ELi5: Can plants be “overweight” if they produce too much food in the similar fashion to how animals gain weight if they eat too much food?

Question

When animals eat too much food, they gain weight. What happens to a plant that produces too much food via photosynthesis? Can plants be overweight?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Tomato plants in particular are susceptible to producing excessive foliage, which will actually limit the number of fruit they can produce and increase the susceptibility to disease. So, yes. Plants can be “overweight”.