i took a 45 min tutorial on tomatoes and they stated that the key is stress..watch your nitrogen you don't want a bunch of bushy green plants. tomato production is part of the plant dying... my plants are stressed hard, in fact i just ignore them and transplant them in the same bed(outdoors) year after year and they usually do great...weather does play a factor in my area, since i let rainfall water them.
As far as pollination. damn I never even thought about it.
the beefsteaks...I plant a few just to keep me humble! Usually get 6-12 per plant. good for a couple of BLT's or just salt and pepper olive oil. Never had enough to can them.
I like the San Marzano(Roma) type they are prolific producers and taste great, they are meaty and make a great Salsa, as well as for sauces and soups,canning etc.
Like i always hear from the growies on this forum... BTW the best people on any forum I have ever been on and who have far more
experience then I do. If it doesn't work where they are try them somewhere else if they still don't work try something else. It was a hard change of mind set,i am new to
gardening and probably took every failed plant as a personal failure. Now for me it's FIDO and life is good.