11 Vegetables So Productive You Should Only Grow One Plant

Prolific yields are essential in small gardens! With limited space, you must think outside the box to grow enough food to enjoy. One expert strategy is to grow productive crops that generate plenty of leafy greens, fruits, or veggies on a single plant. 

This isn’t to say that you can’t grow more than one vegetable plant; you just may not need to because these varieties are so productive! Adapt and adjust your garden to reflect your diet for the best results. If you love peppers, grow tons of peppers. When you grow veggies you enjoy eating, you’ll use and enjoy them before they spoil. 

Many spicy varieties are prolific, producing more peppers than you can handle! Mild types like bell peppers are less prolific because the peppers are large and require more resources to grow than small, spicy types. Two or three bell pepper plants should suffice for a small family.

Prolific Varieties

One year, I grew over 13 spicy pepper varieties! The most productive plant of the bunch was the ‘Ají Limón,’ or ‘Lemon Drop’ pepper; I could’ve only planted one! It sprouts miniature banana-shaped peppers with pungent spiciness and a lingering lemon flavor. Thai chiles and Cayenne peppers also generate abundant harvests. They’re perfect for small gardens.

Bell pepper lovers should try a productive cultivar like ‘Mini Red Bell.’ It sprouts red bell chiles that reach a little over an inch wide. They’re perfect for snacking, cooking, or pickling. ‘Pimiento’ is another good choice. The red bell type produces ample peppers in the warm season. 

Tomato

Tomatoes are one of the most popular food crops, and for good reason! In 2015, the U.S. produced 2.7 billion pounds of fresh tomatoes. That’s a lot of tomatoes! Though farmers grow most of our tomatoes, the fruits are easy to cultivate at home for abundant harvests.

Cherry tomatoes are the most abundant, partially because they’re small and quick to form. A cherry tomato plant can produce dozens of tomatoes throughout the growing season. 

For the largest yields, consider staking or caging your tomatoes. They’ll take up less space when they grow vertically and are easier to manage when you can see all their stems and flowers. 

Prolific Varieties

Choose indeterminate tomato varieties for the biggest harvests. These types are so productive that you only need one plant. They develop tomato fruits for as long as the weather is warm and moisture is abundant. Determinate types, however, produce their crop all at once and stop growing after reaching their maximum length or height. 

My favorite cherry type is ‘Yellow Pear’ because my grandma grew it for years in her garden! It’s an old heirloom variety that sprouts miniature, pear-shaped yellow tomatoes. ‘Sun Gold’ is another exceptional cherry type that sprouts round, yellow tomatoes with a flavor unmatched by other varieties. 

Bean

Beans get a bad rap! They’re rich in fiber, nutrients, and protein, making them an excellent part of a well-balanced diet. Vegetarians like me rely on beans as a source of protein. Not only are they delicious, but they’re easy to grow, too! 

Bush and pole beans are the two main forms of beans, offering you two different growing habits. Bush beans stay low to the ground and can thrive without support. Pole beans, however, twine and climb and may reach 12 feet tall! 

Prolific Varieties

Which type of bean to grow depends on your space and goals. If you’d like to harvest beans all at once for preserving, canning, and pickling, then bush beans are the best varieties for you. They produce all at once and decline shortly after.

Pole beans grow ample bean pods over the entire length of the growing season, though their harvest window is often later than bush beans. 

If you can’t decide between bush and pole, why not try both and determine your favorite? This 2-pack contains the climbing variety ‘Blue Lake FM-1K’ and the bushy ‘Cantare.’ 

Summer Squash

Summer squash is one of the most productive vegetable crops; you really only need one or two plants per household. You may even have neighbors who surprise you with it on your doorstep. One plant sprouts more veggies than a single person can eat! With two or three plants, you’ll have enough squash to feed your neighborhood. 

Summer squashes grow well from late spring through early fall when temperatures are warm and sunlight is abundant. They’re perfect for planting underneath beans and corn; the corn provides support for the twining beans, and the squash covers the ground to keep moisture below the soil. This planting style is a famous technique of many Native American tribes, including the Hopis, Oneidas, and Iroquois. 

Prolific Varieties

Green zucchini and yellow straight-neck squash are the most common in grocery stores, though there are many other cultivars to choose from! Pattypan cultivars sprout miniature squashes perfect for pan-frying, baking, or steaming. The ‘Scallop Blend’ has three different types for a colorful presentation. 

The classic ‘Black Beauty’ heirloom zucchini is hard to beat. I grow it every summer for two reasons: it takes up little space with its bushy nature, and a single plant produces more zucchini than you can eat! It’s a classic variety that flourishes across the U.S. during the summer. 

Asparagus

The previous veggies are annuals in most zones, though asparagus is a perennial! Its growth is stunning; finger-like spears emerge from underground in early spring. They look like zombie hands trying to claw out of the ground! 

Abundant and overproductive are two words to describe asparagus; you’ll have more spears than you can manage from a single plant. The only downside is that asparagus crowns and seeds must grow unharvested for one to three years to establish well on the site. Use crowns for a quicker turnaround; you may pick their spears a year after planting. 

Prolific Varieties

The ‘Jersey’ series of asparagus is ideal for gardens in cold climates. They’re disease-resistant, hardy, and male, meaning they don’t produce seedlings you must weed out. Female asparagus varieties grow fewer, thicker spears than male ones, but they also grow berries with seeds that sprout into unruly seedlings. 

Many white, green, and purple asparagus cultivars exist. Try ‘Purple Passion’ for luxurious, decadently purple spears that taste sweet and delicious. Opt for ‘Apollo’ for a dependable, green variety that sprouts sooner than others. 

Rhubarb

Rhubarb grows ample stems for cooking into pies, jams, or desserts. It’s a perennial vegetable with toxic leaves and roots. The part you eat is the red stem; it’s tart and tastes superb when you add sugar to it. One productive rhubarb plant is all you need for endless rhubarb pies all summer!

A single rhubarb crown will grow over time, creating a large root system underground. When the plant grows too large for the space, it’s best to dig it up and divide it into separate pieces for replanting. Let the plants establish themselves in their first year, then begin harvesting the stems the second year after transplanting.

Prolific Varieties

‘Cherry Red’ is the go-to rhubarb variety. It forms long, red stems full of tart flavor. ‘Valentine’ is another deep-red type with good flavor. 

‘Crimson Red’ is a spectacular cultivar for wet, cool regions like the Pacific Northwest. Opt for ‘Riverside Giant’ if you prefer green, thick stalks with a tender crunch.

Sorrel

Sorrel is a leafy green vegetable like spinach. The arrowhead-shaped leaves have a slight lemony flavor. They’re as tender as spinach leaves and mix well with other leafy greens like lettuce, chard, and kale. 

Unlike most leafy veggies, sorrels are perennial in most growing zones. They’ll survive year to year from zones 3 through 7 and occasionally zone 8. The foliage is frost-tolerant, providing edible greens from spring through early winter. 

Prolific Varieties

Common sorrel is the best-tasting type. Its scientific name is Rumex acetosa, and its foliage is green, tender, and delicious. Red-veined sorrel, R. sanguineus, is another unique type I like to grow. It features red veins and midribs, creating a stunning presentation in the ornamental or vegetable garden.

Sorrels also go by docks, as the two common names refer to plants in the genus Rumex. Most of them are edible, though some have higher levels of oxalic acid and can be toxic to the kidneys. Avoid sorrels if you’re particularly sensitive to oxalates. 

Chive

Chives are perennial onions with a sweet, mild, and oniony taste. Their shoots are like green onions, except they sprout from a central clump rather than individual bulbs. Mature clumps sprout purple onion flowers that attract pollinators to your yard. 

A single chive plant produces more green onions than any one person can use! Even just one single plant is productive enough that you shouldn’t need to buy chives from the store. Let your specimen expand and form a large clump, then divide it when it’s too large. Replant the divisions elsewhere to multiply your chive supply. 

Prolific Varieties

Two chives reign supreme in home gardens. Common chives are tough perennials that sprout purple flowers. They’re hardy from zones 4 through 8. 

Garlic chives are similar oniony plants with white flowers. They taste mildly like garlic and onions and are perfect for cooked dishes like soups, sautés, and sauces. 

Summer Spinach

Spinach doesn’t have to be tiny and petite, nor does it have to bolt in high heat! Summer spinach is a vining plant that fills empty beds with edible foliage. They tolerate heat, drought, and sunshine, making them ideal summer crops after your true spinach plants go to seed.

Summer spinaches require more space to grow than true spinach cultivars; a single plant may vine up a trellis, nearby plants, or arbors! Let the vines roam wild, or contain them on a supporting structure.

Prolific Varieties

Two main types exist: Malabar and New Zealand spinach. Malabar spinach, Basella alba, sprouts heart-shaped leaves off of purple-red stems. Harvest its leaves individually when they reach full size. 

New Zealand spinach, Tetragonia tetragonioides, is a low-growing spreader that won’t climb like Malabar spinach. It grows best in a container or raised bed where its stems can spill over the edges. 

Swiss Chard

Chards are lovely leafy veggies for the home garden! They’re as decorative as they are tender; use them for texture in the flower garden, or beautify a veggie plot with their colorful stems. Both their stems and leaves are edible; the leaves cook well like collards in prepared dishes, while the stems perform like celery. 

Swiss chards are close relatives of beets, and their foliage has a distinct beet-like flavor. This is perfect if you like beets! If you don’t, consider cooking the foliage first before eating it. The cooking process removes some of the pungent flavor. 

Prolific Varieties

For tender, spinach-like leaves, choose ‘Perpetual Spinach.’ It’s a Swiss chard cultivar with small, thin-ribbed leaves that are tender like spinach. It’s excellent for gardeners who enjoy chard leaves without the stems.

Typical chards have long, thick, and colorful stems. They’re large specimens—you’ll only need to plant one per person for sufficient harvests throughout the growing season. ‘Celebration’ is a multi-color cultivar with pink, white, orange, red, or yellow stems. 

Sunchoke

Rounding out our list is the sunchoke, a U.S native vegetable that’s a close relative of annual sunflowers! It’s perennial in zones 3 through 9, growing well despite frost, heat, and intense winter weather. You’ll enjoy its sunflower-like blooms during the spring and its tasty tubers in the fall and early winter. 

Sunchokes are hardy! They sprout from seeds or underground roots, filling empty spaces with lush, strappy leaves and bright yellow blooms. Restrict them to beds or large containers if you’d prefer not to have them spread in your yard. 

Prolific Varieties

Sunchokes also go by Jerusalem artichokes, though they aren’t artichokes, and they don’t originate from Jerusalem! The species type Helianthus tuberosus is the most common; it sprouts brown, knobby tubers and bright yellow sunflowers. 

A few sunchoke cultivars offer more selection than the species type. ‘Red Fuseau’ is a top performer with red-skinned tubers, while ‘White Fuseau’ is a similar type with light-colored skin and creamy flesh. Harvest your sunchokes after their flowers fade in fall. Eat them fresh or cook them like potatoes and similar tubers in recipes.