it for the organic factor, some the savings factor and still others will have other reasons.

All that said I still find this thread valuable and fascinating, because when I read what everyone writes it gives me new ideas and perspectives to process information from! Thanks for posting i hope more people put in their two cents about the plants with the highest yield from their perspective.

I wasn't so much concerned with the financial aspect, it is more about yield. I'm hoping my cantaloupe and honeydew have yields like I think they will... It's still a very young plant but already many more female flowers than my watermelon plant has been producing. They are so cool looking with their rounded little stripes

middlemamma wrote: My garden (this is just me) isn't about money, it's about the joy it brings me. If I eat a veggie or two that tastes good in the process WHOOOPIE! This could all evolve and change over time for me...but for now it's all about fun, learning and joy.

I know I am an odd duck. Some do it for the organic factor, some the savings factor and still others will have other reasons.
.

I don't think you're odd, and if you are, I am too. I did it for fun, just to see if I could do it. And in the process I found out I could, and that yes, it was fun. So next year I'll do it again (or rather, I'll keep doing it this fall and through the winter into the spring). I'll play around with what I plant just to see how different things turn out - I don't plan on making a living off it or surviving solely off my own garden - I have too many other things to do to devote that much time to it. But it is a nice hobby, and it's even nicer that it's a relatively painless hobby that gets me outside more than I otherwise would be (I have a tendency to sit inside and read all summer!).

So for me, ROI = how much did I enjoy growing it, did I get any yield at all, and did I like the taste. THe only thing I grew this year that I might not grow again is Thai basil - I just don't use enough of it to justify its space in the SFG.

I agree with boffer and MM. I love the garden. My blood pressure drops 20 points every time I spend time there.

And it does matter to me which veggies I get the most of. Whatever is ready is eaten and if that is never broccoli well then it is something else. I have had to buy all my veggies this week and it is EXPENSIVE and not likely to get cheaper. So to me it is all gravy. I spent a lot getting my boxes up last year, but almost nothing this year. I think the ROI is a hundredfold easily. (More of an artist than a bean counter - would never make it as an engineer)