Rouge tomato plants???

[mbaker410]

So this is my second year with a vegetable garden and this year I kept noticing a lot of "weeds" that looked like tomato plants. Upon futher investigation they turned out to be actual tomato plants.

I have never seen a tomatoe plant come back afte a year through winter and after I tilled the ground etc. I do not compost and I have not thrown any tomato seeds into my garden.

Does this happen? I will try to take pictures of these but I must have over 10 randomly placed and rouge tomato plants.

thanks,

Mike

[2cents]

most years I will use the volunteer tomato plants.
I dig them up and place them in a designated spot for volunteers.
I particularly an using the volunteer Beef Masters from 2 years ago.
I give these to friends in small pots.
And I get lots of large tomatoes for free.

[TZ -OH6]

All it takes is one rotten tomato on the ground to leave seeds that will last for several years. The seeds get buried and tilled back up to the surface. Cherry tomatoes are the worst...lots of fallen fruit, lots of seeds.

[petalfuzz]

Last year I grew a variety I wasn't too happy with, so I pulled it early. I only composted the unripe fruit and not the plant itself. In the compost, many of those fruits went on to turn ripe. I kept turning the pile so they'd get buried. Then this spring, I got many many volunteer plants--some with the skin of the tomato attached to the root structure, making identification very easy (it was a yellow tomato). I was going to just turn them under but my mom asked me, "are you growing that yellow tomato again this year?" so I dug up one plant and put it in the garden.

Now that I recall, I often will go into the garden and if I find a fruit I'm not happy with (blossom end rot or whatever), I'll yank it off and throw it over my shoulder. I guess I'm too impatient to go and get my weed bucket. So it's possible that those would rot into the ground and make more tomato plants in the future.

[The Helpful Gardener]

Tomato volunteers are the norm, not the exception. I have one I am still growing this year; can't wait to see what I get...

HG

[Decado]

Last year I grew a variety I wasn't too happy with, so I pulled it early. I only composted the unripe fruit and not the plant itself. In the compost, many of those fruits went on to turn ripe. I kept turning the pile so they'd get buried. Then this spring, I got many many volunteer plants--some with the skin of the tomato attached to the root structure, making identification very easy (it was a yellow tomato). I was going to just turn them under but my mom asked me, "are you growing that yellow tomato again this year?" so I dug up one plant and put it in the garden.

Now that I recall, I often will go into the garden and if I find a fruit I'm not happy with (blossom end rot or whatever), I'll yank it off and throw it over my shoulder. I guess I'm too impatient to go and get my weed bucket. So it's possible that those would rot into the ground and make more tomato plants in the future.

I wouldn't just toss your tomatoes in your garden where you grow plants. This can cause diseases with your plants next year from what I've heard.

On another note, I've had this happen, but I just pull them since I'm growing 20 tomato plants anyways.

[2cents]

One of my volunteer Beef Master has just turned out to be a Roma.
Those will sweeten the cooking pot.

A friend cans 500+ quarts of tomatoes. They grow 80 plants. They say they never buy any plants. All from 3 places in the garden to keep the varieties separated.

[!potatoes!]

oh, rogue tomatoes, I get it.

we've got at least three different varieties of volunteer tomatoes this year, and that's besides the 'variety' we planted from seed that we got from a friend, that came from a fruit...none of which (we have maybe four plants) are the same.