Apologies if it seemed I wasn't taking your question seriously. I was. And I gave you what my definition of a high-yielding, a productive, plant is. But your question has some under-lying assumptions that just don't hold up IME. Believe it or not, most home gardeners don't count the number of fruit on their plants, they don't keep a running total of number or size, most don't weigh the fruit produced by each plant either, and most don't grow for yield anyway but for taste. A perfect example is Brandywine which has the reputation of being a low producing plant yet it remains one of the most popular. So for those of us in that group we define a high yield plant as one that makes a lot of tomatoes and has to be picked every 3-4 days. But over the years of growing literally hundreds of plants each year, hundreds of varieties, and growing those varieties anywhere from 4-15 years in a row, one can easily determine which varieties are high yielding and which are not in their particular garden IF that info is of interest to them. However that in no way means that same variety will be high-yielding for anyone else in their garden and their climate. This isn't to compare a beefsteak with a cherry tomato. That would be silly. That may seem silly to you but you would be amazed how many people do just that and post statements like "I only grow cherry varieties because they are so much more productive" or "why isn't my Brandywine setting fruit when my cherry tomato plants all have 100's of fruit on them". It's how you would define a yield from a particular type of plant. And how I define yield is does that particular variety consistently, year after year, out produce other similar varieties that I am also growing in my gardens. My Amish Paste produced 4 large fruit (over a pound) and there are about 6 more fruit still on the vine weighing about 8 oz. Would you call that a low, moderate or high yield? Compared to my Amish Paste plants growing in my garden, in my climate, with my feeding and watering regimen, I would call that very low. But that doesn't mean you can label Amish Paste as a low-yielding, low-productive variety or that I can call it a high yielding variety. There are too many other variables to slap yield labels on varieties. You got 3 doz. from Paul Robeson and over 3 years of trials I was lucky to get 3 tomatoes from each plant. So what do we label it? I have no idea what any of my fruit weigh because I don't weigh them unless they appear to be extra-ordinary - I just eat them. ;) Dave

If you like Yellow Pear, you should try other pear tomato varieties, too. Some of them are supposed to taste pretty good. Also, there are many strains of Yellow Pear, apparently. Beam's Yellow Pear and the version that victoryseeds.com sells are supposed to be among the best. Austin's Red Pear is supposed to be the best Red Pear strain. You can get Austin's and Beam's at seedsavers.org. Other pear tomatoes to consider include at least Honey Drop (from doublehelixfarms.com), Chocolate Pear (rareseeds.com), Green Pear (rareseeds.com), Ivory Pear (rareseeds.com), Red Fig (rareseeds.com), and Indigo Pear Drops (it's an OSU high anthocyanin tomato that may end up being PVP; up to 1000 fruits per plant). Also, I don't know if they're productive, but there's Evan's Purple Pear and Cherokee Green Pear. Honey Drop looks like Yellow Pear, and it is supposed to taste very good. Note that there's also a round cherry tomato called Honeydrop Cherry. The only place to get the pear one that I know about is at doublehelixfarms.com. Here are links to the pear tomatoes: * http://www.rareseeds.com/chocolate-pear-tomato/ * http://www.rareseeds.com/green-pear-tomato/ * http://doublehelixfarms.com/honey-drop * https://awhaley.com/seeds/vegetables/tomato-indigo/indigo-pear-drops * http://www.rareseeds.com/ivory-pear-to/ * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_yellow-pear.html * http://www.seedsavers.org/beams-yellow-pear-tomato * http://www.seedsavers.org/austins-red-pear-organic-tomato * http://www.dianeseeds.com/tomato-cherokee-green-pear.html * https://www.mariannasheirloomseeds.com/heirloom-seeds-catalog/mariseeds-heirloom-tomato-seeds/green-tomatoes/cherokee-green-pear-detail.html * http://www.rareseeds.com/evan-s-purple-pear/ * http://www.rareseeds.com/red-fig-tomato/ Productivity depends on other factors besides variety, too. For instance, Park's Whopper may be productive in some areas, but where I live, I only got a few tomatoes (granted, they were good). I live in a hot, dry, desert-like area (not a long-season one, though). Varieties I've actually tried that produce well here include Early Girl, Yellow Pear, Red Pear, Husky Cherry Red, Roma, Grape, and Galapagos Island (Solanum cheesmanii). Our Roma tomatoes look like a different strain than the grocery store ones, though (they're pointy). One large variety that seems to be very productive from everything I've read about it is Mortgage Lifter. Estler's Mortgage Lifter is supposed to be the best and most productive one, but it's not easy to find right now. Napa Giant comes from Mortgage Lifter (selected for size such that it's a significantly bigger). * https://www.heritageharvestseed.com/tomatoesef.html (Canadian site; search for Estler's Mortgage Lifter) * http://www.selectedplants.com/ (This site may also have Estler's Mortgage Lifter.) * http://shop.wildboarfarms.com/NAPA-GIANT-NG.htm Siberian is supposed to be very productive (and early). Same for McGee (McGee is indeterminate, too), Glacier and Cold Set (aka Coldset). Oroma and Saucy are half Roma and half Santiam. Because Roma is pretty productive, I imagine Oroma and Saucy might be. Oroma and Saucy have the added advantage of being parthenocarpic, which should boost productivity even further. Other parthenocarpic tomatoes include (among others) Legend, Santiam and Gold Nugget. Super Sioux is supposed to be pretty productive. I've heard Opalka is very productive. Grosse Lisse should be, too. Punta Banda and Cuautli Salubong are two that are supposed to be very productive in hot, dry areas. Sweet Ozark Orange is said to be fairly productive. Yellow Ruffled is said to be pretty productive (as well as tasty and heat-tolerant). Malinovoe Chudo (aka Raspberry Miracle) is supposed to be very productive. Celebrity, of course. Matt's Wild Cherry. Sweet Million. Sugar Lump (in some areas; not mine). Park's Whopper CR Improved (probably not in my area). Barry's Crazy Cherry looks productive. :) Here are links to some of those: * http://shop.wildboarfarms.com/BARRYS-CRAZY-CHERRY-BCC.htm * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_oroma.html * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_saucy.html * http://doublehelixfarms.com/raspberry-miracle * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/grosse-lisse-aka-trophy.html * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/opalka.html * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/glacier.html * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_mcgee.html * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_santiam.html * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_legend.html * http://goodmindseeds.org/catalog/tomatoes-2/red-tomatoes/ * http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_gold-nugget.html * http://www.superseeds.com/products/early-girl-tomato-f1-hybrid-60-days * http://shop.nativeseeds.org/products/tm007 * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/super-sioux.html * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/sugar-lump.html * http://parkseed.com/parks-whopper-cr-improved-tomato-seeds/p/05380-PK-P1/ * http://www.superseeds.com/products/celebrity-tomato-f1-hybrid-78-days * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/siberian.html * http://www.sandhillpreservation.com/catalog/tomato.html (search for Coldset) * http://www.timeless-tomatoes.com/matt39s-wild-cher39.html This is just a guess, but I'm thinking tomatoes advertised as being good canning tomatoes would be likely to be productive (since unless you have a lot of plants, you need good production to do much canning). Black Giant is supposed to be productive pound-wise: * http://www.dianeseeds.com/tomato-black-giant.html

We've eaten their soups for years without any distress. DH likes soup with a sandwich for lunch in cooler weather. We often split a can. "Progresso" is a General Mills brand. We usually prefer the "Healthy Choice" soups (Con Agra). I wish they'd put them in an easy-open can though. (Don't you wish you had the patent on those pull-tab cans? lol)

Yeah I see several possible explanations. One, you don't mention the type or variety of the plants so you may well be pruning off production with your "pruning suckers". Only indeterminate varieties tolerate pruning and even then some production is lost. That's why many container growers advocate no pruning unless it is absolutely required for some reason. Two you don't mention the brand name of the potting mix you use and that is crucial in container growing. No potting soil, no 'soil' of any kind works well in a container as it compacts. Three, daily watering, depending on climate/weather and the mix used, is very seldom needed in a 10 gallon container and only leads to root rot. Container growers have to learn to monitor the moisture content in their pots and water only when the plant needs it, not on some artificial schedule. And four, like Peter said, organic granular fertilizers seldom work in containers because there is no beneficial micro-herd in container soil to digest them so the plants can use them. All these points are discussed in greater detail over on both the Growing Tomatoes forum here and the Container Gardening forum as well. Dave